Cameron Boozer has arguably been the best player in college basketball this season. Leading a very good Duke team to a number one national ranking and winning the ACC tournament. The biggest question about Cam Boozer is whether his dominant play will translate to the NBA. If it does, he may be the best player in the class.
Draft analysts may be overthinking Cameron Boozer
Boozer already has ties to the Utah Jazz. His father, Carlos Boozer, was a star in Utah from 2004 to 2010. He helped lead the Jazz to the Western Conference Finals in 2007, the deepest playoff run since back-to-back runs to the Finals in the late 90's. If the stars aligned to land his son Cam on this version of the Utah Jazz, it would be a full-circle moment for their family and the franchise.
Despite having such a dominant season for the Blue Devils, Cameron Boozer has routinely been placed third in mock drafts behind Darynn Peterson of Kansas and AJ Dybantsa of BYU. The consistent talk around the league is that Peterson and Dybantsa are "can't miss" prospects, while Cam's game may not translate to the league as well.
If you went by the production alone, Cameron should be the favorite to go number one. Boozer is averaging 22.8 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 4.1 assists while leading his Duke team to a 32-2 record and a number one seed heading into the NCAA tournament. With how dominant he has been individually and how dominant his team has been, player of the year honors are likely on the way.
Perhaps everyone is overthinking it a bit. Boozer has been one of the most impressive freshmen in college basketball that we have ever seen. If Utah can move up into the top of the draft (likely needing to be in the top three), landing a talent like Boozer would be a huge win. If the lottery gods were to smile on the Jazz, how would he fit with the current roster?
There would be some redundancy if Boozer were to end up on this Jazz team. Jaren Jackson Jr. is likely going to be the team's best player heading into next season. With Lauri Markkanen positioned at the three and Kessler slotted at the five, the frontcourt would suddenly seem a bit crowded. With that being said, if the Jazz land the third pick and Boozer is available, it would be criminal not to draft him.
With a talent of Cameron Boozer's caliber, if you can draft him, you do, and figure out the fit and roster construction later. It wouldn't be the worst problem for Coach Will Hardy to figure out how to utilize JJJ and Boozer together. The reality is, if Utah can land Boozer or any of the other top three talents, their ceiling gets raised significantly, and for Jazz fans, that would be a very welcome sign.