Wizards No. 1 Pick AJ Dybantsa Sidelined for Opening Night After Preseason Ankle Injury
Wizards coach Brian Keefe says No. 1 overall pick AJ Dybantsa will miss Opening Night on Wednesday due to an ankle injury sustained in the Wizards' preseason finale.
The finally gave their fans a reason to tune into Opening Night, and the basketball gods immediately hit the snooze button. Head coach Brian Keefe confirmed via Marc Stein that No. 1 overall pick is officially out for Wednesday's regular-season debut against the Milwaukee Bucks thanks to an ankle injury.
Dybantsa rolled the ankle during Friday's preseason finale. Before heading to the locker room, the 19-year-old out of BYU was actually looking like the real deal, dropping 12 points, two boards, and a block in just 15 minutes of action. That translates to a per-36-minute pace that would have fans planning a parade route before Halloween.
Instead, anyone holding a ticket to see the franchise savior in person gets a front-row seat to a heavily adjusted rotation. With Dybantsa in street clothes, the betting markets for this Bucks matchup are going to tilt even heavier toward Milwaukee, leaving guys like Bilal Coulibaly, Tre Johnson, and Will Riley to soak up the extra wing minutes.
It is objectively hilarious that Washington finally lands a 6-foot-9, 217-pound generational talent, only to have his highly anticipated debut derailed by a meaningless exhibition game. The preseason is basically a glorified cardio session, yet it still manages to claim at least one marquee victim every single October.
The silver lining here is that the injury does not look like a long-term disaster. Dybantsa was reportedly getting some light shooting work in during Monday's practice and is currently considered day-to-day. The will just have to wait a little longer to unveil their new centerpiece, while the rest of us wait to see if Washington can actually keep a good thing going.