Is AJ Dybantsa Is Tanking the NBA Combine to Avoid Being Drafted by Wizards???

Did AJ Dybantsa just deliberately tank the NBA Combine so the Washington Wizards would pass on him at number one?

Rich floated the rumor to Ramona Shelburne. She did not bite on the framing, but she did open the door to a real conversation about whether Dybantsa is even the best prospect in the draft.

"I think everyone wants to be the number one pick," Shelburne said. "I just do. And I think if I'm Washington, when I saw the way those ping pong balls fell, that was interesting because I wrote a story about Darryn Peterson last week. He finally had an answer for why he had those cramping issues."

Peterson is the alternative case.

"There's a lot of people think he is the best player in this draft," Shelburne said. "Because he had such a weird year at Kansas with the cramps, AJ's projected as the number one, but you could very credibly make a case that Darryn should be the number one pick."

The question whether the Wizards actually go that direction got Shelburne to her source.

"I know Michael Winger pretty well, and I know that he has the number one pick," Shelburne said. "If there's value in somebody else wanting, if he likes Peterson and there's somebody else who wants Dybantsa, why would you just take Peterson? You should just get something for that, right?"

Her vote of confidence in the Wizards' executive was clear.

"Michael Winger's waited his whole life for a moment like this," Shelburne said. "He's really smart. So I think it's going to be fun to watch and see how this plays out."

The roster math, in her telling, has a real wrinkle. Utah has Keyonte George at the point. Darryn Peterson wants to play point guard.

"Now, you don't say no to him if he's there at number two," Shelburne said. "But it's going to be fun to watch how this plays out."

The Washington-Wizards subplot Shelburne pointed to is that they just traded for Trae Young. And for Anthony Davis.

"That is the most staggering thing," Shelburne said. "He gets traded for, the Pelicans get Zion. The Mavericks get Cooper. Now the Wizards get the first overall pick."

The pattern is now the bit.

"He's not lucky on the court in terms of injuries," Shelburne said. "And he's not even in the draft room. He's not even getting the ping pong balls. If it was just once, I would say, okay, that's coincidence. This is three times now."