Right now, the consensus No. 2 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft is expected to be Darryn Peterson, one pick after AJ Dybantsa. We'll believe it when we see it, but Peterson is an exciting prospect sure to shore up the Utah Jazz's guard rotation. He's such an exciting prospect that he was recently compared to Kobe Bryant.
That name will send shivers down Jazz fans' spines, but if they get their hands on the new-age version of him, they shouldn't be thinking championship. They should be thinking dynasty. Granted the comparison came from Kendrick Perkins, but hey, Perkins went up against The Black Mamba himself!
"Low end, Bradley Beal. High end, Kobe Bryant."@KendrickPerkins on at Darryn Peterson's NBA potential 👀 pic.twitter.com/UavjhZTCde
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) May 22, 2026
Bryant needs no introduction. He is one of the very best NBA players of all-time who inspired so many basketball players who came after him. He definitely had his fair share of controversies both on and off the court, but Bryant was an undisputed franchise player.
The odds of Peterson reaching the same level would basically be demanding he be the best Jazzman ever, which obviously isn't fair, but if Kobe is his ceiling, and he comes anywhere close to it, Utah's future is set until basically the 2040s.
If Bradley Beal is his floor, that's also a huge win!
Perkins said Peterson's floor is Bradley, i.e. a player who made multiple All-Star teams and All-NBA teams. He was not on Bryant's level. He wasn't even close, but once upon a time, he was one of the best players on an excellently constructed Wizards team for years.
And that's Peterson's floor?! It would be quite amazing for Utah if he turns into a new Beal. Not quite a franchise player, but not too far off from one. It still harkens back to the notion that no matter what happens at the draft, the Jazz can't go wrong because they will get one of Peterson, Dybantsa, or Cam Boozer.
In fact, Peterson has been compared to Dwyane Wade, who may not have been on Bryant's level, but was closer than 99.99% of the entire league's history. In fact, Bryant was the only two-way guard better than Wade was in their respective era.
Utah probably prefers Dybantsa, but no one is losing sleep over bringing in Peterson, a prospect has been compared to multiple all-timers. Maybe he won't be as good as they were, but if he's in that ballpark, the Jazz's future will become the brightest it's ever been.
It's amazing to think that at this time last year, there was so much doom and gloom about the Jazz's future. Now, we're finding more and more reasons to get stoked for what that future holds!
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