Darryn Peterson's NBA Draft Stock Discussed by Scouts Amid Kansas Star's Availability Concerns

Kansas guard Darryn Peterson has shown flashes of brilliance during his freshman season, but he's unfortunately been sidelined numerous times this year, including Wednesday, when he took himself out of his team's 81-69 win over Oklahoma State after 18 minutes played due to cramping issues.

Petersen is a strong candidate to go first overall in the 2026 NBA draft, but he's now missed 11 full games with a hamstring injury, cramps, a rolled ankle and flu-like symptoms.

However, NBA scouts reportedly aren't particularly concerned as of yet as it pertains to his professional prospects, per an anonymous NBA scout to Brendan Marks and Justin Williams of The Athletic.

"I haven't heard, from anyone I've talked to, like, 'Wow, he's going (pick No.) 10 now,'" the NBA scout said "When finally on the clock, I don't think a couple of missed games because of hamstring (issues) or whatever are gonna convince someone that it's not worth it (to draft) Darryn Peterson.

"He's such a valuable archetype, right? Big enough. Can lead an offense. Makes tough shots."

As The Athletic noted, Peterson is part of a stacked freshman class within an elite group of 2026 prospects.

"Even if Peterson were fully healthy, there's earnest debate among NBA personnel about his upside compared to BYU's AJ Dybantsa, Duke's Cameron Boozer, North Carolina's Caleb Wilson, Houston's Kingston Flemings and a whole host of other first-year stars," Marks and Williams wrote.

Despite Peterson's health and that group of players, he's largely considered a No. 1 overall prospect. Peterson went No. 1 overall in the latest mock draft for Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report, who compared him to Minnesota Timberwolves superstar Anthony Edwards.

"Confusion or frustration over Darryn Peterson's minutes and absences still aren't setting off alarms. Durability and competitiveness have become talking points, but it doesn't sound like they're changing the minds of most who had him No. 1 to start the year," Wasserman wrote.

Wasserman's remarks seem in line with the scouts say in The Athletic piece. That second scout loves Peterson's potential.

"He's elite, elite, elite," the scout said. "When he's fully healthy, the shot-making is on another level. … When it comes down to it, man, if you've seen this guy play in high school, and you saw those matchups, like, Darryn is the guy. For sure."

Peterson is averaging 20.0 points in just 26.9 minutes per game while shooting 48.5 percent from the field and 43.1 percent from three. He just dropped 23 points in 18 minutes against Oklahoma State off the strength of a tremendous 6-of-10 three-point shooting performance.

His next chance to play is on Saturday, when Kansas hosts Cincinnati at 1 p.m. ET.