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Peterson seems confident he will go No. 1 in draft — but that's not a certainty

Kansas Jayhawks guard Darryn Peterson. Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

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Latest report indicates Darryn Peterson is confident he will go No. 1 overall in 2026 NBA Draft — but that's not a certainty

By Clark Dalton | Last updated Jun 15, 2026 11:33 AM ET

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Kansas Jayhawks guard Darryn Peterson seems to be drawing the line in the sand at pick No. 1 ahead of the 2026 NBA Draft (June 23-24, 8 p.m. ET on ABC/ESPN at Barclays Center in New York).

ESPN's Shams Charania and Jeremy Woo reported Monday that Peterson has only met with the Washington Wizards — who own the No. 1 pick in the draft — and doesn't plan to visit any other teams. Is that a wise choice?

What are Darryn Peterson's chances of going No. 1 overall in the NBA Draft?

Peterson (6-foot-5, 199 pounds) is a strong candidate to be the top pick in the draft, but he's not a surefire No. 1 selection. Charania noted the Wizards have also met with BYU Cougars forward AJ Dybantsa (6-foot-9, 217 pounds), who also believes he will be the first player off the board.

Dybantsa earned a first-team All-American nod this past season after averaging 25.5 points per game and shooting a stellar 51 percent from the field in 35 contests. Peterson, meanwhile, averaged fewer PPG (20.2 in 24 games), but he's the better three-point shooter, shooting 38.2 percent from three; the BYU standout shot 33.1 percent from three.

Developments ahead of the June 23-24 NBA draft: BYU's AJ Dybantsa has conducted formal visits with both the Washington Wizards (No. 1) and Utah Jazz (No. 2) while Kansas' Darryn Peterson only visited the Wizards and does not plan to grant anyone else a meeting, sources tell me…
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 15, 2026

Three-point shooting is highly coveted in the NBA ... but so is availability. Peterson was often unavailable in his one season with Kansas.

He missed 11 games because of ankle and hamstring injuries and battled a cramping issue that sidelined him multiple times over the course of the season. Peterson said in May that a blood test revealed his cramping tied to an inability to ingest creatine.

Even if the Wizards are willing to ignore the medical red flags, taking Peterson still may not make sense from a basketball perspective. Washington grabbed guard Tre Johnson, a similar player, with pick No. 6 in 2025. He flashed promise as a rookie, scoring 12.2 PPG and shooting 35.8 percent from three in 60 games.

Peterson may be a better fit for the Utah Jazz, who hold the No. 2 pick. The Western Conference club needs a sharpshooting guard to complement guard Keyonte George, who broke out last season, averaging a career-high 23.6 PPG in 54 games.

Utah shouldn't take offense at Peterson passing on a predraft meeting. In 2025, the Jazz selected guard Ace Bailey with pick No. 5 even after he refused to work out with the team before the draft.

Peterson may be looking for places to live in the DMV, but he shouldn't rule out Salt Lake City. The Wizards may be showing some interest in him before the draft, but the guard shouldn't be 100 percent certain he'll be joining them soon.

Clark Dalton

Clark Dalton is a 2022 journalism graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He gained experience in sports media over the past seven years — from live broadcasting and creating short films to podcasting and producing. In college, he wrote for The Daily Texan. He loves sports and enjoys hiking, kayaking and camping.

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