Darryn Peterson’s summer league box score turned heads for more than one reason, but the number that really jumped off the page was nine.
That was the personal foul total the Utah Jazz’s second-overall pick piled up in Las Vegas against the Washington Wizards, a game in which he also posted 24 points on 6-18 shooting, three rebounds, three assists and eight turnovers in 30 minutes of an 88-92 loss. In summer league, that kind of foul count is legal. Players can reach 10 before fouling out, a wider margin than the usual six in the regular season.
Peterson, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, did not treat that extra room as a safety net. He treated it like a challenge.
"In summer league, you get 10 fouls... as soon as Darryn Peterson found that out, he said, 'I'm gonna try to get 9,' because he wants the players to learn he's going to play very physically."
"I was told he wants to foul because he wants to be physical. He wants to push the limits...
He is not messing around. He is very serious about this."
That approach fits the message Peterson has been trying to send since arriving in Utah. He wants to be known as a physical player.
He wants to affect the game on both ends. And he wants availability to be part of his identity, too.
That was part of the conversation from the start, when Peterson made his opening press conference in Utah about his goals for the year. He put it plainly:
“Play all 82 games,” Peterson said of his first goal as a rookie. “Coming off the year I had at Kansas.
I didn’t get to play all the games I wanted to. My first goal is to play all 82.
Make the playoffs. Try to get a ring.
I saw some rookies get deep in the playoffs, and they kind of inspired me to get there.”
That combination - toughness, two-way intent and a focus on staying on the floor - is exactly what the Jazz are hoping to see from the No. 2 pick. The foul total in Las Vegas may not carry into the regular season, where six sends a player to the bench, but the attitude behind it clearly matters.
It’s early, and Peterson hasn’t played a regular-season game yet. Even so, the early signs are pointing the right way for Utah. The Jazz believe they drafted a player who wants to win, wants to play, and isn’t shy about making life difficult for the other team while he’s out there.
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