AJ Goes #1 To The Wizards
Photo: Shara Talia Taylor – NY Beacon
Barclays Center
By Shara Talia Taylor
Brooklyn Welcomes Mikel Brown Jr.
Photo: Shara. Talia Taylor – NY Beacon
Barclays Center
A new class of NBA prospects surrounded by family, friends and fans gathered at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn to eagerly await for their names to be called at the 2026 NBA draft on June 23 and June 24.
The Washington Wizards used their No. 1 overall pick to select highly anticipated small forward AJ Dybantsa from Brigham Young University. Closer to home, the Brooklyn Nets used their options to select the No. 6 overall pick Louisville Cardinals’ guard Mikel Brown Jr, acquired the 28th overall pick, Iowa State Cyclones forward Joshua Jefferson, and choose UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau at 43, while the New York Knicks added 39th pick Jack Kayil, a guard for the Alba Berlin professional basketball club and Vanderbilt’s guard-forward Tyler Nickel with the 47th pick.
Knicks Pick Kayil #39 In The 2nd Round
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
“Being the No. 1 pick, it’s meant a lot to me,” Dybantsa said. “Obviously me being No. 1 throughout all my high school career, I definitely wanted to be a staple to be No. 1 in the NBA Draft and be in the same conversation with LeBron James, Cooper Flagg, Allen Iverson and guys like that.”
Dybantsa, a 6-foot-9 freshman with a 7-foot wingspan, who is originally from Boston, Mass., led NCAA Division I men’s basketball in scoring with 25.5 points per game. He stood out during the NCAA basketball tournament as he became the first freshman in tournament history to score 35 points in an opening-round game since Stephen Curry in 2007.
Brown became Louisville’s highest-drafted player since Felton Spencer was selected sixth overall in the 1990 NBA Draft. “I think I fit into the system really well and what Coach Jordi [Fernandez] has building with them,” Brown said about being selected to the Brooklyn Nets. “You could see the bond and the maturity and the camaraderie that they had. I feel like I fit right in, as well as the whole staff.”
The 20-yr-old freshman, originally from Orlando, Fla., averaged 18.2 points per game at Louisville and was named part of the 2025-26 Atlantic Coast Conference All-Rookie Team. He ranked second in scoring during the season and first in assists averaging 4.7 assists per game. He broke Cooper Flagg’s ACC freshman record after scoring 45 points against NC State. He won gold medals with USA Basketball at the 2024 FIBA U18 AmeriCup and 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup.
“When you hear somebody say they are from Brooklyn, they take pride in it,” Brown Jr. said when asked what excited him the most about Brooklyn.
Jefferson was signed through a 3-way trade. He believes he was selected for his physicality that compliments the trend in the league right now.
“I think the thing about my game that’s going to translate pretty quickly is my physicality,” Jefferson said. “You have to be physical in the playoffs to win, and that’s what I’m going to bring.”
The 22-yr-old from Nevada, who is son of former NFL player Ben Jefferson, began his college career at Saint Mary’s before transferring to Iowa. He averaged 16.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.6 steals per game at Iowa and was named second-team All-American and first-team All-Big 12 honors. He became the first player in school and Big 12 history to record multiple triple-doubles during conference play in a single season.
The Nets selected 22-yr.-old Bilodeau in the second round of the draft on Wednesday. Bilodeau played two seasons for Oregon State before transferring to UCLA, where he led the Bruins in scoring averaging 17.6 ppg.
Bilodeau’s father, Brent Bilodeau, was a first-round pick in the 1991 NHL Draft and his mother, Cass Bauer-Bilodeau, played in the WNBA.
According to the 2026 NBA Draft & Offseason Trade Tracker the Knicks acquired 6-5 Kayil (No. 39) of Berlin Germany through trade negotiations with the Houston Rockets and multiple teams, and gained Nickel (No. 47), a 6-8 senior from Harrisonburg, Va via a four-team trade with the Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Based on his NBA draft profile 20-yr.-old Kayil, averaged 12.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game with Alba Berlin in 2025-26 and led Germany to a silver medal at the 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup. Per his draft profile, he committed to Gonzaga, but instead pursued the draft.
Per his profile, 22-yr.-old Nickel, started his college basketball pursuits at North Carolina before transferring to Virginia Tech, and later to Vanderbilt where he averaged 13.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game in 2025-26. He was a top five leader in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in 3-point percentage in his final two seasons with Vanderbilt.
Many drafted players will next participate in the NBA Summer League, an offseason basketball competition where all 30 NBA teams evaluate rookies, sophomores, and undrafted players in games held in Las Vegas and earlier events in California and Utah in July.
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