One of our favorite things about the NBA Draft is the skullduggery, machinations, and positively Machiavellian manipulation that goes on as people try to up or downgrade prospects in order to get the guy they really want.
Whisper campaigns get started about a prospect who supposedly had a bad attitude during a workout, or rumors that he’s not really that athletic, or maybe that he’s just overrated.
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It happens just about every year.
So what’s going on with Cameron Boozer?
That’s hard to tell.
We do know that Oklahoma City would apparently like to bundle their #12 and #17 picks, and perhaps some of their future draft picks, to move up to get Boozer.
So far, the general consensus is that BYU’s AJ Dybantsa has to go first to Washington, and that Kansas’s Darryn Peterson should go second to Utah, with Boozer most likely going to Memphis at #3 and UNC’s Caleb Wilson to Chicago at #4.
Well, slow it down there, buckaroo. It may not happen that way at all.
Jonathon Givony, who has excellent contacts in the NBA, and who talks to a lot of people who are really enamored with analytics, says most front offices really feel like Boozer should go #1. Here’s what he said about the former Duke star:
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“If you talk to the analytics people in NBA front offices, who have a lot of influence, 100% of them have Cam Boozer at number one at the top of their draft model. That’s not just because of what he did in college, where he was the most productive player in college basketball… but also dating back to what he did in high school, as well as at the FIBA level. Cam Boozer has been the best player in every setting that he’s competed on since he was 14 years old. And that goes a long way for the analytics models.
“I like [the Jokic] comp just because of the passing ability. That’s really what separates Cam Boozer, is his feel for the game, he’s absolutely exceptional. Defensively, off the ball, he’s elite, he’s a great rebounder, and even though he’s not a great athlete, he’s just first to every loose ball, his processing speed and reaction time… We saw Duke use him as a point guard at times… Teams that are drafting him at 1 and 2 are giving him a very hard look in this draft, even though that might not be the public sentiment.”
One of the nicer side effects if that comes to pass is that would probably bump Dybantsa down to #2. He’s made it clear that he likes the state of Utah, and his family now lives there, so for him, that would work out perfectly.
Of course, if it looks like Boozer is going first, that would put a lot more pressure on the Thunder to come up with a sufficiently seductive trade package to get Washington to agree. However, OKC has two first-round picks this year, as discussed, and a total of about 10, counting future drafts. They also have 12 second-round picks to work with.
So if they decide Boozer is worth it, they have draft capital to burn.
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