Tonight’s Wizards-Jazz Summer League game on ESPN at 9 PM is the most important basketball game that technically doesn’t count since the last one that technically didn’t count.

AJ Dybantsa plays his first professional minute tonight. Darryn Peterson has already been cooking people in Las Vegas for two games. Per ESPN’s Summer League schedule, the Wizards chose Dybantsa over Peterson at No. 1 overall — and now they have to share a floor.

This is the first time in the post-LeBron-Lakers NBA where we’re actively looking for the next must-watch franchise. LeBron’s agent confirmed he’s leaving LA, per ESPN’s Shams Charania; that era is done. The heir designation is vacant. Tonight is the first audition.

Peterson is walking in with a chip the size of a Las Vegas hotel. He’s averaging 26.5 points and 7 assists through two SLC games, including Peterson’s 28-point Summer League debut against the Hawks and a 25-point, 12-assist performance against the Grizzlies. Both Jazz wins. He’s not warming up. He’s been ready.

He’s also 3-0 against Dybantsa all-time. High school, AAU, college — Peterson has beaten him in every format that existed before tonight. The high school number alone is wild: Peterson 61, Dybantsa 49, walk-off win. Kansas beat BYU, Peterson outscored Dybantsa. The man has a receipt for every occasion.

And he knows it.

“I see a guy that went No. 1 on the screen right now,” Peterson said. “So, I’m extra motivated.”

That’s not trash talk. That’s a dossier.

https://twitter.com/WashWizards/status/2074515247830823100

Meanwhile, Dybantsa is walking out there tonight having never played a professional game. Zero. He led the nation at BYU: 25.5 points, 51 percent shooting, the first Cougar ever drafted No. 1. The Wizards hadn’t taken a top pick since John Wall in 2010. All of that is real. None of it has been tested at this level yet.

Here’s the honest part: Summer League records predict almost nothing. Peterson could go 28-and-12 tonight and flame out by year three. Dybantsa could shoot 4-of-14 and still become the better player because the ceiling on that BYU tape is genuinely terrifying. This is a sample size of one in a gym full of guys who won’t be in the league in two years. I know this. You know this.

I’ve watched the Peterson SLC clips eleven times anyway. (My sister texted me “it’s July” and I left her on read.)

But this is the first time these two share an NBA floor, and Peterson is showing up armed. That’s a real thing regardless of the scoreboard.

Watch Dybantsa’s first possession. Then watch Peterson’s response.

That’s the whole game.