Latest / Bleacher Report / Why Cam Boozer May Be the Best Player in Stacked Class _ 2026 NBA Draft

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Why Cam Boozer May Be the Best Player in Stacked Class _ 2026 NBA Draft · Bleacher Report

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  Speaker 1: The Memphis Grizzlies are on the clock now and the
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: pick is in, and I don't think there's any drama
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  Speaker 1: with this one. It is Cameron Boozer, the National Player
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  Speaker 1: of the Year. While we sit here debating devonsa versus Peterson,
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  Speaker 1: there's a guy who has arguably won more from both
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  Speaker 1: a team and a personal standpoint in pretty much every
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  Speaker 1: step of the way developmentally. Here Carter quick reaction to
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  Speaker 1: Cameron Boozer going third.
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  Speaker 2: I think this is a great pick up for the Grizzlies.
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  Speaker 2: I think they're getting a number one level pick talent
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  Speaker 2: at three. He just does everything on the basketball court.
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  Speaker 2: I know a lot of people throw the safe word
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  Speaker 2: out with him, but I think that maybe diminishes the
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  Speaker 2: fact that this was the National Player of the Year.
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  Speaker 2: He can score the ball, he can rebound, he can pass,
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  Speaker 2: and like you said, Greg, he's won at every level,
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  Speaker 2: whether it's FEBA gold medals, high school national championships. Obviously,
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  Speaker 2: Duke this year was very successful. He's a winner, throwing throughing,
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  Speaker 2: a very productive basketball player.
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  Speaker 1: He said tonight that he thinks years from now people
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  Speaker 1: will look back wondering how he didn't go first in
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  Speaker 1: this draft. But do you think that's a possibility down
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  Speaker 1: the line?
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  Speaker 3: Is a possibility.
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  Speaker 2: One.
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  Speaker 3: You never know how individual's career plays out so and
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  Speaker 3: a lot of time your career is depending on the
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  Speaker 3: location you are, so you never know how that plays
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  Speaker 3: out there. But just him as an individual talent, he
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  Speaker 3: has it all, he can do it all, he's he's
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  Speaker 3: he come from a pro back background, which is a
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  Speaker 3: plus in my opinion. This is just a kid that
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  Speaker 3: you know is gonna come in ready, He's going to
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  Speaker 3: be a professional from day one. The maturity is there.
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  Speaker 3: This is a guy you're you're confident and building around
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  Speaker 3: can set the culture for the rest of the guys
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  Speaker 3: that do end up coming there. So, like I said,
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  Speaker 3: this is a great pick for them, And I'll still
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  Speaker 3: use the words safe because it is. It's a very
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  Speaker 3: safety pick.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's the right pick at three given
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  Speaker 1: who's come off the board in the first two. And
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  Speaker 1: I think Jonathan Wasserman agrees. How you feeling, this is.
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  Speaker 4: The best prospect in the draft in my opinion if
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  Speaker 4: you're evaluating in the vacuum, regardless of what team he
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  Speaker 4: goes to. So I'm giving this an a plus. I
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  Speaker 4: talked to Memphis earlier in the process, they weren't really
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  Speaker 4: stressing much about number thre that were going to take
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  Speaker 4: whoever fell to them. I think they're thrilled that it
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  Speaker 4: was Cameron Boozer. And so let's see how he kind
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  Speaker 4: of well, actually, you know it, let's go back and
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  Speaker 4: take a look at sorry, let's go back and take
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  Speaker 4: a look at his highlights here and kind of who
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  Speaker 4: he reminds me of. And the Kevin Love comparisons got
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  Speaker 4: thrown that a lot, like by the way, Kevin Love
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  Speaker 4: wasn't attacking like this. You see the euro step in
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  Speaker 4: the lane. This isn't just a bully. This guy has
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  Speaker 4: perimeter skill, footwork, field stuff that you can't teach. And
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  Speaker 4: so I think he's again the most maybe the most
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  Speaker 4: well rounded offensive prospect that I've ever evaluated. When you
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  Speaker 4: talk about a forty three point shooter, you talk about
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  Speaker 4: his four assists per game, you talk about the rebounding,
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  Speaker 4: your interior play there. He is right in the middle
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  Speaker 4: of that line up there, and so I think he
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  Speaker 4: could play even some wing people are almost like, oh,
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  Speaker 4: he can't play the five. I think he plays some
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  Speaker 4: three because of how good he is away from the basket.
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  Speaker 4: You can run offense through him. I think he's underrated
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  Speaker 4: as an athlete.
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  Speaker 3: Boogey.
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  Speaker 4: By the way, do you remember your maxvert was at
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  Speaker 4: the NBA Combine.
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  Speaker 3: I'll want to talk about it.
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  Speaker 4: I'll help you, guys. It was twenty seven and a half.
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  Speaker 4: Boozer was thirty four and a half, and he gets
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  Speaker 4: crap for not being good enough athlete. I think it's
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  Speaker 4: gonna be just fine.
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  Speaker 1: Oh good lord, all right, we're gonna go to Fish
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  Speaker 1: live in the fish bowl. Fish, what you got for us?
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  Speaker 5: Just quickly here Memphis, they're due to be back up
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  Speaker 5: on the clock again at number sixteen. We have definitely
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  Speaker 5: been monitoring them as one team that is looking to
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  Speaker 5: trade back up into the lottery, so stay tuned for that.
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  Speaker 5: They might not get there, but they're going to be trying.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, thank you, Fish. Let's keep an eye on the
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  Speaker 1: Memphis Grizzlies. And I have an eye on the chat.
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  Speaker 1: Who loved this pick? They graded this and a live
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  Speaker 1: in the show right now, Carl, I'm with wass. I've
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  Speaker 1: been telling you privately for the better part of two months.
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  Speaker 1: This is who I would have taken at one and
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  Speaker 1: I think we're watching the NBA turn toward these elite processors.
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  Speaker 1: I don't think that we are still living in an
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  Speaker 1: eraw where the best athletes are necessarily the best players.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: Certainly it helps, but there's a reason that Cameron Boozer
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  Speaker 1: was the National Player of the Year at Duke last year,
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  Speaker 1: and it wasn't aj Debons at BYU, and it wasn't
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  Speaker 1: Darren Peterson at Kansas. How likely is all that to
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  Speaker 1: translate in your opinion.
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  Speaker 2: I think it will translate, And I think for the Grizzlies,
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  Speaker 2: it's crazy to think a few years ago, it was
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  Speaker 2: joh it was Dylan Brooks, it was Desmond Bain, and
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  Speaker 2: we thought they were going to be challenging the West
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  Speaker 2: and possibly win a championship. Now things got a little chaotic.
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  Speaker 2: And one thing about Cameron Boozer, nothing about his game
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  Speaker 2: is chaotic. I think he'll stabilize that team a little
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  Speaker 2: bit while also adding talent, and then Memphis can kind
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  Speaker 2: of reset a little bit and see what they can.
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  Speaker 3: Do with the rest of their team.
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  Speaker 2: But I think they can build a round a guy
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  Speaker 2: like Cameron Boozer because one thing you can give him
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  Speaker 2: credit for, I think he makes everyone around him better.
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: Well I think this was definitely the right pick for Memphis.
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  Speaker 1: I do have questions on what the future of Memphis
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  Speaker 1: looks like. Is John Morant in the long term plans
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  Speaker 1: of this team, Zachiedy another guy that will paired nicely
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  Speaker 1: with Boozer in the front court? Boogie, how do you
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  Speaker 1: think that works out in the future.
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  Speaker 3: I just don't see it really working out with John Morant.
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  Speaker 3: You know, everything that's kind of transpired through the you know,
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  Speaker 3: previous seasons just doesn't make sense a lot in my opinion.
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  Speaker 3: It was some self sabotage as well as far as
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  Speaker 3: how the Gridges handled their you know, superstar player, So
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  Speaker 3: it was kind of a combination of them kind of
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  Speaker 3: lowering his value, and you know, now we are where
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  Speaker 3: we're at now. So I just don't see it moving forward.
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  Speaker 3: I don't see it being a healthy relationship moving forward.
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  Speaker 3: I don't think it's a fixable situation. I think the
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  Speaker 3: best thing is for Joab to move on, get a
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  Speaker 3: fresh start, and finish off his.
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: Career, possibly a cultural reset with Cameron Boozer in the fold.
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  Speaker 1: All right,