Darryn Peterson’s first NBA preseason game came with the full range of rookie-debut stuff: a start, a few clean looks, some growing pains and enough glimpses to show why the Utah Jazz are invested in him.
The former Kansas one-and-done guard finished Sunday’s 109-97 win over the Denver Nuggets with three points on 1-of-5 shooting, along with six rebounds, two assists, one steal and two turnovers. He played 19 minutes, 29 seconds in the exhibition at CU Events Center in Boulder, Colorado, and went 0-for-2 from 3.
Peterson, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, opened the game in Utah’s starting group alongside Keyonte George, Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson and Jusuf Nurkic. The 6-foot-5, 205-pound, 19-year-old from Canton, Ohio, was on the floor for 22 minutes and helped the Jazz get the preseason victory.
One sequence in the second quarter summed up the learning curve that comes with a first outing. Peterson drove inside after George penetrated and found him cutting, but the play ended with Peterson accidentally elbowing George in the face as he went up for a 5-footer in the paint.
Peterson was called for traveling on the play, and George went to the locker room after the contact before returning. George finished with 15 points in 21 minutes.
Afterward, George and coach Will Hardy both pointed to the same theme: Peterson’s night wasn’t about the box score.
“He was ready to go. All camp he was showing that he’s poised, getting to his spots, able to make the right read, guarding the ball at a high level.
I think he showed during camp he’s ready to go. I think for him maybe he was just excited to get back out there, get to compete against different NBA players,” George said as quoted by Jazz podcaster JP Chunga.
“Obviously I guess people are going to say he didn’t make a lot of shots, but I think for us as a group, how we evaluate his game I think he played extremely well. Fact of the matter is him not making shots he still can impact the game at a high level.
Everybody has the ability to raise the floor for this group, even D.P. It was good to be out there to start his journey of what’s to come,” George added.
Hardy echoed that view. “I’ve preached to our young players for years now that there is a difference between playing poorly and shooting poorly.
I thought that Darryn made really good choices and just missed. If those shots go in, maybe he feels differently.”
Before tipoff, Peterson kept the focus simple. “Just trying to go hard, learn from them (teammates). I’m trying to bring maximum effort every time I’m out there, trying to challenge myself on defense.”
Reporter James Hansen of slcdunk.com saw a player who was trying to fit into the offense rather than force the issue. He noted Peterson’s six rebounds, two assists and one steal, while also pointing out that the assist total didn’t fully capture the chances he created on missed 3s. Hansen wrote that Peterson looked tentative early, settled in as the game moved along and had a shot that was mostly short, adding, “The more he gets to the basket the better.”
Two other former Kansas players were in the game as well. Christian Braun started for Denver, scored six points on 3-of-5 shooting and grabbed three rebounds in 15 minutes. Former KU guard Svi Mykhailiuk posted nine points on 3-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-8 from 3, in 17 minutes for Utah.
At one point, Braun took a baseball pass from Nikola Jokic, raced to the rim and finished with a powerful dunk over Mykhailiuk. Braun then stared Mykhailiuk down briefly before patting him on the backside as he ran back on defense.
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