Cameron Boozer Looks Ready to Be a Star. The Grizzlies Might Have Won the Draft.
Cameron Boozer went No. 3 overall in the 2026 NBA Draft. Three games into Summer League, he is playing like the No. 1 pick.
The Memphis Grizzlies’ new franchise cornerstone is averaging 18.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists across three Summer League appearances. He is shooting 62.5 percent from the field. He has already dropped an 18-point, 7-rebound, 4-assist stat line against Utah where he went 6-of-9 from the floor and 4-of-5 from three. Against Chicago he put up 23 points on 27 minutes.
His debut against Oklahoma City was more measured. 15 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists on 7-of-11 shooting. Every performance since has been better than the last.
What Boozer is showing is the exact skill set the Grizzlies wanted when they made the pick. He was one of the best players in college basketball at Duke last year, averaging 22.5 points and 10.2 rebounds while shooting 55.6 percent from the field and 39.1 percent from three. Those numbers translated. He is a versatile forward with an elite feel for the game, and NBA.com is already calling him an offensive hub from Day 1.
The Ja Morant era just ended in Memphis. Ja is now in Portland kayaking. Boozer represents the Grizzlies’ new direction, one built around a big-forward foundation instead of a small-guard superstar. This is the kind of pivot most franchises struggle to execute, and Memphis has done it in a single offseason.
The Grizzlies still have Jaren Jackson Jr. locked up. They still have Zach Edey as their center of the future. They added Bane’s replacement in free agency and now they have Boozer to build around at the four. On paper, the young core in Memphis looks pretty good.
What Boozer is not is a savior. He is 20 years old. He needs seasoning. He is going to have rough nights in the regular season when veteran forwards muscle him out of position or when he has to run pick-and-roll against elite point-of-attack defenders. NBA basketball at the top of the league is a different beast than Duke.
But the Summer League showing is exactly what you want to see from a top-three pick. He is dominating without pressing. He is finding his teammates. He is shooting well. He is not settling for bad shots. Those are all good habits.
His father, former NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer, has been on the podcast circuit breaking down his son’s game. That is either helpful for Cameron or embarrassing depending on your perspective. What is unmistakable is that Cameron plays with the same low-post polish and short-corner feel his dad did at his best, plus a modern jumper and passing chops his dad never had.
The Grizzlies got very lucky. AJ Dybantsa was the consensus No. 1 pick. Darryn Peterson went No. 2 to Utah. Boozer sliding to Memphis at three was not a slam dunk. Some mock drafts had him going second. Memphis got the guy they wanted and did not have to trade up to get him.
Now the pressure is on the front office to build around him properly. Cameron Boozer is the type of player who can be a franchise face for a decade if his development goes the way Summer League is suggesting it will. The Grizzlies have a chance to be one of the better young rebuilds in the league.
Two summer league games do not make a career, but they can set a tone. Boozer is setting a very good one. The Grizzlies may have won the 2026 NBA Draft by not moving up.
Book the Beale Street parade sometime around 2029. Cameron Boozer will be leading it.
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.
