Cameron Boozer watched a lot of the New York Knicks during their run to their first NBA championship in more than 50 years.
He watched how they moved offensively. He observed how they shared the basketball and how they seemed to know where each other would be at all times. He eyed how they moved as a team defensively, consistently covering for each other. Most importantly, he took notice in how every player on their team possessed multiple skills.
Boozer, the Memphis Grizzlies’ rookie forward, spoke at length about the Knicks being a leader for positionless basketball. It’s part of what he wants to achieve as a professional. Boozer then went out and turned in one of the best summer-league performances from the 2026 draft class. Over a 10-day period, he averaged 18.5 points, eight rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. He also averaged 1.8 steals, helping the Grizzlies reach the Las Vegas Summer League championship game, where they lost a narrow one to the Golden State Warriors.
Boozer gave everyone a glimpse into why he’s been a dominant figure in American basketball since early in his high-school days.
“Versatility is the name of the game. That’s what teams are looking for,” Boozer told The Athletic. “Teams want five guys who can make plays. Look at the Knicks this year. Everyone on that team was capable of doing more than one thing. Everyone was capable of playing on or off the basketball. That’s what I feel like I can do best. I can screen. I can handle it. You can put me in a lot of different scenarios.”
What are Memphis Grizzlies getting in Duke’s Cameron Boozer?
Zach Harper and CJ Moore
{“@context”:”https://schema.org”,”@type”:”VideoObject”,”@id”:”https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/video/2xXWs3W14CXzt9t/”,”url”:”https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/video/2xXWs3W14CXzt9t/”,”name”:”What are Memphis Grizzlies getting in Duke’s Cameron Boozer?”,”description”:”The NBA Daily guys weigh in on what the Memphis Grizzlies are getting in Duke’s Cameron Boozer.”,”uploadDate”:”2026-06-24T04:11:22.566Z”,”duration”:”PT1M9S”,”thumbnailUrl”:”https://cdn-media.theathletic.com/video-stream/auto-thumbnail/2xXWs3W14CXzt9t/iwJgkOy2hAtY.0000000.jpg”,”contentUrl”:”https://video.nyt.com/athletic/streams/2xXWs3W14CXzt9t/iwJgkOy2hAtY/iwJgkOy2hAtY.m3u8″,”transcript”:”OK, the pick is also in for the Memphis Grizzlies, no surprise here, and that is Cameron Boozer. Uh, a lot of people, if you were to ask them, this might be the best guy in the draft, and he was the most prolific college player of the trio here. What are, what are the Grizzlies getting in Cam Boozer, uh, big man out of Duke? A very, very versatile score, playmaker, um, they used him in kind of similarly to how they use Cooper Flagg the year before. Um, he’s not as dynamic an athlete as Cooper, but, um, was probably a better college scorer. Um, just because he’s a more natural scorer, he can play, you know, he’s a like he’s built for college basketball. I will just say that’s why there’s a lot of fascination about how his game translates to the NBA, because, and I always thought he’d be the best cop. Like when I watched those kids in high school, I was like that he’s gonna translate college basketball. He did. Now there’s gonna be the concerns of can he finish over length? Is he athletic enough? I’ll tell you, he is strong.”,”ineligibleRegion”:[“BI”,”BY”,”CD”,”CF”,”CU”,”IQ”,”IR”,”KP”,”LB”,”LY”,”ML”,”NI”,”RU”,”SD”,”SO”,”SS”,”SY”,”UA”,”VE”,”YE”,”ZW”],”publisher”:{“@type”:”NewsMediaOrganization”,”@id”:”https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/#publisher”,”name”:”The Athletic”,”url”:”https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/”,”foundingDate”:”2016-01-25″,”logo”:{“@type”:”ImageObject”,”@id”:”https://theathletic.com/app/themes/athletic/assets/img/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png”,”url”:”https://theathletic.com/app/themes/athletic/assets/img/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png”,”contentUrl”:”https://theathletic.com/app/themes/athletic/assets/img/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png”,”creditText”:”The Athletic”,”height”:”60″,”width”:”435″},”publishingPrinciples”:”https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/edit-guidelines/”,”sameAs”:”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Athletic”},”author”:[{“@type”:”Person”,”name”:”Zach Harper and CJ Moore”}]}
Boozer, after a much-discussed pre-draft, ended up being the No. 3 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, after AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson, who went to the Washington Wizards and Utah Jazz, respectively. When asked if he should have gone No. 1, he calmly made eye contact and admitted that he felt like he should have at least been in that conversation. But he’s happy to make the matriculation to Memphis.
He will likely be a day-one starter in Memphis, which may not have happened in Washington or Utah. He and Cedric Coward, an NBA All-Rookie First Team player last season, will immediately take the reins of what will be a young roster. And the Grizzlies have talent. That run to the Las Vegas Summer League title game was not a fluke. Boozer’s ability to affect basketball games, combined with the talent Memphis had on its roster, unsurprisingly led to a dominant run through both the Salt Lake City and Las Vegas summer leagues.
If Boozer’s game has shown anything, it’s the ability to translate every time he moves up a level. He was one of the most dominant high schoolers of this era, and he played at a level so high for so long that it became almost boring. He then led Duke to the Elite Eight in his lone year of college. He was named The Associated Press men’s college basketball national player of the year, and he displayed a level of dominance rarely seen from a freshman at the collegiate level.
{“endpoint”:”https://api-prd-nyt.theathletic.com/graphql”}
His maturation to the pro game, and to Memphis, will likely hold a key to where the Grizzlies go as a franchise. If Memphis is to return to prominence, Boozer’s development would be a big reason why.
The son of two-time NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer is a franchise-level talent. Most agree to that. If — and when and how fast — the younger Boozer reaches that ceiling will likely tell a tale for Memphis as a whole.
“The NBA is for sure very different than college,” he said. “It’s going to be about growing up and figuring it out. But this has been a great transition for me. I have a great group of people around me, with my mother and my father and my family. There are great people in this (Grizzlies) organization, as well. So, it’s really been a great transition.
“I’ve been around the game for so long that it definitely helps. I feel like God has a plan for me, and I’m in Memphis for a reason. We can talk about the draft, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter where you start, it’s where you finish. In 10 years, it’s not going to matter where I got drafted. It’s going to matter what I’m doing, and it’s going to be about what I can do to help teams win.”
Why Cameron Boozer produces and wins at every level
Sam Vecenie
{“@context”:”https://schema.org”,”@type”:”VideoObject”,”@id”:”https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/video/zn8piJWz3zxDREL/”,”url”:”https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/video/zn8piJWz3zxDREL/”,”name”:”Why Cameron Boozer produces and wins at every level”,”description”:”Sam Vecenie examines why Cameron Boozer is one of the most statistically dominant prospects in recent memory and how his all-around game translates to the modern NBA.”,”uploadDate”:”2026-06-09T19:48:16.757Z”,”duration”:”PT2M30S”,”thumbnailUrl”:”https://cdn-media.theathletic.com/video-stream/auto-thumbnail/zn8piJWz3zxDREL/vg8sebRZu36j.0000000.jpg”,”contentUrl”:”https://video.nyt.com/athletic/streams/zn8piJWz3zxDREL/vg8sebRZu36j/vg8sebRZu36j.m3u8″,”transcript”:”Duke’s Cam Boozer produces and wins basketball games. It’s what he’s done at every level of basketball to this point, and he’s exactly what NBA teams are looking for and they say that they want players who can dribble, pass, shoot, and think on the court. Here’s why Boozer is an elite prospect in the 2026 NBA draft. Boozer is one of the most statistically dominant players we’ve seen enter the NBA in a long time, averaging 22.5 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists while shooting 56% from the field, 39% from 3. And 79% from the line. His hands are elite. He’s strong as a tank. His footwork is pristine. He’s multi-skilled and incredibly versatile. He’s not just a post big though. That makes him so difficult to game plan for. He can beat you in ball screens as both a ball handler and as a screener. He can beat you as a floor spacing shooter. He can attack closeouts or he can post you up and score that way too. He has a brilliant basketball mind and he passes really well. Here are a couple of plays that showcase these skills. Watch him catch this on the block, see the. Will come from Henri Vasar and immediately diagnose where to put the ball. Then he relocates out to the three-point line, creates an easy passing angle for his brother Cayden and cashes a 3. Because he can shoot, that opens up his driving ability. Here against Caleb Wilson in an earlier game, he’ll pump fake, attack Wilson’s closeout, get leverage on him, and use that jump stop to get to the other side of the rim, protect the ball and finish. Duke’s favorite set this year was an inverted ball screen involving Boozer as the play. Maker and an elite shooter in Isaiah Evans screening and slipping out to the three-point line. Here you get to watch Boozer’s polished handle and pure power as he drives William Kyle backward, hits him with a pump fake, hits the lefty finish. Or he can hurt you as a playmaker like in this one where he takes a flip screen from Malik Brown, calmly eats up the space in Virginia Tech’s drop coverage defense, draws the big defender toward him, recognizes that Neil Abdulla is late with the tag on the backside as Brown rolls to the rim. And he hits a beautiful lob to Brown here for the dunk. Boozer’s game is like if you plopped Kevin Love from 20 years ago into a modern basketball ecosystem and allowed him to develop his perimeter skills from a younger age. Love got those skills by his 4th year in the NBA. He averaged 26 and 13 and made a 2nd team all NBA. Boozer already has those as a teenager. You’ll need to create a positive defensive environment, but he has a chance to be one of the NBA’s truly elite players by the time he hits his prime.”,”ineligibleRegion”:[“BI”,”BY”,”CD”,”CF”,”CU”,”IQ”,”IR”,”KP”,”LB”,”LY”,”ML”,”NI”,”RU”,”SD”,”SO”,”SS”,”SY”,”UA”,”VE”,”YE”,”ZW”],”publisher”:{“@type”:”NewsMediaOrganization”,”@id”:”https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/#publisher”,”name”:”The Athletic”,”url”:”https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/”,”foundingDate”:”2016-01-25″,”logo”:{“@type”:”ImageObject”,”@id”:”https://theathletic.com/app/themes/athletic/assets/img/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png”,”url”:”https://theathletic.com/app/themes/athletic/assets/img/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png”,”contentUrl”:”https://theathletic.com/app/themes/athletic/assets/img/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png”,”creditText”:”The Athletic”,”height”:”60″,”width”:”435″},”publishingPrinciples”:”https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/edit-guidelines/”,”sameAs”:”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Athletic”},”author”:[{“@type”:”Person”,”name”:”Sam Vecenie”}]}
To prepare for the NBA, Boozer worked on multiple areas. He’s tried to hone his jumper, which will be key in opening up his game inside the 3-point arc. He also lost 10 pounds because he wants to be able to chase defensively on the perimeter.
What became clear, at least at the summer-league level, is that Boozer’s strengths from high school and college will still be strengths going forward. Most talk about the force he plays with, combined with the skill and touch he has away from the basket. His passing, however, has been a real highlight. He dishes the ball like a point guard.
Add the fact that he’s a 6-foot-10 power forward who makes for a difficult matchup, as he can pick a team apart with things other than scoring. Because he can handle the ball like a guard, he consistently shows the ability to grab rebounds and lead transition opportunities on his own.
Watch This: 32-2 run helps Grizzles clinch spot in Summer League semis
{“@context”:”https://schema.org”,”@type”:”VideoObject”,”@id”:”https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/video/K22hH5NigHBxthy/”,”url”:”https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/video/K22hH5NigHBxthy/”,”name”:”Watch This: 32-2 run helps Grizzles clinch spot in Summer League semis “,”uploadDate”:”2026-07-17T03:57:50.942Z”,”duration”:”PT19S”,”thumbnailUrl”:”https://cdn-media.theathletic.com/video-stream/auto-thumbnail/K22hH5NigHBxthy/1YIfRVdGAJ2b.0000000.jpg”,”contentUrl”:”https://video.nyt.com/athletic/streams/K22hH5NigHBxthy/1YIfRVdGAJ2b/1YIfRVdGAJ2b.m3u8″,”transcript”:”It’s hard to stop somebody one on one, full speed transition. You take advantage. Zeke couldn’t get that to fall. Boozer, so for the rebound. Look at the pass, look at the pass. Great pass by Boozer.”,”ineligibleRegion”:[“BI”,”BY”,”CD”,”CF”,”CU”,”IQ”,”IR”,”KP”,”LB”,”LY”,”ML”,”NI”,”RU”,”SD”,”SO”,”SS”,”SY”,”UA”,”VE”,”YE”,”ZW”],”publisher”:{“@type”:”NewsMediaOrganization”,”@id”:”https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/#publisher”,”name”:”The Athletic”,”url”:”https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/”,”foundingDate”:”2016-01-25″,”logo”:{“@type”:”ImageObject”,”@id”:”https://theathletic.com/app/themes/athletic/assets/img/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png”,”url”:”https://theathletic.com/app/themes/athletic/assets/img/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png”,”contentUrl”:”https://theathletic.com/app/themes/athletic/assets/img/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png”,”creditText”:”The Athletic”,”height”:”60″,”width”:”435″},”publishingPrinciples”:”https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/edit-guidelines/”,”sameAs”:”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Athletic”},”author”:[{“@type”:”Person”,”name”:”The Athletic Staff”}]}
His weakness is his lack of vertical explosion around the rim. But he’s been able to carve out space on the interior and finish with efficiency in summer league. His ability to process what a defense is throwing at him is first-rate. And the Grizzlies simply were a better team in Las Vegas whenever he was on the floor.
Boozer scored 23 points, grabbed six rebounds and handed out four assists in a win over Caleb Wilson and the Chicago Bulls. He had 21 points and eight rebounds in a loss to the Dallas Mavericks. He scored 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the field in a win over the Atlanta Hawks.
He adapted to different roles during the 10 days of Vegas, while playing in every game. When Memphis needed him to be aggressive, he went into the paint and created offense. When the Grizzlies needed him to make plays, he created for his teammates.
In a number of ways, the Knicks provided a blueprint for a championship that doesn’t involve having a heliocentric star. And Boozer projects to be the star who doesn’t need to dominate the ball to be effective. With his pro career in its infancy, he projects to be versatile and unselfish, but impactful and dominant at the same time.
It’s why he became a top-three draft pick.
“I feel like you can play me at any of the frontcourt spots. It just depends on who is on the roster,” Boozer said. “But some of that doesn’t really matter. It’s about what teams can do. I saw the Knicks play Josh Hart at center at points during the playoffs, so it’s what you can do on the court that leads to wins. I thought we played solid. I still think I can be a lot better defensively. I just have to sharpen things up going forward.”