AJ Dybantsa Reveals Which NBA Legend He's Been Studying Video of amid Draft Rumors

BYU star and potential No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA draft AJ Dybantsa divulged Thursday that he has been closely studying a Basketball Hall of Famer as he prepares to make the leap to the professional level.

During an appearance on All The Smoke with former NBA players Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes (beginning at the 3:10 mark), Dybantsa named Tracy McGrady as a player whose game he has been familiarizing himself with:

"My favorite player is Kevin Durant, easy one," Dybantsa said. "But the comp I got recently was Tracy McGrady, so I've been studying a lot of Tracy."

Dybantsa also named several other current NBA players who he enjoys watching and studying, including Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, Brandon Ingram, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Dončić and Anthony Edwards.

McGrady played 16 NBA seasons with the Toronto Raptors, Orlando Magic, Houston Rockets, New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons, Atlanta Hawks and San Antonio Spurs, earning seven All-Star nods, seven All-NBA selections and two scoring titles.

From 2000 to 2008, an argument can be made that T-Mac was among the best scorers in the NBA, as he put up 26.3 points per game during that stretch.

McGrady also finished among the top eight in MVP voting six times from 2001 through 2008.

One of the only major knocks on McGrady is a lack of playoff success, as he never won a playoff series until his final season in 2013 with the Spurs when he played a limited role, averaging just 5.2 minutes per game in six appearances.

Dybantsa, who led Division I players in scoring last season with 25.5 points per game, will undoubtedly look to be more of a postseason factor in the NBA than McGrady was.

All signs point toward Dybantsa landing with either the Washington Wizards at No. 1 overall or Utah Jazz at No. 2 overall.

Either way, Dybantsa will have his work cut out for him in terms of making them contenders, as the Wizards were 17-65 this season and the Jazz were 22-60.