Jeremy Woo shares teams are doing some 'extra digging' into Darryn Peterson | NBA Today

0:00 Cooper flag.

0:01 He was named the rookie of the year.

0:02 He narrowly defeated his Duke teammate, former roommate actually, Coniple.

0:07 Chana, you you predicted a tie.

0:09 It was It was pretty close.

0:10 It was pretty close.

0:10 I thought we would get there, but I won the award.

0:13 Overall production, Cooper Platin,

0:15 the edged out con.

0:16 You can see the numbers how they split right there.

0:18 Just 26 points separated.

0:20 That makes this the closest race for the rookie of the year since 2023.

0:24 Now, Flag, he was the third Mav to win the award.

0:27 Luca Dodgeic and then also his head coach Jason Kidd won.

0:29 So we thought to celebrate here on NBA today

0:31 we would run back some of his best moments.

0:33 It's a little top of the top.

0:34 It's brought to you by Orcin.

0:36 So we're gonna start with moments in transition here.

0:39 Sh.

0:40 We got the steel athlete

0:42 the behind the back.

0:43 Push push foot on the and the euro.

0:45 Ah

0:48 that's a career right there.

0:49 That's all calves, hamstrings.

0:51 See how he snatched that fresh knees.

0:54 Look at that.

0:55 So you're saying that's only something a rookie could do.

0:56 All right.

0:56 Against New Orleans up ahead and he switches

1:02 switches hands for the finish.

1:03 Did y'all see that prank video?

1:05 It was pretty funny.

1:06 I Anthony Davis's show actually really cracks me up.

1:09 All right.

1:09 And then here you speaking of athletes, this is a tomahawk.

1:13 And the foul.

1:15 Yeah, he didn't read his report.

1:17 He's a rookie.

1:18 There's not one.

1:18 It's just been built.

1:19 How about top rejections here?

1:21 We got the chase down and Denny Abdia.

1:23 He'll draw a foul on you.

1:24 Not this time.

1:25 Byebye.

1:27 He said he ain't eating at Denny's today.

1:29 I don't want to eat that.

1:30 What's with that?

1:30 What's with that soft layup?

1:31 Come on, guy.

1:32 Another vicious chase down on Baylor here.

1:37 I know.

1:37 He was such a glass cleaner.

1:40 Windex.

1:40 Well, and you know when you do it

1:41 on Kawhi Leonard that you've really done something.

1:44 Come on up.

1:45 He's spitting on bugs.

1:51 Bugs.

1:53 Finally.

1:54 top posters right down the lane here and hammering over Brook Lopez.

1:59 What we doing?

2:00 Stay away from

2:01 Brook just keeps it moving.

2:02 I'm hilarious.

2:04 Get to the next play.

2:05 Brook,

2:06 this game was awesome, too.

2:08 The moose not loose on that play.

2:10 That's what you do, man.

2:11 People jam you up with pressure.

2:12 That's how you break pressure.

2:14 Lastly, we're talking a lot about Denver these days through the defense.

2:17 Look at that face.

2:18 Look at that.

2:19 Spencer Jones there.

2:20 That wipe wipe.

2:21 Get off me.

2:22 Come touching me.

2:22 Yo.

2:23 Hey, Cooper Flag.

2:25 I think we can all agree historic season, right, Chump?

2:28 He became just the second player to lead his team in total points,

2:31 boards, dimes, and steals as a rookie, and he's in pretty good company.

2:35 The other is Michael Jordan.

2:37 So, incredible company to keep there.

2:38 So, Cooper was the clear choice at number one for the 2025 draft.

2:42 But, let's turn the page now to the 2026 draft

2:45 as we say hello to our draft expert, Jeremy Moose.

2:47 Jeremy, we're not going to officially know how

2:50 the pingpong balls fall until May the 10th,

2:53 but when you are looking at who is that top spot,

2:56 who do you think is going number one in your mock draft?

3:01 Well, Malikica, right now all signs are pointing to AJ Debansa sort

3:05 of separating himself a little bit as the favorite going into lottery night.

3:09 Now, this is something he earned over the course of the year.

3:11 You know, teams have told me the way he developed just in season from, you know,

3:15 November all the way to the Big 12 tournament,

3:17 just night and day just how much better he got uh as a decision maker,

3:20 looking like the type of guy you can really anchor your offense to.

3:24 Yeah.

3:24 Uh just, you know, excellent athlete, has always been in the mix,

3:27 uh but really sort of took a step in season.

3:29 I think that helps him a ton.

3:30 And does that step that he took in season, does that make him, do you think,

3:33 the consensus number one pick in this draft,

3:35 or is there still some debate at the top?

3:39 I still think it's a debate.

3:40 I mean, this is something that, you know,

3:42 all season I've talked about with with people around the NBA and it's

3:45 it's a fun conversation because it is such a good draft, right?

3:47 It points to how much talent there is.

3:49 Um, you know, there's still people who love Darren Peterson

3:51 and still people who love Cam Boozer and Caleb Wilson has made,

3:55 you know, a push in that top four and, you know,

3:57 Darius Akuff had a huge finish of the season.

3:59 So, you know, all these guys, people people love these guys.

4:02 But, um, I I think AJ is right now sort of the safest pick.

4:06 I think is what people think.

4:07 He's the easiest choice with the way things are shaped up.

4:10 the safest pick, the easiest choice.

4:11 That's very interesting.

4:12 But you mentioned Darren Peterson.

4:13 What at this point are our teams saying about Peterson?

4:18 Well, the main thing to know with Darren, you know,

4:21 in season there was a lot of talk about, you know, does he love basketball?

4:24 I don't think that's the issue.

4:25 I think teams, you know, they're they're doing this extra digging,

4:28 figuring out what happened this season at Kansas.

4:31 Uh I don't think anyone questions that he's a worker, that he loves basketball.

4:34 Uh the talent is is pretty hard to argue with when he's got it going.

4:37 The real question for Peterson is just going

4:38 to be what comes out of the combine.

4:40 What do NBA teams learn uh from his medicals?

4:43 Uh how does he handle these interviews?

4:45 You know, they're going to want to know what happened this season.

4:47 And you know, how he handles this piece of the process will be

4:49 big because he's the type of talent where you get him in a workout.

4:52 You know, say you win, you know, win the lottery and you bring him in and he

4:54 shoots the lights out and maybe you're like,

4:55 "Oh man, maybe this is a a harder call than we thought." So, right,

4:59 uh again, it's a really really big month for him coming up.

5:01 Um, but still in that mix for number one and and there is just such a depth

5:05 to this draft class that is coming up here in June.

5:08 Hey, something that people around the league

5:10 are paying attention to here, right?

5:12 The Thunder hold the Clippers pick, right?

5:15 And that pick it could potentially it could jump

5:17 all the way up to a top four pick,

5:19 which is terrifying for the rest of the league,

5:21 but they have an 86% chance to be at 12.

5:24 So, what kind of talent could the Thunder

5:26 be looking to add if that's where they land?

5:31 Well, it's going to be interesting what happens with OKC.

5:33 They have number 12.

5:34 They have number 17.

5:35 They might only have one roster spot open.

5:37 So, they'll try to consolidate, maybe try to move up.

5:39 But, does anyone want to be the team that trades back to help the Thunder?

5:42 Another guy I I like as a fit is a Daimara,

5:45 uh, his 7 foot2 teammate at Michigan.

5:47 Uh, just thinking about, you know,

5:49 building this Thunder team out moving forward.

5:51 You have to go through for a decade maybe, right?

5:54 So, who better?

5:55 You know, you get the biggest, most skilled guy in the draft.

5:57 You pair him with Cet and you have these superersized, super skilled lineups.

6:00 Maybe that's a look that they think about.

6:02 So, it's another candidate for for number 12 I'm curious about.

6:05 Yeah, I wouldn't say they're looking to find another Webby stopper,

6:08 but someone to slow down and help slow down Victor Webmanyama.

6:11 Jeremy Woo, thank you very much for your time.

6:13 We're going to see you coming up at the combine in just two weeks.

6:16 And the teams that have the best odds to land that allimportant top pick,

6:19 just a reminder, they're the Wizards, the Pacers,

6:23 the Nets, and then the Jazz and the Kings.

6:25 They each have an 11% chance as well.

6:27 But the entire lottery,

6:28 we will know how the ping pong balls fall on May the 10th.