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“Who does he remind you of?”
It’s a common refrain when talking about NBA Draft prospects. A player comparison is an easy way for someone unfamiliar with a player to get an idea of his style or potential. It’s also tricky because it’s hard to do accurately.
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When talking to scouts or front office personnel, they are hesitant to make player comparisons (at least publicly) for two reasons. First, every player is unique and there is no perfect match, it’s always a little flawed. Second, the established player brings baggage to the comparison. In this year’s mix below, Darius Acuff Jr. gets compared in style to Kyrie Irving, but Irving is a Hall of Fame player, which is an unfair burden to put on any player.
Still, NBC Sports reached out to and spoke with a number of sources around the league in recent weeks (and longer in some cases), and here is what they said.
AJ Dybantsa, 6’9″ wing, BYU
Player comp: Bigger Jaylen Brown; Kawhi Leonard; Tracy McGrady
Dybantsa is one of the hardest players to find a good comparison for — he is a physical, powerful downhill driver with incredible coordination who can get into the paint and finish or draw the foul. However, what makes comparisons difficult are his size and physical profile, which is just otherworldly.
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Jaylen Brown is the comp most used by the people NBC Sports spoke with — but more the current, All-NBA Brown than the guy who came out of college. What Brown and Dybantsa share is an ability to get to their spots and make shots, but Dybantsa is just bigger and a tough shot maker. It is his size that had one league source using Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady as a comp.
One other comp that comes up a lot with Dybantsa is Kawhi Leonard, because of the physicality and the level some backers think he can reach. There is no wing harder to keep from getting to his spot than a healthy Leonard. Dybantsa would do well to model his game after that.
Darryn Peterson, 6’5″ guard, Kansas
Player comp: Devin Booker; Jamal Murray with better defense
Booker is the name that comes up most often, and it’s easy to see why in some respects. Peterson is a big guard who can…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/2026-nba-draft-player-comparisons-130000583.html
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Publish date : 2026-06-20 13:00:00
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