Projected No. 1 NBA Draft Pick AJ Dybantsa Compared To Celtics’ Jaylen Brown originally appeared on NESN.
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The 2026 NBA Draft is three weeks away and BYU superstar forward AJ Dybantsa is widely expected to be the first overall pick.
Boston Celtics All-Star Jaylen Brown, meanwhile, recently finished his 10th NBA campaign and despite the team’s playoff shortcomings, the 29-year-old had his best season, averaging career highs in points (28.7) and assists per game (5.1), while matching his best output in rebounds per contest (6.9) as well.
Brown — who continues to be linked to Giannis Antetokounmpo in trade rumors — finished sixth in the NBA MVP voting, made his fifth All-Star team and was named to the All-NBA Second Team as well.
ESPN’s NBA draft analyst Jeremy Woo revealed player comparisons for the top 12 prospects, listing “supercharged Jaylen Brown” as the “high end” match for Dybantsa.
“He’s an exceptionally coordinated driver at that size, and his college production was miles ahead of Brown’s at the same stage,” Woo wrote. “Though it’s tricky to draw a straight comparison, there’s a realistic pathway for him to become one of the NBA’s best and most physical wings in time.”
ESPN senior NBA writer Tim Bontemps noted that the Dybantsa-Brown comparison is a common one.
“Multiple scouts and executives compared Dybantsa to a bigger, longer Brown,” Bontemps said. “That would be a pretty good outcome because Brown has made several All-Star teams, was just named to his second All-NBA team and has a conference finals and NBA Finals MVP trophy.”
