Andy Laesens had some interesting commentary on the Dybantsa and Peterson in the last few triple teams
Watching AJ Dybantsa up close
The two best high school basketball players in the nation — AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson — played at Highland High School this afternoon.
They were there playing in one of those goofy high school showcase tournaments, this one called “The Grind Session World Championships.” Both Dybantsa and Peterson’s teams advanced to the Semifinals and Finals of the tournament that’ll take place next weekend.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Prep's AJ Dybantsa (3) shoots during the Grind Session Semifinals at Highland High School in Salt Lake City on Saturday, March 15, 2025.
Dybantsa, who will play for BYU next year, looked absolutely ridiculous. The most eye-popping play actually ended up being called a goaltend, but he had a monster rotational help block where his hand was well above the top of the backboard square. It was an incredible play — proof that whenever he enters the NBA, he’ll already be one of the league’s best athletes.
But that play was just one of many highlight-reel moments. Stepback threes. Huge dunks in both half court and transition. There were times when he used his length to steal the ball from the opposition’s hapless smaller guards out on the perimeter. And I was impressed how frequently he found cutting teammates — his vision meant that he saw those players cutting to the rim faster than I did from the stands.
Oh, and he had 15 rebounds to go along with his 31 points. If you’re so inclined, you can watch
the full game here.
He’s already just insanely good. In college and in the NBA, he’ll have to gamble less defensively and be more solid, but the length and strength should mean he’ll be a plus anyway. He really cares on that end already, and that’s nice to see. And then on offense... whoo, boy.
The comp I’ve seen that works best for Dybantsa is Tracy McGrady. Yes, McGrady never did much in the playoffs, but he led the league in scoring twice and was a top-10 MVP candidate in seven different seasons. But honestly, Dybantsa is significantly ahead of where McGrady was at the same age.
Watching Darryn Peterson up close
In yesterday’s Triple Team,
we looked at AJ Dybantsa’s performance in the Grind Session games at Highland High School this weekend. Today, we’ll look at Darryn Peterson, the other contender for the No. 1 spot among the current high school class.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Prolific guard Darryn Peterson (22) brings the ball down the court during the Grind Session Semifinals at Highland High School in Salt Lake City on Friday, March 14, 2025.
Peterson immediately stood out, even during warmups — not by virtue of his athleticism, or his size, but the definition of his body. Right away, Peterson looks like he’s 25 and already in the NBA thanks to his muscle definition and his 6-5 frame.
He also sort of played this game like if you dropped a 25-year-old NBA guard in a high school game. He took a couple of shots early, missed them both, and kind of decided he didn’t have the shot on Sunday. So instead, he was the best player in the game by simply making the right play offensively, setting up his very good teammates (his Prolific Prep is the No. 1 team in the tournament), and picking his spots to score. 19 points, seven assists were the result. He did not expend much effort on the defensive end, which was disappointing.
When he did decide to make the scoring play, he was phenomenal, though. He has the calm shiftiness of the very best players in the paint — think Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, for example. The floater is good. Statistically, the jumper is excellent. And we’ve seen him play much harder and much better than he did on this day.
It was also fun to see him joke around with teammates. He tried to shorts one of them at one point on the bench, for example.
There are many who have put Peterson over Dybantsa due to the former’s performances this season. But, like ESPN’s analysts who have kept Dybantsa on top, this experience made me lean towards the kid going to BYU. Peterson’s game is so, so smooth — I do think Gilgeous-Alexander is a reasonable high-end comp. But I think there’s a world in which the skill level settles out a little among the world’s best, and then he won’t have the top-tier athleticism to fall back on. I think there’s a world in which he becomes, say, peak Victor Oladipo. Great player, but... not an All-NBA star.
Dybantsa is terrifying in his athleticism, while also showing some really pretty impressive basketball IQ. I think I’m more sure he’ll be a star than Peterson. There might be a little bit of Andrew Wiggins downside, I guess, but honestly, I think Dybantsa already has so much more want-to on both ends of the floor than Wiggins ever did.
They’re two really phenomenal prospects, though. There’s a decent chance the Jazz end up drafting one of them in the 2026 draft — which would change the franchise for years to come.
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