It's an incredibly satisfying time for the Utah Jazz as their young star is already going supernova.
The Utah Jazz are feeling very, very good about their NBA Draft return right now.
As they should be. Through two games, their selection with the number-two pick, Darryn Peterson, has dropped scoring totals of 28 and 25 points in 55 collective minutes.
But beyond the numbers alone, Peterson was granted the chance to make a statement against his fellow classmate and the third-overall pick, Cameron Boozer. Boozer was the National Player of the Year in college basketball last season with the Duke Blue Devils and was widely rumored to be the Jazz's draft target with the second overall pick this year.
After all, with his connection to the team (his father, Carlos, was once an all-star in Utah and currently serves as a scout for the franchise) and the analytics' affinity for his all-around toolbox, he seemed like a safe selection for a team that had largely rounded out its lineup of the future.
Why pass on a player who can do it all and has won at every level?
The answer is simple: Darryn Peterson was still on the board.
From the jump, Darryn Peterson established himself as the dominant force in this clash of the titans. He scored the Jazz's first 7 points of the game, with gentle floaters through traffic, pure free throws, and fading turnaround three-pointers.
From there, he got his teammates involved. And when I say he got his teammates involved, I mean he vehemently rejected the notion that he isn't a playmaker by stockpiling assists to a grand sum of 12. 12. Assists.
For a player who was widely panned as a ball-dominant scorer -- dismissed as a distributor -- Darryn Peterson has revealed a new wrinkle to his game. He's more than capable of delivering on several fronts for his team. He looked like John Stockton on the court of the Huntsman Center, blended with the scoring instinct of Kobe Bryant.
I'm really trying not to be hyperbolic.
His star-power is apparent to the degree that Utah hasn't seen in ages -- Donovan Mitchell is the last player who even comes close. It's rare for a player in Utah to be much more than a "promising young talent" from the very beginning; Peterson is the most obvious superstar I've ever seen the Jazz draft.
It's not that Cameron Boozer was bad in the pair's meeting -- he scored 18 points on excellent efficiency with 7 rebounds and 4 assists -- it's that Peterson's exceptional night muted the opposition as he led the Jazz to their second Summer League victory.
