Report: Atlanta Hawks Meet With Draft's Top Prospect At NBA Combine

The 2026 NBA Draft Combine has wrapped up and now the countdown to the draft will begin.

The draft combine is not just a place to watch the top prospects work out and scrimmage, but the chance to interview them as well.

BYU's AJ Dybantsa is widely seen as the player that is most likely to be the No. 1 pick in the draft in June and even if he is not the No. 1 pick, it would be pretty shocking to see him fall past No. 2. The Atlanta Hawks came away from the NBA Draft Lottery with the No. 8 overall pick and seemingly don't have a chance to select Dybantsa, but according to ESPN's Marc Spears, the Hawks were one of several teams that met with him at the combine this week.

BYU forward AJ Dybantsa met with the Wizards in Chicago during the NBA pre-draft camp. Washington is supposed to visit with “multiple players” in DC for the top pick, source days. Dybantsa also met with Utah, Chicago, Sacramento, Brooklyn, Atlanta, Dallas, Memphis & the Clippers.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) May 14, 2026

It is easy to dismiss this as Dybantsa meeting with teams that have no chance to select him, but all teams are going to do their due diligence on all of these prospects in the event that they want to move up in the draft or for other purposes. Utah is the only team that has a realistic chance of picking him, provided that Washington passes on him for either Darryn Peterson, Caleb Wilson, or Cameron Boozer, while the Bulls, Kings, Nets, Hawks, Mavericks, Grizzlies, and Clippers would certainly have to trade up to select him.

So could the Hawks trade up with the Wizards for the No. 1 pick? Anything is possible, but it does not seem like a smart move for the Hawks to make and not one that the Wizards would be interested in. Washington would have to go all the way back to No. 8 and even if they got back a haul of Atlanta's draft assets and maybe a player, it would not be the same as staying at No. 1 and taking one of these premium prospects.

I would not read much into this visit between Dybantsa and the Hawks and Atlanta is going to have to settle in on prospects that are going to be more in their range. Prospects that Atlanta could take at No. 8 include Keaton Wagler, Mikel Brown Jr, Darius Acuff, Kingston Flemings, Aday Mara, Brayden Burries, or Yaxel Lendeborg. Trading up (not to No. 1) is also on the table, as is moving back.

Optionality is the favorite word of Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh and at No. 8, there are going to be plenty of options. AJ Dybantsa is unfortunately not going to be one of them.

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