2026 NBA draft: Dybantsa the Wizards' new star

The first round of the 2026 NBA draft is complete at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, with 30 young players stepping into the NBA as their names were called by Commissioner Adam Silver. In a draft long awaited and billed as the most talented class since 2003 (LeBron James's year), the No. 1 pick was settled: the Washington Wizards took BYU forward AJ Dybantsa first overall and added him to a roster featuring Trae Young and Anthony Davis.

The Wizards chose between Dybantsa and Kansas guard Darryn Peterson; Peterson went second to the Utah Jazz and is expected to slot straight into the starting five alongside Keyonte George. At No. 3, the Memphis Grizzlies took Duke forward Cameron Boozer, the country's most productive player last season. At No. 4, the Chicago Bulls took North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson, and at No. 5 the LA Clippers took Illinois guard Keaton Wagler. While the top five went largely as expected, the rest of the night was filled with surprises both in the lottery and later in the first round.

The draft was held in a two-night format for the second straight year; the second round takes place Wednesday evening, again at the Barclays Center. There were notable trades in the first round too: the Lakers moved up to No. 24 in a deal with the Knicks to take Cameron Carr, while Memphis traded back twice from No. 16 to collect five second-round picks. Detroit and Oklahoma City were also among the teams moving up via trades. The Boston Celtics, at the end of the round (27), took Houston's Chris Cenac Jr.

In the rest of the lottery, the Brooklyn Nets took Mikel Brown Jr. at No. 6, the Sacramento Kings Darius Acuff Jr. at 7, the Atlanta Hawks Kingston Flemings at 8, the Dallas Mavericks Morez Johnson Jr. at 9, and the Milwaukee Bucks Brayden Burries at 10. Michigan and the Big 12 conference stamped their mark on the first night of the draft this year; college freshmen dominated the top 10. All eyes now turn to the second round to see who makes the most of the remaining names in this deep talent pool.

First-round full list

1. Washington-AJ Dybantsa, 2. Utah-Darryn Peterson, 3. Memphis-Cameron Boozer, 4. Chicago-Caleb Wilson, 5. LA Clippers-Keaton Wagler, 6. Brooklyn-Mikel Brown Jr., 7. Sacramento-Darius Acuff Jr., 8. Atlanta-Kingston Flemings, 9. Dallas-Morez Johnson Jr., 10. Milwaukee-Brayden Burries, 11. Golden State-Yaxel Lendeborg, 12. Oklahoma City-Aday Mara, 13. Milwaukee (from Miami)-Nate Ament, 14. Charlotte-Hannes Steinbach, 15. Chicago (from Portland)-Dailyn Swain, 16. Oklahoma City (from Memphis)-Bennett Stirtz, 17. Detroit-Ebuka Okorie, 18. Charlotte (from Orlando)-Christian Anderson Jr., 19. Toronto-Allen Graves, 20. San Antonio (from Atlanta)-Jayden Quaintance, 21. Memphis (from Detroit)-Karim López, 22. Philadelphia (from Houston)-Labaron Philon Jr., 23. Atlanta (from Cleveland)-Zuby Ejiofor, 24. LA Lakers (from New York)-Cameron Carr, 25. Dallas-Sergio de Larrea, 26. San Antonio (from Denver)-Tarris Reed Jr., 27. Boston-Chris Cenac Jr., 28. Brooklyn (from Minnesota)-Joshua Jefferson, 29. Sacramento (from Cleveland)-Alex Karaban, 30. Phoenix (from Dallas)-Koa Peat