Former Kansas guard Darryn Peterson hit his first real bump of the summer Wednesday night in Las Vegas.
The Utah Jazz’s No. 2 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft finished with 15 points in a 94-82 loss to the San Antonio Spurs at Cox Pavilion on UNLV’s campus, snapping a run of four straight summer league outings with 20 or more points. Peterson went 4 of 16 from the field, missed all three of his 3-point attempts and added four rebounds, four assists and four turnovers in 29 minutes. He also finished at minus-7.
It was a quieter night for the 6-foot-6, 19-year-old Canton, Ohio native, especially compared with what he had been doing before Wednesday. Peterson had scored 24 points in a loss to Washington and 23 in a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers in Las Vegas. In Utah’s earlier summer league games in Salt Lake City, he put up 28 points in a win over Atlanta and 25 in a win over Memphis.
The numbers tell the story of two different stretches. In his two games in SLC, Peterson averaged 26.5 points while shooting 52.8% from the floor and 43.8% from deep, with 7.0 assists and 5.0 turnovers per game. In three games in Vegas, he has averaged 20.7 points but shot 30.8% overall and 23.1% from 3, with 4.0 assists and 4.7 turnovers.
Even with the rougher shooting in Vegas, the buzz around Peterson hasn’t cooled. Jazz summer league coach Steve Wojciechowski said after the loss to the Clippers and former Shawnee Mission Northwest standout Keaton Wagler, who matched Peterson with 23 points: “Darryn is a guy that puts a lot of pressure on the defense,” Jazz summer league coach Steve Wojciechowski told ESPN.com after the loss to the Clippers and former Shawnee Mission Northwest standout Keaton Wagler, who matched Peterson’s 23 points.
“Teams are going to come after Darryn. He’s going to be the first, second and third guy on the scout.
Generally guys with that type of characteristic get to the foul line. He can do it in a bunch of different ways.
Guys who can put the ball in the hole and get fouled like him are a real asset,” Wojciechowski added.
ESPN.com also reported a strong view from an unnamed Western Conference scout, who said: “Peterson has the most polished offensive perimeter package of any guard over the last 10 draft seasons. He and Anthony Edwards have a chance to set the NBA standard by which guards are judged.”
Jay Bilas went even further on the “All the Smoke” podcast, saying: “The last guy I could say that scored it as easily as Peterson was Kevin Durant.”
Seth Greenberg’s assessment was just as emphatic: “He will be a generational player in the NBA, offensively, defensively, on the ball, off the ball. You put the ball in his hands and good things happen. The dude is special.”
Tim MacMahon pointed to the shooting slump but didn’t sound worried: “He’s really more of a shooting guard who can make really good reads and really good passes … He didn’t shoot it well, but you could see how easy it is for him to create space in the half court for it. I wouldn’t worry about that one iota.”
Michael Angelo Murillo of basketballnetwork.net added: “For all the upside he brings to the Jazz, Peterson is still very much a work in progress. But the encouraging part for Utah is that he is embracing it and is willing to do what is needed to address his shortcomings as he strives to help the team achieve sustained success.”
Utah also got 16 points from former Missouri guard Tamar Bates, who started and played 21 minutes. Bates shot 5 of 9 from the field, went 1 of 2 from 3, and finished with two rebounds and no assists.
Elsewhere in the summer league, former Kansas guard Melvin Council Jr. scored nine points in New Orleans’ 82-77 loss to Cleveland. Council started, played 26 minutes, and shot 4 of 9 while adding five assists, two rebounds, one steal and a plus-5 rating.
Former K-State guard Markquis Nowell led the Pelicans with 20 points, though he needed 13 shots to get there and went 2 of 11 from 3. He made 6 of 7 free throws and scored 15 of his points in the fourth quarter, while also recording two steals and two assists in 24 minutes off the bench.
Former KU center Hunter Dickinson was rested for New Orleans. Dickinson has signed a 2-way contract with the Pelicans for a second straight season, and Nowell and Council are among the players competing for the team’s final two 2-way spots.
Former KU guard Dajuan Harris also saw limited action, playing the final 40 seconds of Minnesota’s 114-98 win over Indiana. He has not played more than two minutes in any game for the Timberwolves.
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