Duke forward Cameron Boozer, son of two-time NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer, doesn’t play anything like some of his peers at the top of this draft. While AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson have natural ability that pops off the screen, Boozer is slower, more methodical, and far more reliant on an advanced, old-school skill set. For some reason, that makes him feel like an afterthought when hearing people discuss the No. 1 pick, even though he’s a massive favorite to win the 2026 Wooden Award. However, make no mistake about it: Boozer is undoubtedly in the top tier when looking at the 2026 NBA Draft, and he has every bit as good of a chance of being a franchise-changer as the other two. 

Duke is one of the five best offensive teams in the country when looking at KenPom and EvanMiya, and a lot of that has to do with Boozer. The freshman leads the nation in Box Plus-Minus, serving up off-the-charts efficiency on sky-high usage. In fact, when scanning through some of the available numbers at CBB Analytics, you’ll see that Boozer is in the 99th percentile in Usage Rate, 94th percentile in True Shooting Percentage, and 99th percentile in Offensive RAPM. Also, CBB Analytics allows you to compare statistical profiles in a single season to all seasons dating back to 2018-19. Well, one of the players that Boozer invokes when looking strictly at the numbers is Cooper Flagg. 

Boozer doesn’t play anything like Flagg. However, Flagg was viewed as a generational prospect, yet Boozer doesn’t get that same kind of love. Perhaps he should. 

Boozer should immediately have one of the most complete offensive games amongst NBA power forwards. That’s not to say that his rookie year efficiency will look anything like his freshman efficiency, but the 6-foot-9, sturdy big has everything you want in a modern franchise player while also having the ability to turn the clocks back and dominate with a late 90s/early 2000s game. 

Boozer’s jumper is the furthest thing from pretty, but he’s a good three-point shooter and he knocks down his free throws. That makes it hard to doubt him being a good pick-and-pop option at the next level, and he should also be relied on to knock down catch-and-shoot jumpers. Boozer combines that with an awesome face-up game, where he’s not the quickest or most explosive player in the world but his patience, feel, and footwork allow him to drive by slower bigs when he has room to operate. His ability to put the ball on the floor should only look better with NBA spacing. 

The 18-year-old is also lethal when serving as an offensive hub on the block. He has a legitimately scary back-to-the-basket game, which is why he looks like a player that could have been special across multiple eras of NBA basketball. Boozer has the strength to move forwards around in the paint, the touch to finish in a variety of ways, and the basketball IQ to know when to get rid of the ball. Whether he’s finding his teammates open looks or quickly moving the ball to better balance the floor, he knows how to give his team an advantage. 

There just isn’t much that Boozer can’t do at a high level on the offensive end of the floor, making it hard to worry too much about the speed he plays or lack of above-the-rim moments. Think about how many superstars in the NBA right now play at their own pace, including some of the big men. Nikola Jokic and Alperen Sengun have shown that world-class feel, good touch, and good overall instincts can make up for any physical limitations, and Boozer is very similar to both of those players. 

Boozer is also a little like Sengun in that he has proven he can be a strong defensive big despite not being a traditional shot-blocking rim protector. He probably won’t be a guy that has a high block rate at the next level, but he can be trusted to move his feet, compete, and be in the right spots. 

Boozer is also an awesome rebounder, as he’s big, strong, and makes up for his lack of vertical pop with impeccable timing. That’s another plus when looking at his impact on defense, and it helps him on the other end of the floor too. 

There’s just more than one way to be a superstar in this league. Not everyone will be a physical specimen that can jump out of the gym. Sometimes having good size, serious skill, and basketball smarts will take you anywhere you want to go. Boozer has that. He should be a player that flirts with All-Star status pretty early in his career, and the fact that he’s the son of a productive NBA player doesn’t hurt. We have seen over the years that second-generation players generally overdeliver on expectations.