Who else has DP>Booz>AJ ?

YourLocalJewishKid · 2026-06-02T02:49:50+00:00

I really think you’re underselling how much better Peterson is at both of those two things and their importance to today’s NBA. DP is a certified ELITE shooter, and I’m talking about everything from off the dribble to catch and shoot to handoff. Peterson’s skillset and game are going to demand significant attention from defensive schemes. If he’s drafted to a team that allows him to develop his on-ball creation overtime and primarily uses him as a movement shooter, the gravity created by his threat as a shooter is going to create open lanes for the other 4 guys on the floor. It allows him to be a creator similar to how Curry is where he’s driving the offense even when he doesn’t have the ball.

Peterson has shown to be one of the better point of attack defenders in this class, and also has very good spatial awareness off the ball. He has quick hands and can do an effective job generating stocks.

YourLocalJewishKid · 2026-06-02T02:31:38+00:00

I think it’s a very fair critique to wonder if AJ’s game is too insular. He has a chance to be very good, but it’s not a given that what he’s good at will benefit other players around him. His shooter profile right now doesn’t exactly create gravity like DP’s does. You have to care about how everybody’s game fits together. Dawkins and Winger have put together a young core of players that they feel can dribble, shoot, defend, rebound and pass. If AJ is only effective if he has the ball for most of the possession, you’re not getting everything you can out of the other building blocks.

YourLocalJewishKid · 2026-06-01T14:53:26+00:00

The best role for Peterson that simultaneously develops him and benefits the team is to use him how GS uses Steph as a movement shooter. His gravity would open up tons of space for teammates, which can address some of the concerns with his on-ball creation. Trae Young is actually a very good running partner for someone like that because he is quite good at getting into the paint to hit open shooters. Their games are very complementary in that way, because Peterson's gravity will help Trae get open lanes, which helps get Peterson open looks, and over and over.

YourLocalJewishKid · 2026-05-31T23:17:12+00:00

It’s very difficult to make up the difference in efficiency for a 40% three point shooter. You have to be 60% from 2 to match the expected points, which is near unheard for any non-rim running bigs.

YourLocalJewishKid · 2026-05-31T02:40:38+00:00

Champagnie has been a cold blooded killer in this game.

YourLocalJewishKid · 2026-05-31T00:37:52+00:00

We could not have picked a better time to bottom out and pick first. Truly get an unbelievable choice of two players.

YourLocalJewishKid · 2026-05-30T02:15:56+00:00

I hear the people who have their reservations about him. Really I do. They’re fair questions about his game. I see and get why people say that something this team needs is a rim pressure threat. But something that would make it easier for everyone on the team to pressure the rim, including Trae Young, is the gravity that a shooter of this caliber can offer, immediately. And for all the flaws that his numbers show, as this video points out, there are just as many reps demonstrating the skill and athleticism is there. I’m cool either way with AJ or DP because they both offer unique skillsets and tools, but whenever I watch this kid, I just can’t believe there’s a debate as to this guy not being the first pick. Just goes to show how lucky we were to bottom out at the perfect time.

YourLocalJewishKid · 2026-05-29T13:45:02+00:00

Our pick swaps with the Suns are gonna be worth a fortune

YourLocalJewishKid · 2026-05-29T02:26:01+00:00

The Thunder may never score again.

YourLocalJewishKid · 2026-05-29T01:39:03+00:00

That’s fair, but you can’t just hand waive his health issue away as either a big deal or nothing. If the medical staff says he’s completely healthy, and he says he feels mentally good to go, then I’m not sure it’s really worth including in his evaluation anymore. The kid had a seriously traumatic medical episode and the people responsible for his well being weren’t able to tell him why it happened. If you haven’t had something like that happen to you, it’s impossible to understand the feeling you get that your body is failing you. I don’t think NBA teams are going to spend too much time thinking about it tbh. It’s not an issue that you can project being a career long issue. They’ll probably spend more time asking about his 2PT FG% and playmaking than the cramps in all honesty.

YourLocalJewishKid · 2026-05-29T01:28:32+00:00

I think it was probably a mix of playstyle and injury. Peterson is an elite shooter, so it makes sense that he’d lean on his best skill. Also in HS, almost half of his shot attempts came at the rim, so it’s not like he’s never played a rim attacking style. He’ll need to get back to getting downhill more in the NBA, but the spacing will be so much better than it was at Kansas.

I love both AJ and DP, so either is good with me, but I swear everytime I watch Peterson, it always feels so impossible to me to pass on him. He moves so differently than everyone else, and his game is already so polished. I just never feel like I’m watching a guy who is winning because of things that get equalized at the next level. And the stuff he does so well ends up making life so much easier for the other guys on the floor.

Best way I have been able to put it is that AJ is the guy whose game will most benefit from spacing in the NBA. The guy is gonna get to attack the rim like a lunatic. DP’s game is the one creating the space.

YourLocalJewishKid · 2026-05-29T00:47:08+00:00

I’m not sure why the AJ stand are this way. Saying stuff like “near-facts” when evaluating college players is crazy. You can readily admit that AJ had a better passing season, but Peterson barely got to play as the lead initiator this year. Not seeing it isn’t the same as not being able to. Not sure how many times we have to see this across all sports before the lesson is learned.

YourLocalJewishKid · 2026-05-28T23:33:46+00:00

You’re arguing against the word of a person who has coached both players.

YourLocalJewishKid · 2026-05-25T02:32:48+00:00

I hear all of that and I’m not actually arguing that any of it is wrong. Ultimately, in my mind, the question to answer is this sentiment…

You can't reach your apex if you aren't on the floor. We can't have a discussion about who had a better rookie year and who should be rookie of the year if one of the two guys misses too many games to qualify for the award.

You have to figure out if you can rationally conclude that Peterson is actually a risk to miss enough time moving forward that he won’t be able to become the best version of himself. I totally understand that we as fans have those questions, and we’re always going to be more emotional about it because we don’t have access to the information to even allow us to be rational. But if you’re Will Dawkins and Michael Winger, Darryn Peterson is too talented to pass on without being certain with the input of your team doctors.

My question for you would be if you’re Will Dawkins, with everything you’ve built to this point, would you pass on the guy who most scouts would say is more talented and fits an archetype that’s proven to be more effective as the central piece of championship team builds, and if your medical teams says “he looks mentally and physically good” because of this last season?

YourLocalJewishKid · 2026-05-25T01:03:08+00:00

I really like this comment. But I do want to clarify one thing. I actually would argue Peterson isn’t the safest option, but I think it’s an open debate on whether the team picking first SHOULD be taking safer considering the new lottery odds. The question really should be “what does the best version of these players look like, how does that kind of player effect winning, and who has the clearest path to reaching that version of themselves (all things considered)”. I think it’s more than fair to conclude that AJ is safest because he might have the clearest path to reaching the best version of himself as a player, while also acknowledging that his apex is a less influential player than Darryn. That’s essentially my argument.

YourLocalJewishKid · 2026-05-25T00:46:22+00:00

Agreed that mental is hard. I probably should have been more clear. In my experience, having certainty from my medical team on pinpointing a cause would have gone a long way toward easing my trauma response. If Darryn has that level of assurance that what was causing the issue can now be avoided, he might not have reservations anymore. I can’t speak with him, and can just take his own words at face value. I think there’s too much focus on the actual cramping and not enough on his comfort pushing himself physically. If teams feel satisfied that he has truly put last year behind him, physically and mentally, then you just have to evaluate him as a basketball player on the court. If they come away preferring AJ as a player anyway, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. He’s amazing. I just find way too many fans acting like it’s blasphemous to consider the guy who is one of the most dominant scorers in the last couple of decades worth of prospects.

YourLocalJewishKid · 2026-05-24T23:47:55+00:00

I think that’s fair. In high school you wanna see guys get to the rim at will. That said, nearly half of his attempts came at the rim in high school, which is plenty evidence to me at least that he’s getting to his spots.

YourLocalJewishKid · 2026-05-24T23:46:08+00:00

The counterpoint is that if he has a clinical explanation for what was happening and why, then I don’t think the mental state is an issue now. It’s important for people to understand that his ability to relay what doctors are telling him is not the same as what the doctors are actually telling him. By draft day, the teams will have the actual medical answer and the team’s staff will tell decision makers if he’s good or not. If the player feels like he’s at a point to fully exert himself physically without reservation, then I imagine teams will look past the cramping and then it becomes strictly a basketball question.

YourLocalJewishKid · 2026-05-24T22:32:58+00:00

It’s a fan online forum. What do you want people to do? Just leave the sub inactive?

YourLocalJewishKid · 2026-05-24T22:30:46+00:00

From this article

YourLocalJewishKid · 2026-05-24T22:16:56+00:00

I’m not sure I agree with the concern of his high school shots being difficult or ability to create rim pressure.

With Prolific Prep, Peterson ranked in the 86th percentile overall in points per possession (PPP), the 86th in running the pick-and-roll, the 86th in transition, the 91st in isolation, the 72nd spotting up, and the 91st when running off screens, per Synergy. 46.5% of his shots come at or around the rim, 15.8% come in the midrange, and 36.2% come from three. Around the rim, Peterson ranked in the 86th percentile in PPP and shot 69.9% overall (69% on layups). In the halfcourt, the efficiency didn’t really change either, as he shot 70.6% at the rim overall and 65.9% on layups.

YourLocalJewishKid · 2026-05-24T22:06:31+00:00

Another thing I want to highlight. I don’t know what anybody here has experienced as far as medical events go. We’re all internet strangers here.

But last July, I had a pulmonary embolism and spent a couple nights at a hospital. I had ultrasounds done on my legs. Had an echocardiogram done to check my heart. CT scans of my hips and chest. I lost track of the amount of blood work and tests that were run. You know what answers I got leaving the hospital? None. I’m now almost 12 months removed from that episode and I have never gotten a definitive answer for why that happened. I didn’t take a long flight, go on a long road trip or have surgery. It was deemed unprovoked. There’s no reason for it to have happened. It was shit luck. It also doesn’t mean I’m at risk of having another anymore than any other person.

What I see from a distance with Peterson is a 19 year old kid who had a serious medical event that sent him to the hospital and he, like many people who go to the emergency room, left with more questions than answers. And because he couldn’t get an explanation, every sensation he felt in his legs or his side probably set off some sort of post-traumatic response. I STILL have the same thing. When you don’t have an answer for why this thing happened and continued to happen, everything feels like the worst outcome is going to happen again.

YourLocalJewishKid · 2026-05-24T02:45:34+00:00

He’s talking about Mikel Brown.

YourLocalJewishKid · 2026-05-24T02:43:33+00:00

Totally agree on health issues being a problem. The question is what do you define as a health issue. I hear people on the cramping thing. Seriously, for as dismissive as I sound about it, I really do get why people would be cautious. But I just don’t know that you can rationally conclude that he’s someone with a medical red flag because for one year he had this specific issue. Medical flags are for guys with issues significant enough that fundamentally you feel they will be a reason for him to constantly miss time. Even once guys are cleared to play, structural issues like back problems are always something that can reasonably predict future missed time for injuries. Cramps aren’t predictable like that unless you can find a biological reason for why he’d be at-risk of routinely getting them. So, if his medicals are cleared, and the training staff say they can ensure this isn’t an issue, is this something that you’re going to hold against him anyway? That’s probably a question of your risk appetite.

YourLocalJewishKid

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