The 2026 NBA Draft is several months away, but there are already a few players who have seemingly separated themselves from the rest of the pack. Kansas’ Darryn Peterson, BYU’s AJ Dybantsa and Duke Cameron Boozer have all made cases to be the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft, with Peterson still emerging as the favorite despite his lingering hamstring injury, as per Jeremy Woo of ESPN.
Darryn Peterson recently made his return to Kansas’ lineup after missing seven games due to said hamstring injury, but that has not seemed to alter his NBA Draft stock at all. After playing in two games, Peterson was ruled out of the Jayahawks’ game against Towson on Tuesday, as per Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.
Peterson has appeared in four games so far for Kansas this season, at a little over 26 minutes per game. He has been averaging 19.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.3 steals with splits of 52.8 percent shooting from the field, 42.3 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 76.9 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
In his first game back since being sidelined, Peterson finished with 17 points, three rebounds, one assists and one steal in a win against Missouri. He followed that up with 17 points, five rebounds, four assists and one blocked shot in a win against NC State.
Peterson isn’t necessarily a true point guard, but scouts reportedly aren’t worried about him struggling in that role at the NBA level. One scout was quoted as telling Woo, “What a point guard is now in the NBA, he’s that. Are you able to create advantages, are you able to [be a] playmaker, are you a scorer when the defense breaks down? Darryn can do all those things.”
