Darryn Peterson was as advertised in his summer league debut for the Jazz - Deseret News

See More Deseret News Stories In SearchView 15 CommentsShareUtah Jazz guard Darryn Peterson (22) looks to pass between Atlanta Hawks forward Asa Newell (14) and guard Kobe Jognson (12) during the first half of an Salt Lake City Summer League game against the Atlanta Hawks at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, July 4, 2026. Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News By Sarah ToddSarah Todd covers the NBA and Utah Jazz for the Deseret News.Your browser does not support the audio element.Play audioNEW: Try Article AudioNEW: Try Article AudioAudio quality:|Skip back 15 secondsPlay audioSkip forward 15 seconds00:0000:00Decrease playback rate1.0xIncrease playback rate00:00/00:00Skip back 15 secondsPlay audioSkip forward 15 seconds-0.5x0.6x0.7x0.8x0.9x1.0x1.1x1.2x1.3x1.4x1.5x1.6x1.7x1.8x1.9x2.0x2.1x2.2x2.3x2.4x2.5x2.6x2.7x2.8x2.9x3.0x+It took seconds for Darryn Peterson, the No. 2 overall pick of the 2026 NBA Draft, to show that all of the hype was warranted. On the first play of the first possession of the Utah Jazz’s summer league opener against the Atlanta Hawks Saturday at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Peterson got the ball, saw a defender he knew he could get around, drove left, finessed his way through the defense and went straight to the basket for a easy bucket. It wasn’t a play that was drawn up and there was no instruction for Peterson to drive. He just saw that he had an advantage and took the opportunity without a second thought. “Just a read,” Peterson said after the game. “I seen a bigger guy come out on me so I tried to just attack him.” That was enough to bring the entire crowd to its feet a second time, as it had already given the former Kansas Jawhawk a standing ovation when he ran onto the court to lead the Jazz out for pregame warmups. The early Fourth of July fireworks weren’t done. Just 77 seconds after that opening play, Peterson sprinted down the court toward the Hawks basket, hot on the heels of No. 8 overall pick Kingston Flemings. The crowd absolutely erupted as Peterson swatted the ball out of Flemings’ hands on a chase-down block at the rim. Saturday’s contest was just a single game in the Salt Lake City Summer League, but the Fourth of July performance showed everything that had been advertised about Peterson was true. He is crafty, confident and smooth with the ball, knows how to get to his spots and has a great feel for what to do at any moment of the game. He finished with 28 points on 11 of 21 shooting, including going 4 of 7 from 3-point range. He showed off push shots and floaters, layups and shooting from distance. He finished with two blocks, defended across multiple positions and was never afraid of contact. If there were any concerns about his competitiveness, there aren’t now. In a summer league game where the results truly don’t matter, Peterson was thinking about the contest that ended Kansas’ NCAA Tournament run. In his final collegiate game, Peterson’s Jayhawks were up against the St. John’s Red Storm, a team that featured Zuby Ejiofor, who played at Kansas his freshman year before transferring to St. John’s. Ejiofor went to the Hawks with the 23rd pick, and Peterson wasn’t going to let him get another win on him. “That was my first game since the last game of March,” Peterson said of Saturday. “That was also on my mind, because Zuby was on the other team, and they beat us on that game winner...so, was happy to get the win.” It ended up being 103-102 overtime victory for the Jazz, but the closeness of the game and ultimately the result didn’t matter. What mattered was that the Jazz’s rookie was everything the fans and team could have hoped for.