Mock draft 2026

[ESP47]

I don't know what to think about Boozer. He looks slow as molasses but he's putting up the second best Box Plus/Minus since they've been tracking the stat. Only second to Zion. Problem is it doesn't look to be the best tracker of whether a player is going to be good or not (list doesn't include this years players)

 

[Tetsujin]

I don't know what to think about Boozer. He looks slow as molasses but he's putting up the second best Box Plus/Minus since they've been tracking the stat. Only second to Zion. Problem is it doesn't look to be the best tracker of whether a player is going to be good or not (list doesn't include this years players)

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Yeah, Boozer is so freaking hard to figure out because he’s producing big numbers and his game tape is legit but at the same time, the athleticism, burst, and positionality concerns are real. If those numbers bear out at the NBA level, he’s a freaking superstar but I think my big fear as a team potentially picking him somewhere in the top three is that the other guys on that tier/around it (AJ/Peterson/Caleb/Flemings) have a different level they can achieve at the next level whereas Cam just has a chance to end up being a solid player in the NBA.

Then again this was also the ‘debate’ during the Luka draft where everyone just sorta thought the lack of burst and athleticism would cap him at a certain level in the league but he then turned out to be European James Harden instead.

 

[The_Jamal]

I don't know what to think about Boozer. He looks slow as molasses but he's putting up the second best Box Plus/Minus since they've been tracking the stat. Only second to Zion. Problem is it doesn't look to be the best tracker of whether a player is going to be good or not (list doesn't include this years players)

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Big difference is Boozer (Like Zion/AD/Chet/Flagg), is he's doing this as an 18 year old freshman ripping through one of the harder college basketball schedules in the country.

Seniors: Thornwell, Edey, Kaminsky, Trayce, Valentine, Wright
Juniors: Oladipo, Clarke, Edey
Sophomore: Keegan, Clingan
Freshman: AD, Zion, Chet, Flagg

So I think the lesson here is that this list is pretty dang bullish if you're a freshman putting up these numbers.

 

[The_Jamal]

Yeah, Boozer is so freaking hard to figure out because he’s producing big numbers and his game tape is legit but at the same time, the athleticism, burst, and positionality concerns are real. If those numbers bear out at the NBA level, he’s a freaking superstar but I think my big fear as a team potentially picking him somewhere in the top three is that the other guys on that tier/around it (AJ/Peterson/Caleb/Flemings) have a different level they can achieve at the next level whereas Cam just has a chance to end up being a solid player in the NBA.

Then again this was also the ‘debate’ during the Luka draft where everyone just sorta thought the lack of burst and athleticism would cap him at a certain level in the league but he then turned out to be European James Harden instead.

Booz I think answers the question (What if we gave the 2010 PF's a modern skill-set?)

His frame might be a true outlier to me. He's a physical beast at 18.. which presumably will only continue to get better as he ages into his 20's. He's pretty clearly a 4 and he's shown more than enough "wing" skills with his passing and shooting especially that he doesn't give any real tweener concerns. Especially since only a handful of teams run 2 bigs, he's a nightly match-up concern for opposing teams if they try and put a wing on him.

He's kind of like a hybrid Al Horford/Julius Randle with the shooting/passing/IQ/bully ball, but not being an overwhelming athlete.

 

[SacTownKid]

I've come up with a Cam Boozer comparison, someone tell me if I'm hot, warm or cold on this one. Elton Brand?

College recruitment doesn't lie and Duke has types. Brand was a little more shotblocking wise but slowish, strong, and skilled. Somewhere between him and Domas IMO. Brand was a better above the rim finisher early on. All in all Duke bigs usually fall into the same category. The physical ones or the wing/skilled ones. Boozer is somewhere between his dad/Brand/ and the typical Duke wings. He's probably what they hoped Bagley would be when he was clearly not going to be able to skate the line guard skill wise like Banchero can. Bagley was stuck in between those Barrett types and the bigs in terms of mentality. He wasn't strong like the bigs and wasn't skilled like the wings.