Stephen A Smith doesn’t trust Darryn Petterson as top NBA Draft pick amid Kansas absences

Recently, Kansas basketball guard Darryn Peterson raised eyebrows by checking himself out of the team’s road win over Oklahoma State on Wednesday evening. The move came just days after Peterson was removed from another game during warmups due to illness, which has raised major questions about what his availability might look like at the NBA level.

Peterson is widely regarded as one of the most talented players in the upcoming 2026 NBA Draft class, but recently, sports media personality Stephen A. Smith took to the ESPN airwaves to share why he would not draft Peterson if he had the number one overall pick.

“There is no team in hell that should grab Darryn Peterson No. 1. You cannot do it. The first ability is availability…And these games that he’s missing, cramps? Flu…I can’t trust him. You cannot be trusted,” said Smith on First Take, per Awful Announcing on X, formerly Twitter.

Indeed, availability concerns have started to become a major concern for Peterson, who is widely viewed as the best point guard prospect in the upcoming draft. There’s no denying Peterson’s ability to produce when he’s on the floor, as the Kansas guard boasts an elite combination of outside shooting, explosive athleticism, and defensive instincts that make him an ideal floor general for the modern NBA.

However, he has plenty of competition for the number one spot in the upcoming draft, primarily in the form of Duke forward Cameron Boozer, son of former NBA player Carlos Boozer, as well as BYU wing AJ Dybantsa.

In a league where load management is continuing to become more of an issue, it’s certainly possible that a team that would have otherwise selected Peterson at number one may view his availability issues as too big a problem to overlook.

In any case, the NBA Draft is slated for late June.

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