It seems the Washington Wizards are down to AJ Dybantsa (BYU) and Darryn Peterson (Kansas) for their choice with the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft. Dybantsa was long projected to be the top selection, but Peterson has worked his way up.
Even recent mock drafts still have Dybantsa as the top pick for the Wizards. But ESPN’s Jeremy Woo reported Peterson put himself into a spot where he could go first in the draft.
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“The Wizards are narrowing down their choice here to two players: AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson,” Woo said on SportsCenter. “The strategy here is interesting. Darryn Peterson will only visit the Wizards. He’s not planning to go anywhere else. He’s putting himself in position to go No. 1, he’s trying to help the Wizards feel comfortable with him as a candidate after his weird year at Kansas.
“Now, Dybantsa, also very much in the mix. He went to Washington and Utah. He’s a candidate in both spots. The Wizards have a tough call to make. I think we’ll see where they land on Tuesday, but they’ve been very, very radio silent of Washington. It’s kind of the big mystery out of the league right now is which direction they’re going to go.”
There’s been a lot of hype around Peterson despite conflicting reports of what actually went down at Kansas. He missed some time and some pointed at his conditioning, but he told ESPN he was dealing with severe cramping as a result of increased creatine levels.
Recently, ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins didn’t praise Dybantsa, but Peterson. He actually compared him to the late-great Kobe Bryant.
“Darryn Peterson is, to me, the best prospect in this Draft class,” Perkins said. “Make no mistake about it. He has zero flaws offensively. We can talk about how we’ve only seen an appetizer of him and we want the full-course meal. I get that. But his floor is Bradley Beal. His ceiling, if he reaches it, is Kobe Bryant. That’s how talented this young man is.
“When he steps foot into the NBA, he’s going to thrive from the start. He’s going to be a guy that’s going to average 20-plus points because he’s that gifted. He’s that talented. His body is NBA-ready right now.”
The NBA Draft is scheduled for June 23rd and 24th. The event takes place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
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