Darryn Peterson is watching Devin Booker. He is also studying Anthony Edwards, Shai, Donovan Mitchell and Dame, using film as a guide for how the game's best scorers create separation and live at the line.
Peterson said the focus is simple: take ideas from players who score in different ways. "Just ways that they score," he said. "They all score in different ways."
That list matters because it shows exactly what Peterson is trying to borrow. He said he is looking at how those players take space, how they get easy shots and how they get to the free throw line. He said most of them are guarded super hard in their games, which makes the study less about style and more about survival against top-level defense.
The interview excerpt, which originally appeared on Hoops Hype and was republished by AOL, does not give a game result, a date or any statistics. It gives something else instead: a clean look at what Peterson is paying attention to at this stage of his development. The names on his screen are not random. Booker, Edwards, Shai, Mitchell and Dame are all scorers who force defenders into decisions before the possession is over.
Peterson's comments also point to the part of the game that often gets lost in highlights. He is not only watching who shoots well. He is watching how they get there. "Let's see how they take space and most of them are getting guarded super hard during their game," Peterson said. "How they get easy shots, how they get to free throw line."
For a young player, that kind of study is a sign that the next step is not just adding points. It is learning which possessions can be controlled, which angles create room and which habits turn pressure into scoring chances. Devin Booker is one of the names Peterson singled out, and that alone says enough about the model he is chasing.
