Former KU guard Darryn Peterson has been matched against top picks in NBA Draft
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Peterson faced the No.1, No.3 and No.5 picks in summer league games.
- Peterson averaged 25.0 points, 5.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game.
- Peterson shot 43.1% overall and 38.5% from three in those games.
Former Kansas Jayawks guard Darryn Peterson, the second player selected in the recent NBA Draft, has already faced most of his fellow Top 5 picks.
In four NBA summer league games, Peterson has squared off against the No. 1 overall pick (AJ Dybantsa), the No. 3 pick (Cameron Boozer) and the No. 5 pick (Keaton Wagler).
Peterson’s Utah Jazz elected to rest him Monday night in what would have been another marquee matchup — against the No. 4 pick, Caleb Wilson of the Chicago Bulls.
“I feel like yesterday was kind of weird for me, because I expected to play against Darryn … so when I came into the game I didn’t have the right mindset,” Wilson said Tuesday, referring to his performance in the Bulls’ 80-63 loss to the Peterson-less Jazz on Monday in Las Vegas.
Wilson scored 19 points with Peterson watching from the bench.
“Just reflecting on it now, I just I’m a real competitor, and I want to compete against the best players,” Wilson added Tuesday after scoring 19 points with eight rebounds and five blocked shots in a 99-87 victory over a Washington Wizards team that was playing without Dybantsa — who like Peterson, was held out by team officials who don’t want to needlessly risk an injury during summer games.
Wilson, a former one-and-done college player at North Carolina, on Monday was the talk of the summer league after slamming down a forceful one-handed dunk in the fourth quarter.
It has been called the top play of the summer league thus far. The dunk impressed Peterson, who was photographed on the bench with a look of awe on his face.
“I feel like I’m different than all of them,” Wilson said when asked why he played Tuesday, while Dybantsa sat out.
“I can’t say they don’t enjoy basketball,” he added of the players held out, “but I enjoy basketball. I love this. I’m going to play as much as I can, as much as my team will let me.
“I’m not the type to go away from the game because I don’t feel good because I know in the NBA I’m not going to feel good some games. As long as I don’t have an injury or something’ actually wrong with me I’m going to play every time. People come from all over the world to come see me play. I don’t want to let them down.”
Back to Peterson: He started summer league play by participating in two of three games in the Salt Lake City summer league. The 6-foot-6 guard from Canton, Ohio outscored Zuby Ejiofor, the No. 23 pick in the draft, 28-8 in Utah’s 103-102 victory over Atlanta on July 4.
Peterson said he was fired up, wanting to make up for a loss to Ejiofor’s St. John’s squad in a second-round NCAA Tournament game in San Diego — an outcome that ended Peterson’s KU career.
Peterson two days later scored 25 points to Boozer’s 18 in Utah’s 109-100 win over Boozer’s Memphis Grizzlies. Peterson next was rested in a 103-69 victory over Oklahoma City on July 7 in Salt Lake City.
Since moving over to Nevada for Las Vegas summer league action, Peterson has scored 24 points to Dybantsa’s 27 in the Jazz’s 92-88 loss to the Washington Wizards on July 9.
Peterson and Wagler each scored 23 points in the Jazz’s 104-82 loss to Wagler’s Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday.
Peterson — he hit 6 of 18 shots to Wagler’s 6 of 16 — said after Sunday’s game: “They got the ‘W,’ so I would say he won the matchup. I’m going to watch the film to see ... but I’m always taking me versus everybody in the draft, not just the top five.
“He played well,” Peterson added of Wagler, a 6-foot-5 graduate of Shawnee Mission Northwest High School. Wagler played a one-and-done college season at Illinois.
“I definitely embrace every matchup,” Peterson said. “They got the win. I’m going to give it to him today, but I’ll see him again either at the end of this (in Vegas) or during the season.”
Wagler spoke about the experience of playing against Peterson.
“Obviously he’s a great player,” Wagler told reporters. “He’s a dynamic scorer. Offensively, he can get to the paint, midrange 3s, all that. You don’t know what to expect. I was trying to be aggressive, be physical with him, make him shoot tough shots. That’s what I feel I did.
“I feel I did a good job on him. I should have had less fouls (he had seven). I have to play better defense that way. It’s something to learn from in taking the challenge of guarding one of the best players on the floor.”
