BYU star AJ Dybantsa is widely seen as the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, but Darryn Peterson is confident he can take the top spot.
Peterson has only worked out for the Wizards, who hold the number one pick. He chose not to have a workout with the teams who have the second and third picks – the Jazz and the Grizzlies.
ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reported, “He’s only working out for Washington, but he did meet with the Utah Jazz at the NBA combine in Chicago last month. And I think there’s a sense of people in Utah may have taken the idea that he’s not working out for them privately some kind of way, but that’s really been stressed to me as it’s not anything against Utah or Memphis or any of the teams that take action.”
Shelburne further explained Peterson’s thinking behind the move:
“It’s more a statement that Darryn Peterson believes he should go No. 1 overall. That’s what he’s focused on. He’d be happy to go to the Washington Wizards. And if for some reason they didn’t take him, he feels pretty confident that he would not slip past Utah at No. 2.”
Interestingly, ESPN’s Bobby Marks thinks Washington could be considering three candidates right now.
“Well, this is a top heavy draft right now, and I think when you look at it, there’s three players I think you can consider at number one,” Marks said on SportsCenter. “When you look at Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer, that is something, that’s a good problem to have. And I think when you look at Peterson here, (6-foot-6) guard, the ultimate shot maker, I think he’s being overlooked defensively, what he can do on that end of the court. Yes, there was, it was an uneven year at Kansas here, but I have him No. 1 on my board right now.
“And then you look at Dybantsa, a (6-foot-9) 215 pounds, a terror in transition, has gotten a lot better from the three as far as that’s something he’s worked on in the offseason. And then Boozer, the most complete offensive player out of the three here … A good problem to have if you are the Washington Wizards.”
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