Darrin Peterson is still viewed as the No. 1 pick in the draft due to injury
in 2026 NBA draft is a few months away, but there are already a few players who have seemingly broken away from the rest of the pack. Kansas’ Darrin Peterson, BIU’s AJ Dibantsa and Duke’s Cameron Boozer have all made cases to be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, with Peterson still appears as a favorite despite his long-term hamstring injuryaccording to ESPN’s Jeremy Wu.
Darrin Peterson recently returned to the Kansas lineup after missing seven games with said hamstring injury, but it didn’t seem to change his NBA draft stock at all. After playing in two games, Peterson was turned off Jayhawks game against Towson on Tuesday, per John Rothstein of CBS Sports.
Peterson has appeared in four games so far for Kansas this season, logging just over 26 minutes per game. He averaged 19.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.3 steals while shooting 52.8 percent from the field, 42.3 percent from the 3-point line and 76.9 percent from the free throw line.
In his first game back from the sidelines, Peterson finished with 17 points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal in a win against Missouri. He followed that up with 17 points, five rebounds, four assists and one block in a win against NC State.
Peterson isn’t necessarily a true point guard, but scouts are reportedly not worried about him struggling in that role at the NBA level. One scout was quoted as saying to Wu, “What’s the point guard in the NBA right now, that’s him. Are you able to create advantages, are you able to (be) a playmaker, are you a scorer when the defense breaks down? Darin can do all those things.”
2025-12-17 00:32:00
