DENVER (AP) \u2014 The usually stoic Darryn Peterson couldn\u2019t mask his feelings after being taken by Utah with the No. 2 overall pick in the NBA draft on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n
His grandfather was crying. His mom was crying. So the Kansas standout got a little emotional, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was surreal,\u201d Peterson said, \u201cto hear my name.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, the real work begins as Peterson tries to help the Jazz turn the corner inside a deep and competitive Northwest Division. Utah finished 42 games behind Oklahoma City last season \u2014 and the Thunder only got bigger (taking Michigan 7-foot-3 center Aday Mara) and acquired more shooting (picking up Iowa guard Bennett Stirtz).<\/p>\n
Peterson becomes a complement to emerging Jazz star Keyonte George.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a really talented player and really hard worker,\u201d Jazz president of basketball operations Austin Ainge said of Peterson on the team\u2019s website. \u201cHe\u2019s a culture fit, a talent fit and a game fit with our organization.\u201d<\/p>\n
Denver, another team trying to keep up with the Thunder, took UConn center Tarris Reed Jr. at No. 26 on Tuesday night but sent his draft rights to the San Antonio Spurs as part of a deal to acquire more draft assets.<\/p>\n
There’s a back story behind that pick, too. Nuggets President Josh Kroenke was caught on camera briefly clapping in the team\u2019s draft room before suddenly holding his arms out.<\/p>\n
It looked as if he was mad. Turns out, he was just mystified. The Spurs were using up most of the clock before committing to the pick. The Nuggets were growing more and more concerned that time might run out.<\/p>\n
Hence, the look by Kroenke in a video that went viral on social media.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was like, \u2018Hey, what did they decide?\u2019” Nuggets executive vice president of player personnel Jonathan Wallace said Wednesday night after the draft. “It was one of those type of issues. It wasn\u2019t an internal issue by any means.\u201d<\/p>\n
Difficult decisions loom for the Nuggets heading into the summer. Everyone not named Nikola Jokic may be up for trade discussions. The biggest dilemma is how to keep Aaron Gordon healthy and on the court after another injury-riddled season. The biggest decision is what to do about Peyton Watson, the talented, high-flying guard\/forward who\u2019s going to command a lucrative contract to stay in town.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe feel good about where that\u2019s at,\u201d executive vice president of basketball operations Ben Tenzer said. “We hope Peyton\u2019s here a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Jokic is in line to sign a supermax extension this summer. Confident that will go as smoothly as possible?<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve heard what he\u2019s said about his happiness here,\u201d Tenzer said. \u201cWe feel really comfortable with that relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n
Portland fortified its team Tuesday, not through a first-round pick \u2014 the Blazers didn\u2019t have one \u2014 but by hiring Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori as its head coach. He takes over for Tiago Splitter, who left for Chicago. Splitter was the fill-in coach for Chauncey Billups following Billups\u2019 arrest in an alleged gambling scheme.<\/p>\n
The Blazers feature a talented core of young players in Deni Avdija, Shaedon Sharpe and Toumani Camara. Damian Lillard will be back after missing last season due to an Achilles injury. Lillard played for the Blazers for the first 11 seasons of his career before spending two seasons with Milwaukee.<\/p>\n
Minnesota made a splash on the eve of the draft by trading Julius Randle and a first-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets as part of a three-team deal that also included the Chicago Bulls, a person with knowledge of the terms said. The Timberwolves sent the draft rights of the 28th pick \u2014 Iowa State forward Joshua Jefferson \u2014 to the Nets and received the 33rd selection, which was used to take Isaiah Evans, the floor-spacing guard out of Duke.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know what your team needs,\u201d Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. \u201cSo it\u2019s a balance of being able to fill those needs but also be able to get the best talent available.\u201d
\nDenver Nuggets<\/p>\n
Needs: Dependable depth at a reduced price given their cap restraints. Last season, they brought in Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Jr. on friendly one-year deals.<\/p>\n
Who they drafted: At No. 35, the Nuggets went with Arkansas forward Trevon Brazile. The 6-10, 226-pound Brazile projects as a rim runner and lob threat. Denver went with forward Bryce Hopkins out of St. John’s with the 49th pick.<\/p>\n
NBA comparison: Obi Toppin of Indiana for Brazile and Charlotte’s Grant Williams for Hopkins.
\nMinnesota Timberwolves<\/p>\n
Needs: A point guard and backup center depth behind Rudy Gobert.<\/p>\n
Who they drafted: Minnesota acquired the draft rights of Evans, who had a seat in the green room Tuesday \u2014 an honor designated for likely first-round picks. The Timberwolves took Trey Kaufman-Renn, a forward from Purdue, with the 59th pick.<\/p>\n
NBA comparison: Evans resembles Brandon Ingram of Toronto, while Kaufman-Renn is likened to Montrezl Harrell.
\nOklahoma City Thunder<\/p>\n
Needs: They\u2019re already loaded. But maybe even more height and 3-point shooting because, well, a team can never have enough.<\/p>\n
Who they drafted: Mara and then moved up in a trade with the Grizzlies, who selected Stirtz at No. 16 and dealt his draft rights to the Thunder for two second-round picks. The Thunder selected Louisville guard Ryan Conwell with the 37th pick, before reportedly sending him to Miami for pick No. 41 (Kentucky guard Otega Oweh) and cash.<\/p>\n
NBA comparison: Mara resembles 7-footer Isaiah Hartenstein. With Stirtz, it\u2019s Payton Pritchard. Oweh is a lot like Thunder guard Lu Dort.
\nPortland Trail Blazers<\/p>\n
Needs: Stability. New Blazers owner Tom Dundon has ruffled some feathers by letting Splitter go and laying off numerous members of the staff.<\/p>\n
Who they drafted: None.
\nUtah Jazz<\/p>\n
Needs: When the Jazz can\u2019t get out and run, they get bogged down in the half-court so they need more outside shooters.<\/p>\n
Who they drafted: Peterson.<\/p>\n
NBA comparison: Donovan Mitchell of the Cleveland Cavaliers.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds, AP Sports Writers Anne M. Peterson and Dave Campbell, and AP freelancers Matthew Coles and Tyler Mason contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
AP NBA: https:\/\/apnews.com\/NBA<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" DENVER (AP) \u2014 The usually stoic Darryn Peterson couldn\u2019t mask his feelings after being taken by Utah with the No. 2 overall pick in the NBA draft on Tuesday night. His grandfather was crying. His mom was crying. So the Kansas standout got a little emotional, too. \u201cIt was surreal,\u201d Peterson said, \u201cto hear my … Continue reading Jazz take Darryn Peterson at No. 2 in effort to close the gap with Thunder, Northwest Division foes<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1452],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1518195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":true,"date":"2026-06-27 03:39:06","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[0],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1518195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1518195"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1518195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1518196,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1518195\/revisions\/1518196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1518195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1518195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1518195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}