Controversy surrounding Darryn Peterson, who has been in and out of the Kansas lineup, won’t significantly impact his draft stock, Brian Lewis of the New York Post reports.
The projected high lottery pick, perhaps the top pick, Peterson has missed 11 games and departed early in some others.
“I don’t think Peterson — or (Cameron) Boozer or (AJ) Dybantsa — will play their way out of the top three,” former Sixers scout Michael VandeGarde told Lewis. “Those three guys are special. It’s probably ‘eye of the beholder.’ Peterson is spectacular.”
We have more from around the international basketball world:
- The 2024 draft class was projected to be a weak one and it has lived up to its billing, John Hollinger of The Athletic opines. He notes the Spurs’ Stephon Castle and Wizards’ Alex Sarr are the only draft picks that could be considered one of their team’s three best players. Donovan Clingan, Kel’El Ware, Jaylon Tyson and Ajay Mitchell are the only other draft picks who have established themselves as starting-caliber players.
- NBA executives generally believe the Eastern Conference is up for grabs once the playoffs begin despite the Pistons’ gaudy record, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst report. One Eastern Conference GM said “six or seven” teams could emerge from the pack, as each contender has some flaws. Another unnamed executive believes there will be consequences for some contenders that come up short of the Finals: “There’s two to three teams that are going to have some real fallout if they don’t make the conference finals,” that team president said. “That’s the case every year, I know, but there’s not a lot of honeymoons going on in the East.”
- Former Heat and Jazz center Omer Yurtseven has departed Greece’s Panathinaikos BC, Eurohoops.net relays. Yurtseven had trouble establishing a meaningful role with the Greek club. In this EuroLeague season, Yurtseven averaged 6.3 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.
- Another longtime Heat player, Josh Richardson, has parted ways with Spain’s Casademont Zaragoza, accordiing to Eurohoops.net. A veteran of 10 NBA seasons with 584 appearances on six teams, including 30 playoff games, Richardson reached a mutual agreement with the Spanish club to terminate his contract. Signing on January 23, he averaged 9.6 points per contest across five appearances in the FIBA Europe Cup and Spain’s Liga Endesa.
Peterson scores and what else? Doesn’t seem very engaged when on the floor unless hes shooting the ball. Hes looking like an extremely overrated #1 pick.
Sankara 2026 NBA mock draft, repost of Prez Day edition…
1. Sac- Darryn Peterson KU guard
2. DC- Cameron Boozer Duke forward
3. Atl- Caleb Wilson UNC forward
4. Ind- AJ Dybantsa BYU wing
5. BK- Mikel Brown Jr Louisville pg
6.Uta- Keaton Wagler Illinois guard
7. Dal- Darius Acuff Arkansas pg
8. Mem- Kingston Flemings Houston pg
9. Mil- Nate Ament Tennessee forward
10. Chi- Hannes Steinbach Washington big
11. SAS- Chris Cenac Jr. Houston big
12. Cha- Brayden Burries Arizona guard
13. Por- Alijah Arenas USC guard
14. OKC- Jayden Quaintance UK big
15. Mia- Braylon Mullins UConn guard
16. GSW- Yaxel Lendeborg Michigan forward
17. Mem- Koa Peat Arizona forward
18. OKC- Karim Lopez NZ Breakers forward
19. Tor- LaBaron Philon Alabama guard
20. Cha- Thomas Haugh Florida forward
21. Det- Isaiah Evans Duke guard
22. LAL- Tounde Yessoufou Baylor wing
23. Atl- Christian Anderson Texas Tech pg
24. Phi- Henri Veesar UNC big
25. Den- Sergio De Larrea Valencia pg
26. NYK- Patrick Ngongba Duke big
27. Bos- Ebuka Okorie Stanford pg
28. Cle- Tyler Tanner Vanderbilt pg
29. Dal- Cameron Carr Baylor wing
30. Min- Bennett Stirtz Iowa pg
Isaiah Evans lookin like 1 of the best guards in the country rn at home vs UVA. Meanwhile Braylon Mullins is struggling big time vs (a tough) Seton Hall. I could see some teams having Evans over Mullins on their boards, I’m prob 50/50 at this point.
Kingston Flemings has A LOT of young DRose in his game & the fact that he’ll prob get drafted outside the top5 is a perfect example of how crazy the talent is at the top of this class.
Excruciating road L for Seton Hall at UConn just now but from a draft pov this is another rough outing for the freshman Braylon Mullins. His stock may be dropping right at the same time as Isaiah Evans’ is rising. Very hopeful that we get a matchup bw those 2 guys in a NCAA tourney regional final in abt a months time.
I would throw Kyshawn George and Matas Buzelis in the conversation of standouts in that 2024 draft as well but yeah it wasn’t the strongest draft ever for sure.
The 2024 class has actually exceeded my expectations & far exceeds what most ppl were predicting. Not sure how the article forgets guys like Matas, Isaiah Collier, Edey, Pelle Larsson, Jaylen Wells, Ryan Dunn, Cam Spencer as starter level guys from that draft. That’s not even counting the numerous young guys that have already carved out roles on their teams like Shead, Bona, Zacch, Ighodaro & many more.
The idea that the 2024 NBA Draft was a weak one is balderdash. The players in any of these modern drafts are super young and need more time to develop. That said, there are at least 2 dozen players from that draft who already look like 10-year NBA rotation players. Several 1st Round picks look like future stars (Castle, Clingan, Buzelis, Sarr, Ware and more). A draft with 2nd round hits like Ajay Mitchell, Jaylen Wells, Oso Ighodaro, Jamal Shead, Cam Spencer and Pelle Larsson cannot sensibly be called “weak.”
The Kyshawn George disrespect is strong. He’s probably one of the best finds in that ‘24 draft class and he was a late first rounder.