標籤: Darrin

Kansas star Darrin Peterson offered an absurd explanation to ease some teams’ concerns ahead of next month’s NBA Draft.

For many basketball evaluators, there was no more exciting NBA prospect than the Jayhawks guard in the 2025-26 college basketball season as the freshman was one of the most prolific scorers in the country. He has a great mid-range game, but can also be a force at the basket and from three. But he doesn’t need to be a ball hog and can be dangerous without it.

Additionally, the 6-foot-5 guard has a wingspan similar to that of a 6-foot-10 player, and this, along with his athletic ability, plays a significant role in why he is also a difference-maker on the defensive side of the ball. He has the potential to become a perennial All-Star at the next level. However, he had one major challenge stacked against him in his lone season at Kansas: his availability.

Of the Jayhawks’ 35 games, Peterson missed 11, and there were instances when he asked to leave games early while on the heater. This led to questions about how dedicated he was to winning, as the crux of it all often seemed to be the excuse.

Well, this week, Peterson tried to calm some doubters about possibly being the No. 1 pick in June’s draft with an explanation of cramp issues. The 19-year-old told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne that “a new round of blood tests and other tests” by doctors during the pre-draft process revealed that creatine was the cause of his cramps.

Darryn Peterson feared he was dying during convulsive episode in September

“I had never taken it before, but after the season, I took two weeks off and they did tests that showed my baseline levels were already high,” he said. “So, when I took the dose they said [a process of increasing a dose over time to create maximum benefit at the beginning of taking a supplement]”This would have made the levels unsafe.”

Peterson revealed that his cramps got so bad at a Kansas boot camp in September that he actually feared he might die.

“I took it to the training room and begged them to call 911,” Peterson recalled of the cramps he felt in his legs, stomach, back, arms and hands. “They were trying to give me an IV, get a vein to get me back hydrated. But I was convulsing so hard they couldn’t get the vein out. I thought I was going to die on the training table that day.”

In recent mock drafts, Peterson is projected to go to the Indiana Pacers (No. 2) or the Brooklyn Nets (No. 2) in Round 1 of the NBA Draft.

After earning a journalism degree in 2017, Jason Burgos worked as a contributor to several sites, including MMA Sacca… More about Jason Burgos

With Kansas being eliminated in the Round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament over the weekend, the focus has now turned to the NBA Draft for star freshman Darrin Peterson. Peterson is not expected to be a top-two pick in the upcoming draft, but former NBA player Jeff Teague believes Peterson’s hype is not what it seems.

During a recent episode of the ‘Club 52 Podcast,’ Jeff Teague voiced his opinion that Darrin Peterson is no better than Portland Trail Blazers rookie Caleb Love, an opinion that will definitely turn many heads.

“It’s no disrespect, and I think Darrin Peterson is a great player. I think he’s cool. But I think I could get another two-guard, it’s no disrespect, but Caleb Love can give me the same as Darrin Peterson,” Teague said. “That’s not the point, Darrin Peterson can get you 25 per game, but Caleb Love can give me 15-16.”

Teague further stated that he was not convinced there was a better NBA draft prospect than someone like Darrin Peterson, Benedict Mathurin. And before that, Teague also suggested he would draft Duke’s Cameron Boozer in place of Peterson.

Teague is right to say that Caleb Love has had an incredible rookie season with the Blazers after going undrafted and signing a two-way contract. Love has appeared in 45 games as a rookie, including one start, averaging a little over 22 minutes per game. He averaged 11.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists with splits of 39 percent shooting from the field, 32.1 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 73.5 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

Love projects to reach his NBA ceiling as a strong scoring guard off a team’s bench, while draft experts view Peterson as a franchise cornerstone type of player. Only time will tell how Peterson performs in the NBA, though.

Throughout the college basketball season, the debate over who should be selected No. 1 overall in the NBA Draft between BYU’s AJ DiBuntsa and Kansas’ Darrin Peterson has occupied the minds of draft experts. But according to ESPN’s Jeremy Wu, the choice between the two new stars could depend on which team actually wins the 2026 NBA Draft lottery.

During Wu’s latest NBA mock draft and lottery simulation, he had the Sacramento Kings take the top pick and select Darrin Peterson. He has the Washington Wizards coming in at No. 2 and selecting Darin Peterson in the NBA Draft.

These selections make sense considering the current rosters of both teams. The Kings’ need for a long-term solution at point guard is no surprise, and Peterson would give them a potential franchise cornerstone. The Wizards made a blockbuster trade at the deadline for a star point guard in Trae Young, and a young wing like DiBantsa who can feed Young the ball is probably more of a necessity.

As Wu reports, “The battle for No. 1 is a close one between Peterson and AJ DiBuntsa, with league sources largely seeing it as a matter of which team will ultimately be picked. Cameron Boozer’s impressive season has also kept him in the debate.”

A few days ago, a scenario was revealed where the Thunder ended up with the No. 1 pick. This will ensure that Cameron Boozer will be in the game in place of both DiBantsa and Peterson.

In any case, this is shaping up to be a very deep and talented draft class, and a prime time to pick a lottery pick, even if the NBA is threatening to crack down on ‘tanking’ in the near future.

Nearly throughout the 2026 NBA Draft cycle so far, Kansas guard Darin Peterson has emerged as one of the hottest prospects in this year’s class. However, Peterson’s stock has not remained stable. There have been questions about his health and makeup as his workload at Kansas has not instilled enough confidence that he will be ready to take on superstar roles when he turns professional.

Nonetheless, Pietersen’s talent is readily apparent. His shooting ability is pure, and he can handle the rock with the best of them. He is one of the best pure scoring prospects ever seen in the NBA, and he is being compared to off-guards like Donovan Mitchell, Kobe Bryant, and even Brandon Roy who handle the ball a lot.

But for ESPN’s Vince Goodwill, the NBA player who comes to mind when he watches Peterson play is Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker.

“Talked to some guys earlier today. The name Devin Booker came up to me. Like someone brought up Devin Booker as a pro comp,” Goodwill said in an appearance on Brian Windhorst and The Hoop Collective. “The athleticism doesn’t exactly jump off the page, but he’s an athletic guard. Like he can get where he needs to get. The shot-making is elite.”

Will Darrin Peterson still be the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft?

It’s unclear exactly why Peterson isn’t carrying such a heavy workload for Kansas, but there are concerns about his durability. His scoring has been incredible when he’s been there for the Jayhawks, but every team that drafts him first will want more assurances that the problems he’s dealing with aren’t of the long-term type.

However, the NBA always bets on talent, and there may not be a more talented player in this year’s draft than Peterson.

Most recently, Kansas basketball guard Darrin Peterson raised eyebrows by ruling himself out of the team’s road win over Oklahoma State on Wednesday evening. The move comes just days after Peterson was removed from the second game during warmups due to illness, raising big questions about what his availability might look like at the NBA level.

Peterson is widely considered one of the most talented players in the upcoming 2026 NBA Draft class, but recently, sports media personality Stephen A. Smith took to the ESPN airwaves to share why he wouldn’t draft Peterson if he had the number one overall pick.

“There’s no team that can take Darrin Peterson No. 1. You can’t do that. The number one ability is availability…and these games he’s missing, cramps? Flu…I can’t trust him. You can’t be trusted,” Smith said on X, formerly of First Take on Twitter, per Awful Announcing.

In fact, availability concerns are starting to become a bigger concern for Peterson, who is widely viewed as the best point guard prospect in the upcoming draft. There’s no denying Peterson’s ability to produce when he’s on the floor, as the Kansas guard boasts an elite combination of outside shooting, explosive athleticism and defensive instincts that make him an ideal floor general for the modern NBA.

However, he has plenty of competition for the number one spot in the upcoming draft, primarily in the form of Duke forward Cameron Boozer, the son of former NBA player Carlos Boozer, as well as BYU wing AJ DiBuntsa.

In a league where load management is increasingly becoming an issue, it’s certainly possible that any team that would have selected Peterson at No. 1 overall might view his availability issues as too big a problem to ignore.

In any case, the NBA Draft is scheduled for the end of June.