As the 2025-26 NBA regular season draws to a close, the Chicago Bulls find themselves in a familiar yet hopeful position: staring down a high lottery pick amid a rebuilding phase that has tested the patience of even the most loyal fans. The team may not have reached the playoff heights they envisioned, but the silver lining is clear—a prime opportunity in the 2026 NBA Draft to land a transformative talent capable of ushering in a new era.
In Zach Buckley’s latest mock draft for Bleacher Report, the basketball gods smile on the Windy City. The Bulls strike lottery gold, securing the No. 1 overall pick and selecting BYU freshman forward AJ Dybantsa. This hypothetical outcome has Bulls fans buzzing, and for good reason: Dybantsa isn’t just another promising prospect—he’s a 6’9″ (often listed around 6’8″-6’9″ in scouting reports) athletic marvel who embodies the modern “Swiss Army knife” archetype that every contending team craves.
Buckley captures the excitement perfectly: “If the Bulls strike lottery gold, folks might be parading through the Windy City streets as soon as the big win is announced. Chicago needs high-end talent in the worst kind of way, and its delayed acceptance of the inevitability of its rebuilding project would deny access to that type of prospect without divine intervention from the basketball gods.”
Here, though, the hoop gods’ generosity grants Chicago a mega-prospect with, as sacrilegious as this may sound, McGrady-ian potential. Dybantsa is an athletic 6’9″ advantage-creator who can get wherever he wants and comfortably shoot over just about anyone… He could level up his defense and overall consistency, but that could be copied and pasted into the breakdown of any NBA-bound teenager.
Dybantsa’s freshman campaign at BYU was nothing short of spectacular. He led the entire NCAA in scoring with an eye-popping 25.5 points per game, while adding 6.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.1 blocks per contest. His shooting splits—51.0% from the field, 33.1% from three, and 77.4% from the free-throw line—highlight elite efficiency for a teenager handling such a heavy usage load. This isn’t empty volume scoring; it’s production from a versatile forward who creates his own shot, facilitates for teammates, and impacts the glass.
Despite BYU’s disappointing first-round exit in the NCAA Tournament—an 11th-seed Texas Longhorns upset over the sixth-seeded Cougars, 79-71—Dybantsa shone brightly in his final college game, dropping 35 points (11-25 FG, 12-12 FT), 10 rebounds, and showing poise under pressure. His season ended on a sour note, but the individual dominance only amplified his draft stock. With his college eligibility exhausted after one year, Dybantsa has indicated he’ll decide on his professional future in the coming weeks—though the consensus is that he’ll declare and go pro.
For the Bulls, landing Dybantsa at No. 1 would be a game-changer. Chicago’s young backcourt—loaded with dynamic guards—would take immense pressure off the rookie forward offensively. Imagine Dybantsa operating as the primary creator and finisher alongside playmakers who can space the floor and run pick-and-rolls. His size, athleticism, and scoring versatility make him an ideal fit to anchor a rebuilt core, potentially evolving into the franchise cornerstone fans have waited for since the post-Jordan era.
Of course, lottery luck is never guaranteed, and the Bulls’ path to the top pick would require those ping-pong balls to bounce just right. But in Buckley’s vision, divine intervention delivers exactly what Chicago needs: a generational talent ready to elevate the franchise.
If this scenario plays out, the celebrations in the streets might just begin the moment the lottery results flash on screen. AJ Dybantsa isn’t arriving as a project—he’s coming as the real deal, a stat-stuffing, multi-positional force who could redefine Bulls basketball for the next decade.