NBA Notes: Darryn Peterson, 2026 draft, Trey Lyles, Carmelo Anthony

Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman has Kansas freshman Darryn Peterson going No. 1 in his updated 2026 NBA mock draft, and the hype around the 6-foot-5 guard is real.

Peterson started out at CVCA in Ohio, transferred to Huntington Prep in West Virginia, and finished at Prolific Prep in California. Along the way, he became the Naismith Prep Player of the Year and co-MVP of the McDonald’s All-American game this past spring.

Now he arrives at Kansas as perhaps the school’s most celebrated recruit since Danny Manning.

It’s not just the basketball pedigree either. Peterson already has NIL deals with Adidas and Fanatics, making him the youngest athlete in history to sign with a trading card company.

In today’s game, he looks like the complete package — big-time talent, big-time résumé, and big-time marketability.

Lyles keeps NBA door open: Forward Trey Lyles has signed a one-year deal with Real Madrid worth a reported $3 million, but Grant Afseth of RG.org notes the contract includes an NBA-out clause.

That means Lyles could return stateside this season if the right opportunity arises. Before heading overseas, he drew interest from the Heat, Kings, and multiple EuroLeague clubs, including Fenerbahce.

Anthony, Howard headline Hall class: Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard will take their place in Springfield this weekend. ESPN’s Dave McMenamin called Anthony a “no-brainer” for enshrinement, citing his work at Syracuse, with the Nuggets and Knicks, and with Team USA.

Fellow inductee Dwight Howard got a push from ESPN’s Zach Kram, who argued that his prime seasons were so dominant that his later decline should not overshadow them.

Howard, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, has become underrated in Kram’s view — but his first-ballot induction seals his legacy.