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Could Cameron Boozer be the 'steal of the draft' for the Memphis Grizzlies?

Kevin O'Connor·Tom HaberstrohWed, June 24, 2026 at 12:33 AM UTC

Yahoo Sports' Draft Live crew breaks down the 3rd overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft as the Duke forward is heading to the Memphis Grizzlies.

Video Transcript

I'm gonna reference something that you said to me off the air, which was that Cam might be your fav- your favorite pick in the first round because he's not gonna have to change his game much once he goes to the NBA.

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He's gonna have to be the same in terms of his efficiency- Mm-hmm the way he attacked downhill, the way he shoots the basketball.

I'm not sure there are too many other picks where we can say they won't have to do drastic things to elevate their game.

Yeah.

He's gonna be a seamless fit.

And what KC said earlier, it's the IQ.

That- that's why.

He's arguably the smartest player in this draft, and you can tell by the way he plays.

I mean, at Duke, Jon Scheyer was putting him in all types of positions.

Like KC said, off the pick and roll as a ball handler, setting the screen, getting him into the short roll, putting him in the mid post, double comes, now he's able to kick out.

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A very underrated passer.

His ability to be able to see before things happen.

In that short roll when the defense collapses, that thing is already out of his hands.

Yeah.

He processes things a play ahead, and that's what I was so impressed with him about, and he can pick and pop.

He can do so many things.

I, I do think that he will not have to change his game much in order to have success.

He's guaranteed to have s- this is the one dude that's guaranteed to have success immediately.

In, in this Grizzlies roster, you look at where they are now, and they, they're probably trading Ja Morant- Yeah or getting rid of Ja Morant in some capacity.

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They got rid of Desmond Bane, got rid of Jaren Jackson Jr., and now they got Zach Edey, Cam Boozer, of course Cedric Ballard, who I loved in last year's draft class- Right.

Yeah looking like a major steal.

They got Jalen Wells and these solid young players off the bench.

Oh, Max Pros- Prosper looked really good.

Rian Rupert had a 30-point triple-double.

I mean, out of France.

Yeah.

I love French players.

Yeah, yeah.

I- they, they got so much.

Cam Spencer.

They have so much good young talent on this team that I think the Grizzlies are certainly looking like the bright future Grizzlies, and I'm very excited about where this roster's going now with Boozer at the lead.

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Yeah.

Yeah, I love this.

I, I think this is the steal of the draft.

Obviously, I was big on him going at number one potentially, but when you look at historically, when we look at the draft, the guys who are the best are the ones that outperform.

It's the sons of NBA players.

Look at this list here.

Kobe Bryant, Steph Curry, Al Horford.

These are all All-Stars whose father also played in the NBA, and Carlos Boozer, of course, longtime NBA vet, two-time All-Star.

The thing about Cameron Boozer, he looked like a winner at Duke and pr- and proceeded to sweep the Player of the Year awards.

And I think with that guy right next to him, Carlos Boozer, there's something about- Yeah the intel that you get growing up in an NBA locker room and in the NBA lifestyle, the guys like J- Dillon Harper, Jalen Brunson- Yeah.

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Mm-hmm they outperform their draft slot- Yeah by 26% on average.

And I think Carlos Boozer being the father of Cam, in a weird way, it makes me like Cam Boozer's pro- prospect- even more- Yeah than what he did at Duke, which was outstanding.