Will Hardy’s late-game Darryn Peterson strategy is Jerry Sloan-esque

Will Hardy’s late-game Darryn Peterson strategy is Jerry Sloan-esque.

Darryn Peterson was touted as a golden prospect for the Utah Jazz.

Yet his NBA career has started a bit rocky.

It is already hard enough to see his fellow 2026 draftees outshine him to start.

What is even harder is that Will Hardy is executing a rather unorthodox strategy with Peterson.

Peterson is starting games for sure.

But the Jazz have already had two overtime games this season.

Hardy kept Peterson on the bench for both overtime sessions.

Both games ended in Jazz losses.

This is taking everyone by surprise.

It seems as though Peterson is too good for Utah not to play him in games that can affect the Jazz's standing down the line.

It is definitely a divisive strategy.

But Jazz fans must remember that Jerry Sloan did something similar with Deron Williams.

Williams joined the Jazz as a high lottery pick in 2005.

Sloan made it clear that did not automatically mean he would be the automatic starter.

In an exclusive 2020 interview on the Knuckleheads podcast, Williams explained that Sloan had him play only the second and fourth quarters in his rookie season.

Sloan did that to make it clear that if Williams wanted the starting job, it would have to be earned.

Hardy is not doing the exact same thing with Peterson.

But it is a striking parallel.

Despite Peterson's talent, that does not automatically equate to winning basketball.

Because Hardy wants a winning basketball unit on the floor, Peterson will not be involved in overtime sessions until he proves he can be part of that.

It paid off for Williams for a time.

A year after Sloan's rather odd strategy with D-Will, the Jazz made their first Conference Finals appearance since the Karl Malone-John Stockton era.

Much of the credit went to Williams' ascension.

Unfortunately, that did not ease the contempt he and Sloan gradually developed for each other.

That led to both leaving the franchise in 2011.