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The 2026 NBA Draft is in the books. We graded each pick of the first round and second round; now, here’s a look at the team grades for the Utah Jazz ahead of Thursday’s showdown with the Wizards:
Utah Jazz: A+
As much as Jazz owner and BYU alum/donor Ryan Smith might have wanted to keep Dybantsa in Utah, it could end up for the best to land Peterson, who is a buttery smooth scorer with a blend of fluid body control and positional size that gives him the ingredients to become an elite NBA player.
At the high school level, he was a dynamic playmaker who used his burst to get into the teeth of defenses and generate buckets for himself and his teammates, while also showing off the kind of shot-making that draws comparisons to Hall of Famers. At Kansas, he thrived in an off-ball role, stroking jumpers out of movement actions and showing he can scale up or down depending on what a roster needs.
Peterson will join a talented young group featuring Ace Bailey, Cody Williams, Brice Sensabaugh, and Keyonte George, so his ability to shine with and without the ball will be highly valuable. The concern isn’t his game. It’s his body. He missed 11 of 35 games and pulled himself out of others due to cramping, which he claims is due to taking creatine. But it’s hard to imagine a better situation for Peterson. Even when he isn’t scoring, he’s a high-impact defender who causes chaos off-ball and has the 6-foot-11 wingspan to switch screens.
Now he’ll have support around him with All-Stars Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. in the frontcourt, and the aforementioned blossoming young talents. The Jazz are actually pretty stacked on paper, especially if Walker Kessler re-signs and stays healthy next year. All this talent means that Peterson won’t have to play savior, and, like Bailey last year, can ease into his NBA routine as a rookie.
Check out the rest of the team’s draft grades here.
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/live/aj-dybantsa-vs-darryn-peterson-score-stats-live-updates-wizards-vs-jazz-summer-league-000000201.html
Author : Yahoo Sports Staff
Publish date : 2026-07-10 00:00:00
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