On the way into a much-needed vacation next week, I’m going to do something I’ve never done with this space and promise to do only sparingly, and responsibly, in the future: I will write about my favorite basketball team
The Washington Wizards are a niche topic even among NBA fans, let alone anyone who’s come to enjoy reading this site for commentary on culture or geopolitics, but they made national news on both Monday and Tuesday this week. What follows, then, is a written record of my honest thoughts as I continue to process and cope with two franchise-altering moves that I kind of hated. If not necessarily a window into sports fandom generally, then it’s at least a glimpse into a specific type of psychosis that has become familiar and comfortable for me.
A.J. Dybantsa Arrives
I’ll start here: the Wizards had the number one pick in the NBA Draft this week, and I didn’t love the direction they went. After undertaking their first earnest, multi-year rebuild of my lifetime as a fan, three seasons at the bottom of the league have now culminated with a plan to build around 28-year-old Trae Young (we’ll get to him) and 19-year-old A.J. Dybantsa from BYU.
Dybantsa is… fine? He’s young. It’s very early to judge any of these guys, so my conviction is low on any predictions I make here. That qualifier aside, Dybantsa needed the ball in his hands to be effective at BYU. It’s not clear to me that he’ll have any idea how to play off-ball next to Trae Young. Alternately, if Dybantsa’s on the ball, he can score in the midrange and get to the rim, but can he pass? Shoot from three? Rebound? Process the floor? The numbers indicate he was very checked out on defense last year. Maybe that was a function of his workload on offense?
