No. 2 Meets No. 3 on Opening Night: Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer and the Rookie of the Year Race

By the DraftClassInsider staff · Published October 12, 2026 · Through October 12, 2026 (preseason)

At a glance

October 21: Jazz at Grizzlies, 6 p.m. MT, the first game of the season for both teams.
Darryn Peterson (No. 2, Utah, Kansas): 28, 25, 24 and 23 points in his first four Summer League games. In two preseason games he has 26 points: 3 in his debut, then a team-high 23.
Cameron Boozer (No. 3, Memphis, Duke): All-Summer League First Team after averaging 18.5 points and 8.0 rebounds in Las Vegas. He is averaging 12.3 points on 57% shooting in the preseason.
Contracts (120% of scale): Peterson, four years and $59,884,294; Boozer, four years and $53,802,568.
Rookie of the Year odds (DraftKings, Oct. 8): Boozer +300 is the favorite, Peterson +330 second, Caleb Wilson +350 and No. 1 pick AJ Dybantsa +425.

The Matchup

The NBA released its 2026-27 schedule on August 13, and the Jazz open at Memphis. Utah's Darryn Peterson and Memphis' Cameron Boozer, picked second and third on June 23, will meet in the first regular-season game for both of them. Their summer-league teams already met in Salt Lake City in July, a Utah win in which Boozer scored 18, and the betting markets have them close. DraftKings listed Boozer at +300 and Peterson at +330 on October 8. At DraftKings they are the top two in the Rookie of the Year race, ahead of the No. 1 pick.

Cameron Boozer: The Polished One

Boozer had the most complete summer of any top pick. In two Salt Lake City games he averaged 16.5 points, including 18 against the Jazz on 6-of-9 shooting with four three-pointers. In six Las Vegas games he averaged 18.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.8 steals, shooting 45.2% from the field. He scored 19 points with 8 rebounds in the championship game, a 94-90 loss to Golden State, and made the All-Summer League First Team. ESPN's post-summer rookie rankings put him second and said he "should be firmly in the Rookie of the Year race."

His preseason has been efficient: 11 points with 4 assists and 2 steals in a win at Atlanta, 16 points on 4-of-7 shooting against Orlando, then 10 points in 12 first-half minutes in a win at Chicago, a game the Commercial Appeal framed as his latest matchup with No. 4 pick Caleb Wilson. That adds up to 12.3 points a game on 12-of-21 shooting. Memphis is giving him a bigger role on the perimeter than he had at Duke. "I think one thing is I'm going to be more perimeter oriented," Boozer said. "I'm going to find ways to impact winning." Coach Tuomas Iisalo is adding to his role gradually: "it's really more like pruning certain things, not starting with everything but going step by step."

Opportunity is a big part of his case. Memphis traded Ja Morant to Portland on June 29, which leaves a lot of shots and touches available. NBC Sports' Jay Croucher wrote that "Boozer has no such blocker - he should fill up the stat sheet," and the Action Network's Matt Moore called him "simply the most ready-made product in this class." Boozer signed on July 13 for four years and $53,802,568, with $11,849,760 this season.

Darryn Peterson: The Scorer

Peterson's summer was about scoring. He opened with 28, 25, 24 and 23 points, including 24 in the Las Vegas game against Dybantsa's Wizards and 23 against the Clippers, though he shot only 6-of-18 in that one. ESPN ranked him third after Summer League, praised his "flashes of incredible explosiveness," and noted that he played better in Salt Lake City than in Las Vegas. "I'm back having fun," he said in July. "I feel like myself again."

His preseason started slowly. In his debut at Denver he started and scored 3 points on 1-of-5 shooting. "I think Darryn wasn't himself in the first game," coach Will Hardy said. Two nights later, in his first home game, Peterson scored a team-high 23 points on 10-of-18 shooting and sat out the fourth quarter. "I feel a little more adjusted," he said. Hardy called him "a really talented offensive player" and added, "I've learned that Darryn is incredibly professional for a very young age in his career." Peterson's own scouting report on the NBA: "The defenders are longer, stronger, faster now."

He signed on July 1 for four years and $59,884,294, with $13,195,320 this season. Utah already has injuries: center Jusuf Nurkic has a partial plantar plate tear in his right foot and will be re-evaluated in four weeks, according to the Deseret News. NBC Sports' Drew Dinsick thinks the fit is good: "His skill set is a perfect complement to breakout point guard Keyonte George." His colleague Kurt Helin: "Darryn Peterson won me over at Summer League."

Side by Side

	Darryn Peterson (No. 2)	Cameron Boozer (No. 3)
Team	Utah Jazz	Memphis Grizzlies
College	Kansas	Duke
Summer League	28, 25, 24, 23 in his first four games	18.5 pts, 8.0 reb in Las Vegas; All-Summer League First Team
Preseason (through Oct. 12)	2 games, 26 pts, 11-of-23 FG	3 games, 37 pts, 12-of-21 FG
Contract	4 yrs, $59,884,294	4 yrs, $53,802,568
2026-27 salary	$13,195,320	$11,849,760
ROY odds (DraftKings, Oct. 8)	+330 (2nd)	+300 (1st)
ROY (Polymarket, Oct. 12)	17% (4th)	23% (1st)

The Rest of the Race

Chicago's Caleb Wilson, the No. 4 pick, is the third contender. He set the record for points in a Las Vegas Summer League debut with 35, making 7 of 11 three-pointers, after a broken thumb kept him out for months before the summer. He is averaging 17.7 points in three preseason games, and Polymarket has him second at 21%. No. 1 pick AJ Dybantsa is fourth at DraftKings (+425), mostly because he shares the ball with Trae Young and Anthony Davis. We covered that in our Dybantsa preview.

Our Take

Boozer is the favorite for good reasons: he has the clearest path to a big role, he was the best player at Summer League and his preseason shooting has been efficient. Peterson is the most talented scorer of the two, and on a Utah team built around young guards he could put up bigger numbers if his shot is falling. Rookie of the Year voting usually rewards points per game, and that gives Peterson a real chance. Our pick: Boozer, narrowly, because he contributes in more ways and is more consistent, and both should finish in the top three. October 21 is the first chance to compare them in a game that counts. For every 2026 NBA rookie-scale deal, see the contract tracker.

Point Guards (21)

Shooting Guards (24)

Small Forwards (13)

Power Forwards (23)

Centers (19)