Darryn Peterson's ‘Confident' Reason For Only Visiting Wizards Ahead of NBA Draft
The 2026 NBA Draft is approaching quickly, and the No. 1 pick debate is between Kansas Jayhawks star Darryn Peterson and BYU Cougars sensation AJ Dybantsa.
The Washington Wizards won the NBA Draft lottery and therefore earned the right to select first overall.
Ever since the lottery, all signs pointed to Dybantsa being the favorite to go first overall, although Peterson is certainly worth being in that discussion.
On Monday, it was reported that Peterson won't visit any other teams except the Wizards, while Dybantsa had visits with both the Wizards and the Utah Jazz, who have the No. 2 pick.
Developments ahead of the June 23-24 NBA draft: BYU's AJ Dybantsa has conducted formal visits with both the Washington Wizards (No. 1) and Utah Jazz (No. 2) while Kansas' Darryn Peterson only visited the Wizards and does not plan to grant anyone else a meeting, sources tell me…
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 15, 2026
It's a risky move by Peterson, especially if Dybantsa goes first overall and other teams don't get a chance to meet with him.
The reason why Peterson chose that is that he is confident he will go first overall, according to Ben Anderson of KSL Sports.
'Sources told KSL Sports that Peterson's camp is "very confident they are going #1," prompting the change in this week's plans. Despite that expectation, there has been "plenty of communication" between the Jazz and Peterson, and the Kansas guard was not "trying to avoid Utah at all," Anderson wrote.
Last year, Rutgers star Ace Bailey cancelled his visits before the NBA Draft, and the Jazz wound up selecting him at No. 5 overall.
What the Latest Mock Drafts Say
With the NBA Draft just a week away, ESPN's Jeremy Woo had a new mock draft that was released on Monday.
In it, Woo still had Dybantsa going first overall with Peterson going second, so nothing has changed on that front for the time being.
Peterson averaged 20.2 points per game with 4.2 rebounds in his freshman season at Kansas, but he played just 26 games due to injuries and availability issues.
Dybantsa, on the other hand, averaged 25.5 points with 6.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists while playing in 36 games, and he played 40 minutes in three of the final five games.
The NBA Draft begins on Tuesday, June 23, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
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This story was originally published June 15, 2026 at 5:41 PM.