Cam Boozer is going to be a top three pick in the NBA Draft on Wednesday. Maybe higher. Some scouts have him as the No. 1 prospect in the class. The Utah Jazz at No. 2 reportedly love him. The Memphis Grizzlies at No. 3 would be thrilled if he falls to them. Wherever he lands, the Duke product is about to start an NBA career with massive expectations.
And the comparisons people are throwing around are wild.
Boozer is the son of Carlos Boozer, the longtime NBA forward who made two All Star teams and won a gold medal. The bloodlines are real. But Cam is not Carlos. Cam is a true modern forward. He shoots threes. He passes. He defends. He posts up. He runs the floor. The list of NBA players he can be compared to is short because there are not many people his size with his skill set.
His box plus-minus at Duke this year was the second highest ever recorded for an 18 year old. The only player above him on that list is Zion Williamson. That is the company we are talking about. Boozer averaged double digit rebounds, scored efficiently, and was the engine of a Duke team that made a Final Four run.
The Jazz at No. 2 are an interesting fit. Lauri Markkanen is the franchise player. Walker Kessler is the rim protector. Adding Boozer gives them a frontcourt that can do everything. Markkanen stretches the floor as a 7 footer. Kessler protects the rim. Boozer is the connective tissue that makes the offense flow. They could play big lineups, run, shoot, and have legit size advantages every night.
Memphis at No. 3 makes equal sense. Jaren Jackson Jr. and Boozer would be one of the best young frontcourt duos in the league. Jackson is the elite shot blocker and floor spacer. Boozer is the playmaker and the post scorer. They could play together or stagger minutes. Memphis has been desperate for a forward who can do everything Boozer does.
The Boozer family wants Cam to go to a winning environment. Both Memphis and Utah could offer that. Memphis is closer to contention with Ja Morant theoretically healthy and Desmond Bane being a real second option. Utah is a year or two away. Either way, Boozer walks into a real opportunity.
What makes Boozer so interesting is his ceiling. The floor is a high level NBA starter who makes All Star games. The ceiling is a perennial All NBA selection who anchors winning basketball. That is a wide range. Where he lands on that spectrum will probably come down to how much his athleticism develops over the next three years.
Boozer is not the freakish athlete that Dybantsa is. He is not the volume scorer Peterson is. What he is, instead, is the most well rounded prospect in the draft. He does everything well. He has very few weaknesses. He is going to play 12 to 15 years in the NBA and be productive every step of the way.
The risk is that he never quite breaks through to true superstardom. That is the bear case. He becomes a high level Pascal Siakam type. Pascal Siakam is a great NBA player. He has helped win a title. He has made All NBA teams. But he is not a household name. Boozer could be that, plus the bloodlines.
The bull case is that he becomes a Domantas Sabonis type with better defense. Triple double machine. Anchor of an offense. Cornerstone of a real contender.
Either way, the team that gets him on Wednesday is going to be very happy.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
