AJ Dybantsa Will Miss Wizards Opener With Ankle Sprain

The AJ Dybantsa era in Washington has to wait a few more days. The Wizards ruled out the No. 1 pick for Wednesday's season opener against the Milwaukee Bucks with an ankle injury, coach Brian Keefe announced Tuesday.

Dybantsa will be day-to-day after the opener, per ESPN. That makes Friday's home game against the Toronto Raptors his next realistic chance to make his NBA regular season debut.

How AJ Dybantsa got hurt

The injury came in Friday's preseason finale. Dybantsa landed awkwardly on his left ankle after a midrange jumper, went to the floor and limped to the locker room in the second quarter. Before that, he had 12 points in 15 minutes.

Keefe called it a mild ankle sprain on Friday. Day-to-day is the label every Wizards fan wanted to hear when the alternative was weeks.

The schedule after the opener

If Dybantsa is ready Friday, he debuts at home against Toronto. After that, the Wizards play at Chicago on Saturday to start a three-game road trip that also runs through Charlotte and Cleveland, according to the team schedule. Washington does not come home again until the Hornets visit on Oct. 30.

For anyone who drafted him in fantasy, the day-to-day tag makes Friday the date to circle, not Wednesday.

Scouts split on his fit with Trae Young and Anthony Davis

The bigger debate around Dybantsa this fall is how he fits next to two established stars. Rival scouts and evaluators are split on whether playing with point guard Trae Young is ideal for his development, The Athletic's Josh Robbins reported, via Hoops Rumors.

One scout worried that Young's presence means Dybantsa handles the ball less. "Ideally, you put the ball in his hands, and you let him figure it out," the scout said. "If he's kind of boxed into spacing the floor and not being like a knockdown shooter, he would benefit from having the ball, posting up smaller guys, driving, getting into the teeth of the defense."

Others see it the opposite way. One evaluator called the presence of Young and big man Anthony Davis a "massive positive" for the No. 1 pick, and another liked that Dybantsa will not have to "shoulder the burden of creating a ton of offense for himself."

"He's got so many guys that are really good basketball players that he should be able to find his spots within the flow of the offense," that scout said. "He'll get out and transition and finish."

That is the fun part of Friday if he plays. Wizards fans finally get to see whether Dybantsa looks like a wing who needs the ball or one who can eat off Young and Davis right away. For now, the ankle gets two more days, and Toronto gets circled.