Darryn Peterson’s first preseason: 13.3 points a game for the Jazz without a working three

Darryn Peterson closed his first NBA preseason averaging 13.3 points across four games for the Utah Jazz, and the No. 2 pick in the 2026 draft spent those games showing he can score without a working three-point shot.

The 19-year-old guard from Kansas made just 3 of his 14 attempts from deep in the exhibition schedule, yet he hit 20 of 45 shots overall (44.4 percent), added 4.0 assists and 4.3 rebounds a game and turned the ball over only six times. Utah went 3-1, and he heads into Wednesday’s opener in Memphis as a starter.

A slow start, then 23

His first game was hard. In the 109-97 win at Denver on Sunday, October 4, Peterson scored three points on 1-of-5 shooting. Two nights later, in the rematch at the Delta Center, he scored a team-high 23 on 10-of-18 shooting in a 117-106 loss. Inside the three-point line he made 9 of his 12 tries, and the team counted seven of the makes as mid-range jumpers.

Peterson played the change down afterward. “I feel a little more adjusted,” he told the Salt Lake Tribune, before adding that nothing really felt different in the second game.

Darryn: 23p | 3r | 3a
Ace: 10p | 7r | 3a | 1s | 1b#TakeNote presented by @zionsbank pic.twitter.com/uOEjdnWhl0

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) October 7, 2026

Learning the off-ball job

The last two games showed another side of his game. He had 14 points and five assists on 5-of-10 shooting in the 119-109 win over the San Antonio Spurs on October 12, then 13 points, six rebounds and six assists in the 119-116 win at Phoenix on Friday, October 16, making all four of his free throws with a single turnover.

The role he has been given is the bigger adjustment. Peterson said in camp that roughly 60 percent of his time had come away from the ball, and he acknowledged after the 23-point game that his play off the catch needs work. On media day he described the jump in the same terms, saying defenders are longer, stronger and faster, and that he has to play through contact while “trying not to take a back seat as a rookie,” as the Deseret News reported. Coach Will Hardy praised how calmly he reads the game, saying he processes it quickly for a rookie.

Peterson averaged 26.3 minutes a game, running alongside Keyonte George, Jaren Jackson Jr. and the rest of Utah’s starting group in a system with several scoring options.

What comes next

The Jazz open the regular season at the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday, October 21, at 8:00 pm ET. Follow it in the Game Center, and track every game on Peterson’s player page.