theathleticuk
The Athletic has live coverage of the 2026 NBA Draft.
The Utah Jazz selected Darryn Peterson with the No.
2 pick Tuesday in the NBA Draft.
Peterson spent one season at Kansas, playing in 24 games and averaging 20.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.
In high school, he showed he was a strong ballhandler who counters defenders well with his herky-jerky actions.
He can not only keep his dribble alive, but also threaten defenses with his creativity out of ball screens.
Advertisement At the NBA combine, he measured at 6 feet 4.5 without shoes, with a wingspan of 6 feet 9 3/4 inches and an 8-foot-7 standing reach.
He plays with strength and physicality and has a powerful, skinny frame that looks like it will continue to fill out in the next three years.
Sam Vecenies draft guide summary Peterson was as complete a guard as Ive evaluated entering college basketball in a long while.
Hes an aggressive shot hunter on the court, and I love the way he went about improving his passing ability out of ball screens.
Until this season at Kansas, he had never stagnated, continually working his way up a steady trajectory to the top of his recruiting class.
But then he plateaued with the Jayhawks, and there is a case that he took a step back in some respects especially as a passer and playmaker.
How much of it was because of injury? How much of it was because of the situation around him at Kansas? How much of it was because college basketball was harder than high school? Petersons performance raised questions, especially in regard to his decision-making and ability to consistently get paint touches.
However, its possible these issues will go away once he gets into an NBA offensive scheme.
Im buying into what I saw from Peterson in high school.
Its exceptionally hard to find players who are this creative, who can make shots at this level at such a young age and who have at least demonstrated the ability to pass and defend at some point, even if those skills have been inconsistent.
Yes, there are questions that Peterson needs to answer for NBA teams.
But the talent is the talent, and Peterson projects to be the kind of player who can dribble, pass, shoot, defend and think the game at a high level, as long as his development goes well over the next two years.
John Hollingers analysis Peterson came into the year as the No.
1 player on most draft boards, but his injury-riddled season at Kansas left a lot of questions.
In particular, the minutes he played didnt really showcase him as a lead creator despite a high scoring rate.
His stat line is more of an elite 3-and-D guy, which obviously still has value, but that would be a slightly disappointing outcome this high in the draft.
Advertisement The most notable stat for Peterson is 9.9 field goal attempts for every assist in Big 12 play, which isnt quite in Cam Thomas territory but definitely isnt good for a guard prospect.
You can only blame him playing off-ball for some of that; most of the other elite wing prospects from recent years averaged between 4 and 7 shots per assist.
Even Dybantsa, who wasnt exactly nicknamed the Human Assist, was at 5 shots per assist.
Petersons injuries and limited minutes somewhat obscured how much he was scoring, though; in conference games, he averaged 40.2 points per 100 possessions, more than Dybantsa.
Thats partly because when he went to the rim in the half court, he was shooting every time; in transition, oddly, he threw some tremendous alley-oops.
Peterson, alas, wasnt quite as efficient as he could have been on those shots; he lacked explosion at the rim, and his left hand frequently let him down as a finisher.
David Aldridges draft confidential Eastern Conference scout No.
1: Darryn has the higher floor (over Dybantsa).
Hes going to be really good.
Can he be a core player, a Steph (Curry) or Klay (Thompson)? I think he has the ability to be Klay-level.
Hes really, really good.
I went to a few practices, and hes as good as any college player Ive seen.
It wasnt like it was a bunch of first-round picks around him, like if he was at Duke.
..
His high school team was the same way it wasnt great.
Teams try to take him out.
I saw him shoot with his left hand on four straight possessions: a jumper, a layup off the glass.
..
Theres a lot of poise to him.
I dont like anybody doing the Kobe Bryant, Ive got Mamba Mentality.
I dont really like that.
Hes a quiet kid.
Hes not going to seek attention.
I think hes closer to Kawhi (Leonard) than Kobe in terms of personality.
College assistant coach No.
1 (his team played Kansas): I love his demeanor.
He seemed locked in.
(But) when we jumped on them, I felt like he had a little bit of I dont want any of this.
There wasnt a lot of fight from him, which I was a little surprised with.
When we played BYU, the skill (from Dybantsa) was there, but I was like, This guys competitive.
I didnt get that from Peterson.
Advertisement The size, the shooting was there.
Thats a given.
I think he handles it fine.
He keeps it simple when he needs to.
I saw him a lot in high school and AAU, and hes got a good enough handle.
Hes got good size for that position.
I just think, naturally, he wants to shoot the ball.
But his passing and assists were fine.
Defense was OK.
Dybantsa, I was like, this dude isnt the best defender, but he cares.
This story will be updated.