When the Utah Jazz drafted Darryn Peterson, no one questioned his talent, and the few who did quickly had their concerns quashed during the Summer League. The real concern was his health, as Peterson had some health issues during his time in Kansas.
The young Jazz guard suffered from cramps due to, as he called it, high doses of creatine. Take whatever conclusion you want from that, but with his Summer League done, Peterson clarified the other day that after a long layoff, he is healthy as an ox while talking with ESPN's Malika Andrews on "NBA Today."
"I haven't played a game since March, so to be able to go out there and compete with these guys is something I wanted to do," Peterson said. "And I had a ton of fun doing it.
"...I'm feeling healthy, and I'm feeling like I'm back to being 100 percent, so that makes it fun for me that I can go out there and give it my 100 percent every time."
The Jazz have every reason to be excited about what's to come from Peterson, and scouts are reinforcing their faith in him with his elite ceiling as a prospect. A clean bill of health gives them even more reason to be excited about the rookie.
Healthy Peterson is an X-Factor in their ceiling as a team
Even before Utah drafted Peterson, the Jazz were already built for a playoff run. Of course, that was before the offseason twist when they traded Walker Kessler to the Los Angeles Lakers. Even if that hurts their ceiling a tad, they're still going to compete.
Peterson's talent is undeniable, but couple that with his health, and the Jazz get a ceiling-raiser. How high of a ceiling will depend on how NBA-ready he is. Ace Bailey has given Utah every indication he has the talent to be a franchise cornerstone, but even his staunchiest supporters can agree that he needed a minute before he showed himself.
Peterson may not be cut from the same cloth, as it's possible he may prove from the jump that he's ready now with his best to come down the line. That will be the question as to whether he is cut form the same cloth as Bailey or of Donovan Mitchell.
Spida proving from the jump how good he was made the Jazz get over Gordon Hayward's departure pretty quickly, but we must remember how miraculous that was. By extension, that means Peterson deserves a long leash.
But if he is Mitchell 2.0 (in terms of how ready he is as a rookie), the Jazz will be a difficult team to stop.
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