Dybantsa, Boozer, Peterson: The 2026 NBA Draft's Three-Man No. 1 Debate

The 2026 NBA Draft opens June 23 at Barclays Center with a question the league has not had to chew on this hard in years: who goes first? For most of the past 18 months the consensus has bounced between three names — AJ Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer, and Darryn Peterson — and each one can point to a resume the other two cannot match. Dybantsa led all of Division I in scoring. Boozer walked off with the Naismith Trophy as national player of the year. Peterson was the No. 1 recruit in the high school class before any of them played a college minute. The post-lottery mocks at ESPN, CBS Sports, and Tankathon all put Dybantsa No. 1 to the Washington Wizards — but ESPN's Jeremy Woo reported the Wizards have narrowed their board to two, and the second name is Peterson.

Dybantsa is the statistical headliner. The 6-foot-9 wing averaged 24.7 points per game in Big 12 play and roughly 24.7 to 25.5 across the full season — leading the nation in scoring — to go with 6.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists for BYU. He was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year, the first from BYU since 2007, and earned Consensus First-Team All-American honors. Reporting cited him as the first freshman in Division I history to average 25 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists. The scout's case for Dybantsa is the toolsy two-way wing archetype the modern NBA pays for: size, shot creation, and a frame that projects to multiple positions. The case against him, repeated in pre-draft circles, is whether the bulk scoring translated to winning at the level a No. 1 pick is supposed to drive.

Boozer is the most decorated. The Duke freshman averaged 22.5 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 4.1 assists on 55.6 percent shooting, 39.1 percent from three, and 78.9 percent from the line across 38 games. He was voted ACC Player of the Year AND ACC Rookie of the Year — a rare double, the fifth player to sweep both — added ACC Tournament MVP, and swept the national hardware: the Naismith Trophy as the nation's most outstanding player (10th Blue Devil to win it), the Wooden Award, and AP National Player of the Year. Against North Carolina he posted 26 points, 15 rebounds, and five assists, becoming the only Division I player in 30 seasons with a 25-15-5 line in a regulation win over an AP top-25 opponent. He is the son of two-time NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer, and his twin brother Cayden was on the same Duke roster. The knock is positional: a 6-foot-9 forward without elite vertical pop in a draft where the wings above him offer more theoretical ceiling.

Peterson is the prospect the analytics and the eye test agreed on before injuries muddied the picture. The Kansas combo guard was the No. 1 player in the 2025 recruiting class and averaged 20.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.6 assists. The problem was availability — a hamstring injury that flared repeatedly cost him roughly nine games and limited his appearances well below a full season. He still made All-Big 12 and the Big 12 All-Freshman team. Evaluators who rank Peterson No. 1 argue he is the most polished half-court scorer and the best long-term bet at the most valuable position; the durability questions are why he is in a debate at all rather than the runaway favorite his recruiting profile once suggested.

The lottery handed the framing its final shape. Washington won the No. 1 pick out of a three-way tie for the worst record, and the Wizards' reported board has come down to Dybantsa versus Peterson — with Woo noting Peterson "prefers to hear his name called at No. 1" in Washington. Boozer, despite the national player of the year hardware, is most often mocked third to Memphis behind both, a reminder that NBA draft boards weight projectable position and physical tools over college production. The Naismith does not pick where you go; the front office that drafts you does.

What separates the three is less about who was best in 2025-26 and more about which bet a rebuilding team wants to make. Dybantsa is the upside swing — the highest-variance, highest-ceiling wing. Peterson is the safest on-ball creator if the hamstring checks clean. Boozer is the floor: a four-year-of-production-in-one-season forward whose game is the most NBA-ready today but whose ceiling scouts debate. The consensus top four — Dybantsa, Peterson, Boozer, then North Carolina's Caleb Wilson — has held remarkably firm across every public mock for months. The only live argument is the order of the first three, and it will not be settled until a Wizards executive walks to the podium in Brooklyn.

For a draft that scouts describe as genuinely strong at the top, the No. 1 debate is the rare one where you can defend any of three answers and not be wrong on the merits. Dybantsa has the numbers and the consensus. Boozer has the trophy case. Peterson has the pedigree and the health asterisk. Washington's choice — and whether the Wizards even keep the pick or field a trade — is the first domino of June 23, and everything below it on the board waits on which way the Wizards lean.