AJ Dybantsa Hopes to Model his Game After Rockets’ Kevin Durant

That's a high bar.

May 10, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; BYU AJ Dybantsa sits during the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery at Navy Pier. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | David Banks-Imagn Images

The 2026 NBA Draft is viewed as one of the best draft classes that we’ve seen in recent years. Teams across the league were lining up to tank their season away, in hopes of landing one of the top four draft picks in the draft lottery.

It got so bad that league commissioner Adam Silver stepped in to change the lottery process for future years. Gone will be the days of tanking your way to top-five picks, much like the Houston Rockets did throughout their rebuild between 2020 and 2024.

AJ Dybantsa of BYU has a strong chance to be selected first overall by the Washington Wizards, although there’s been speculation regarding the possibility of them trading the pick. Dybantsa conducted a combine interview with Houston Rockets sideline reporter Vanessa Richardson and covered many different topics, including the players that have influenced his game most, of which he referenced Rockets superstar forward Kevin Durant.

Dybantsa explained what he most likes about Durant and hopes to take away from his game.

“His simplicity. He gets to his spots, he rises up. He doesn't take no wasted dribbles, no wasted movements.”

Dybantsa led the nation in scoring this past season, averaging 25.5 points at BYU. He also set school and conference records with a 43-point performance against in-state rival Utah.

Dybantsa actually broke Durant’s Big 12 conference record for total point scored during the tournament, with 93 points scored.

During Durant’s lone season with the University of Texas Longhorns, he averaged 25.8 points, while scoring 92 total points during the conference tournament.

Dybantsa is also a mid-range extraordinaire, much like Durant, which we know has become a bit of a lost art around the league over the last several decades, due to the boom that we’ve seen, from an outside shooting standpoint.

Dybantsa has great size, at 6-foot-9, standing just a hair under Durant’s 6-foot-11 frame, but has a much more physical and/or powerful style, where as Durant has become a bit of a finesse player, due to his long, wiry frame, which has also given him an advantage when defended by players his size, as they don’t possess the quickness and lateral movement and mobility that he has at that size.

Dybantsa has underrated playmaking chops, averaging 3.7 assists, but he will need to keep the turnovers down, as he averaged nearly as much in college (3.1, to be exact). Dybantsa’s outside shot is also a bit of a work in progress, as he averaged 33.1 percent from deep this past season.