Darryn Peterson played 19 minutes of preseason basketball on Sunday night. He went 1-for-5. And before the final buzzer in Boulder, the word "bust" was already in the comments.
We're not linking to it, and we're not going to name anybody. But we want to say this clearly, as Jazz fans talking to Jazz fans: that's not who we are, and it's not what this kid needs.
What actually happened Sunday
We broke the game down in our recap, but here's the short version on Peterson. Three points, 1-of-5 shooting, two turnovers. Also six rebounds, two assists, a steal, and a game spent trying to fit in with veterans instead of hunting his own shots. Denver kept a body on him all night and went at him on switches, which is exactly what NBA teams do to a 19-year-old in his first game.
That's it. That's the whole sample. One preseason game, against a team that wasn't trying to win, in a gym on a college campus.
He hasn't been healthy in a year
Here's the part that should matter more than one box score. Peterson's one season at Kansas was, in his own words, "a traumatic experience." He dealt with full-body cramping that cost him multiple games, and multiple sources told The Salt Lake Tribune's Shreyas Laddha that he was never fully healthy that season.
So the guy we're judging has not had a normal, healthy run of basketball in about a year. He's learning a new system, new teammates, NBA speed, and NBA physicality all at once. A slow start isn't a red flag. It's the expected outcome.
We've seen this movie before
October 18, 2017. A rookie guard makes his NBA debut for the Jazz. Against Denver, of all teams. He scores 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting. Two nights later, 2 points on 1-of-7. The night after that, 2 points on 1-of-7 again.
That was Donovan Mitchell: 5-of-25 over his first three NBA games. He finished the season averaging 20.5 points, won the dunk contest, was runner-up for Rookie of the Year, and carried the Jazz to the second round.
A fan in the r/UtahJazz postgame thread said it better than we can:
"Donovan looked like he'd struggle to be an NBA rotation player through the first dozen or so games of his rookie season. Didn't matter. Neither will this preseason game."
The people around him already see it
Everyone who has actually been in the gym with Peterson says the same thing. Jusuf Nurkić, who has been in the league for 13 years:
"I've never seen in my 13 years a kid coming into the league and be that mature for his age. When I see a person like that and a player like that, I really want to help him. ... Everyone loves him."
Nurkić also said the team has almost had to tell him to stay out of the gym. Will Hardy called him "a very serious young man" and "a fast learner." And at media day, Hardy gave the most honest prediction anyone could: "I would expect a season from a rookie in the NBA," with good moments and hard ones.
Then Hardy said this, and it's the line we keep coming back to:
"Our fanbase will take to Darryn quickly."
That's our coach making a promise on our behalf. Let's keep it.
He's going to read it
At media day, Mo Bamba compared Peterson to Kawhi Leonard and then immediately said he hated that Peterson was going to read it. He's right. Players read everything. A 19-year-old who once described himself as an "anti-social loner" when asked about national media attention, and who is now, by every account, finding his people in Utah, is reading what his new city says about him.
He told the Tribune that the biggest change from college is having teammates who challenge him: "Now, I got vets that are like adults ... I feel like I have a couple of mentors and people that are super like-minded with me now." He's found that in the locker room. He should find it in the stands and in the comments too.
What support actually looks like
None of this means we stop talking about his game. We're going to analyze Peterson all season, the good and the bad. That's the job, and he'd want honest coverage. But there's a difference between analysis and a verdict:
- Analysis: "He's deferring too much. We want to see him attack the rim the way he's been studying Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Tyrese Maxey on film."
- Verdict: "Bust."
One of those helps a young player. The other one is just noise. Here's what we're asking:
- Judge him by February, not October. Better yet, by his second season.
- Cheer him by name at the Delta Center on Tuesday. The first home crowd matters. Make it loud.
- Critique the play, never the person. He's 19. He's ours.
- Remember what we waited for. Four years of rebuilding were for this exact kind of player. Patience got us here. It can carry us a few more months.
Peterson told the Tribune that success for him this season isn't stats or awards: "Impact and winning are just the main thing on my mind right now." That's a kid who already has the right priorities. The rest is time.
Give him grace. Give him the year. Let him cook.
Take note.