Darryn Peterson arrived in Utah with a lot of noise around him, but the people who know him best keep coming back to the same word: killer.
That’s the reputation the Jazz are betting on with the No. 2 overall pick, even after fans and media raised questions about his competitive fire because of the cramping problems that disrupted his freshman season at Kansas. Jason Batacao of The Salt Lake Tribune reported that those closest to Peterson almost unanimously see something much different from the outside chatter.
Peterson’s rise to the top of the draft conversation started long before Kansas. He was the player who outdueled AJ Dybantsa - who went No. 1 - and Cameron Boozer, the No. 3 pick, in high school. At Prolific Prep in Napa, California, he built a reputation for relentless work and a professional approach, and head coach Ryan Bernardi said that edge was impossible to miss.
“ It’s not going to be loud with Darryn, and it’s not going to be braggadocious behind the scenes,” Bernardi said. “ In his mind he’s a killer, and he will have those games circled. Listen, we had AJ Dybantsa the year before, and Darryn’s work ethic, his impact on the game, his leadership … it blew AJ’s out of the water.”
Kansas assistant coach Kurtis Townsend echoed that belief, calling Peterson the Jayhawks’ “bona fide leader” even with all the uncertainty and drama that came with his injury absences. Townsend also thinks the questions Peterson heard before the draft will only fuel him.
“ I think it’s scary to think about what he’s going to be like three years from now,” Townsend told The Salt Lake Tribune. “ He’s just going to keep getting better and better.”
Utah’s other young pieces are also drawing attention. In a Deseret News story about the Jazz’s three two-way players - Blake Hinson, Trey Alexander and Tamar Bates - Sarah Todd reported that Hinson has dropped more than 20 pounds since last season ended. Jazz assistant coach Steve Wojciechowski said the conditioning change has already shown up in more than just his body.
“ Blake’s had a great summer - he’s lost a bunch of weight,” Wojciechowski said. “ He’s going to shoot a really good percentage, but it’s the other areas of the game that the conditioning improvement have allowed him to make an impact defensively. Just the way he moves offensively and defensively, he’s really taken a step forward.”
Todd also noted that the Jazz have been careful with Bates during Summer League because he is still dealing with soreness in his left foot. Bates spent most of last season on a two-way contract with Denver, but his rookie year was interrupted in December when he had surgery to repair a fracture in that foot. Denver waived him in March, and Utah signed him earlier this month.
And in another Deseret News item, Dick Harmon reported that Jazz president Danny Ainge will be inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in October. Ainge’s former BYU teammates praised him and wondered why the honor took so long to arrive.
In Other News...
Jazz Fans Just Got A Rare LeBron-Related Reason To Feel Proud
LeBron James has spent most of his career making headlines for the teams he joins, but his exit from the Lakers also left a small ripple that reached Utah. The Jazz were able to use that opening to help facilitate a trade for Walker Kessler, a reminder that even a superstars departure can reshape the market in ways that benefit clubs far from the spotlight.
There is also a little bit of unexpected validation for Utah in the latest LeBron chatter. Brian Windhorst said Boston would sit at the very bottom of James list of possible destinations, and the Jazz would not be last, which is about as rare a compliment as a team can get in a LeBron discussion. None of that means James is headed to Salt Lake City, but it does at least put Utah in a more appealing spot than one prominent franchise if the hypothetical ever became real. [Read more 🡒]
Jazz Free Agency Just Put One Part Of This Rotation On Edge
Utahs offseason shuffle has left one part of the rotation looking very different, and the latest free-agency wave only added to the uncertainty around the edges. After signing 15 players and cycling through a long list of transactions, the Jazz have given themselves more bodies than answers in some spots, especially as the roster settles around a new frontcourt hierarchy.
Svi Mykhailiuk is not necessarily out of the picture, but his margin for error is thinner with Josh Okogie now in the mix for wing minutes. Filip Petrusev also stands to benefit from the way Utah has stocked the center spot, with Jaxson Hayes and Mo Bamba among the names in that group. The Jazz still have a path to something meaningful if the young pieces come together, but the competition for playing time is now part of the story, and it is not hard to see why the rotation feels a little more on edge than it did a week ago. [Read more 🡒]