No. 1 Pick AJ Dybantsa Misses the Wizards' Opener With a Mild Ankle Sprain

AJ Dybantsa’s NBA debut will not be Friday either. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 draft was ruled out of the Washington Wizards’ home game against the Toronto Raptors on Friday, his second straight missed game to open the season, with a sprained left ankle that still has him listed as day-to-day. Head coach Brian Keefe confirmed the ruling on Thursday, per Reuters’ Field Level Media report. Washington won the opener without him, 128-116, behind a 34-point debut from Anthony Davis.

Update, October 23: Dybantsa will miss his second straight game, Friday’s home date with Toronto. Keefe said Thursday that the rookie has done some on-court shooting in practice and remains day-to-day. The next chance is Saturday at Chicago.

What did Thursday’s ruling change?

The Friday target the club had pointed to on Tuesday is gone. Keefe ruled Dybantsa out of the Raptors game on Thursday, Reuters and Rookie Wire report, which turns a one-game delay into a two-game absence before the season is a week old. The injury is the same one from the October 16 preseason finale against New Orleans, and Keefe’s description has not changed: day-to-day, with some on-court shooting work behind him. Rookie Wire, citing Greg Finberg of WizardsCentral.com, reports Dybantsa averaged 12.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists in four preseason games, so the missed games are also lost chances to build on a solid camp. Saturday’s game in Chicago, the first of a three-game road trip, is now the next possible debut date.

Why was Dybantsa not playing?

A preseason play that looked minor cost him the night his rookie season was supposed to start. In the second quarter of Friday’s preseason finale against New Orleans, Dybantsa landed after a jumper over Zion Williamson and rolled the ankle, in ClutchPoints’ report of the injury and its aftermath. He walked off under his own power with a moderate limp, which mattered, and Washington ruled him out for the rest of that game as a caution. The Wizards lost the finale 107-106, and the caution carried into the week. On Tuesday, Keefe told reporters the sprain is mild, the injury is not serious, and his rookie is day-to-day with light practice work behind him. None of that got him cleared for Wednesday, and the club’s injury report for the opener listed him out with a left ankle sprain.

Who took his place, and what did the night look like without him?

Bilal Coulibaly started in the spot drawn up for Dybantsa, alongside Trae Young, Kyshawn George, Anthony Davis and Alex Sarr, per NBC Sports’ lineup report. That five tells you what Washington has become: two veteran stars, Young and Davis, added to a young core the club drafted and kept. Dybantsa was meant to be the third name in that sentence and the first one in the marketing. The night worked out anyway. Davis scored 34 points with 12 rebounds in his Wizards debut, 18 of the points in the third quarter, and Young added 20 points and 13 assists, Reuters reports. Milwaukee, playing its first game since the trade that sent Giannis Antetokounmpo to Miami, led by as many as eight and trailed only 93-90 after three quarters; Washington opened the fourth with a 21-2 run and made its first nine shots of the period. Coulibaly finished with 11 points, 4 steals and 2 blocks, George scored 18, and Tyler Herro led Milwaukee with 24 points and 9 assists in his Bucks debut.

Why does the debut wait keep stretching?

Because the day-to-day label has now lasted a full week. When Keefe pointed to Friday’s home game against Toronto on Tuesday, the debut carried a weight the opener could not: a No. 1 pick’s first NBA minutes against a defence built around Kawhi Leonard and Scottie Barnes, a harder and better test than a Wednesday opener. Thursday’s ruling takes that date off the board too, and the debut moves to Saturday at Chicago at the earliest, on the road, opening a three-game trip. Toronto’s visit still matters: Toronto starts Kawhi Leonard, whose return season is the East’s other early story, but the Wizards will face him without their own young star.

Is Washington right to be this careful?

Yes, on the medical facts the club has given. A mild ankle sprain in a 19-year-old franchise player is not a story a club gambles on in October, and day-to-day with on-court shooting work is the profile of a player close to returning rather than one being shut down. The cost is only narrative: opening night was the one home date Washington could sell on the future arriving, and Friday was the reset. Both have now passed with the future in street clothes, and the conversation Keefe’s own framing held off, from patience to concern, gets a little louder with a second straight missed game. Davis’s 34 points covered the absence for one night. The club needs the debut to arrive in Chicago before the questions change from when to how careful is too careful.

What happens next?

Friday’s status is settled: out, the second straight missed game. Saturday’s game at Chicago is the next checkpoint, and with it the first road game of a three-game trip, which is a harder place to make a debut than at home. Full practice on Friday would point to Saturday, and another downgrade would move the story from a delay to a real absence. Toronto’s visit is also the test Toronto is using for its own questions, the way opening week around the East has paired its storylines up: the LeBron James microphone moment on the Knicks’ ring night, the scuffle that opened the Spurs and Thunder season, and the WNBA Finals between Atlanta and Golden State, which reached Game 3 the same night the Wizards opened. If Dybantsa plays Saturday and plays well, Wednesday becomes a footnote in his first week. If the ankle lingers into the road trip, the questions change from when to how careful is too careful.