What if Darryn Peterson goes to Thunder? This wild mock draft speaks it into existence

The Oklahoma City Thunder are not merely the defending NBA champions, they have also finished at the top of the Western Conference for three seasons running. Now, they have been handed a unique opportunity to receive a lottery pick in the 2026 draft via the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Thunder currently hold the No. 12 pick but have a 7.1% chance of moving up to the top-4. And well, this mock draft from Yahoo Sports envisions a scenario where they end up drafting none other than Darryn Peterson, which will arguably present a huge problem to the rest of the league for seasons to come.

Peterson profiles as one of the few prospects in this class with true primary-scoring upside. The 6-foot-6 guard from the University of Kansas averaged 20.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists across 24 games while shooting 43.8% from the field and 38.2% from three.

A talented ball handler who can shoot from anywhere and is perfectly comfortable creating his own shots, Peterson also has a 6-foot-10.5 wingspan that makes him equally useful on the defensive end. Of course, one issue that has become recurring with his name is that of injuries.

Hamstring and ankle issues caused him to miss 11 games and exit others early. Despite those limitations, he still produced multiple high-end performances, including a 32-point overtime outing against TCU and a 28-point NCAA tournament game.

The Thunder already operate with a primary offensive engine in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. In Peterson, they will be drafting another high-calibre scorer who can operate as a secondary creator alongside Jalen Williams.

Further, the 19-year-old is expected to develop into a high-efficiency scorer fairly quickly and is one of the standouts in a class seen as one of the deepest in NBA history. That alone makes the prospect of Peterson joining the Thunder an extremely scary one. Of course, they only have a more than 7% chance of getting the pick, in the first place.

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