The Darryn Peterson vs AJ Dybantsa discussion has been rampant since the NBA Draft lottery drew near and the lottery has now fallen into place. Back in February, Peterson was still missing games and halves due to various ailments and Dybantsa was thriving, making his case for the #1 overall pick in the upcoming NBA draft. The lottery fallout has made things interesting, however.
All year long, BYU fans have claimed that Dybantsa was better than Peterson and more deserving of the top overall pick, but many of them are now trying to do a “take-backsies” to retract those statements. This is due to the Utah Jazz officially securing the #2 pick in the upcoming draft.
The Jazz are sitting behind only the Washington Wizards, who will have the top pick for the first time since 2010, when they selected John Wall. To the dismay and fear of the Jazz-BYU faithful, there’s a chance that AJ Dybantsa is their guy. The 6'9" forward went to prep school and college in Utah and Jazz owner, Ryan Smith, had a huge role in that. Even the Jazz’s Danny and Austin Ainge went to BYU.
Essentially, the mind games from the BYU fans and the Utah Jazz front office will now begin, as they look to try to convince the Wizards to not select Dybantsa with the top overall pick. Part of this ploy on their end is to convince everyone they know that they now suddenly think Peterson is the better prospect. Funny enough, the argument is valid, because Peterson just might be.
What would Peterson’s fit look like with the Wizards and Jazz?
The biggest knock on Peterson all season has been his strange lack of availability for the Jayhawks, due to cramping, minor injuries, and illness. Peterson shed some light on this recently, expressing how a high dose of creatine led to him having full-body cramps, which became a physical and eventual mental hurdle that he dealt with.
Even with these challenges, the 6’6” future star was able to average 20.2 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 1.6 APG, and 1.4 SPG in his 29 minutes per contest. Pair this with his silky smooth jumper (38.2% from beyond the arc does not even do his shooting ability justice) and his ability to carry a lackluster KU offense in some huge games, and he truly might be the better #1 pick over Dybantsa.
If the Wizards select him, Peterson would instantly slot into the starting SG spot alongside former Atlanta Hawk, Trae Young. He would also be joined by two very athletic big men in an aging Anthony Davis and a young Alex Sarr. Peterson would compete with Kyshawn George, Bub Carrington, and Tre Johnson for guard minutes, but ultimately has a fairly clear pathway to start.
With the Jazz, if the Wizards do go the Dybantsa route, the layout is trickier and the pathway is much more unclear. The Jazz will likely be starting Keyonte George at PG, Lauri Markkanen at SF, Jaren Jackson Jr. at PF, and Walker Kessler at C. This means their starting SG spot is open as well, but Ace Bailey is highly touted and Brice Sensabaugh is coming off of a career year.
The Jayhawk diehards and Dybantsa relationship dates all the way back to 2024, when Kansas was one of his final four teams when he was getting ready to commit. Fast-forward to 2026 and KU, Dybantsa, and BYU, still seem to be intertwined with this interesting Peterson-Dybanta dilemma.
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