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We talked to a half dozen scouts, executives and coaches about who might win Rookie of the Year and most of them didn't have a quick answer, primarily, they said, because of the impressive talent at the top of the draft. Most of them, that is. "Boozer is a winner and he's won things his entire young life," said one Eastern Conference executive, clearly a Boozer fan. "Memphis isn't going to have a good year, but he's going to be the bright spot and he's going to win the award." Our polling agrees -- but barely. Boozer was projected just ahead of the Jazz’s No. 2 pick Darryn Peterson. Interestingly, though, Peterson doesn't have much support among the league personnel we contacted for this piece. Mostly because of the supporting cast he'll have on the Jazz. "Rookie of the Year is an award that's centered on opportunity," a Western Conference executive said. "[Peterson] is going to be great, but on that team I'm not sure how much opportunity he's going to get."
For Boozer, those workouts provide an opportunity to spend time on the floor with NBA players while preparing for his first season. There’s also the added appeal of being invited to exclusive basketball runs with NBA players. “It’s been great,” Boozer said. “I think right now, there’s a lot of open runs, people just trying to get back in the flow of playing and things like that. It’s been a lot of fun to compete with some other guys in the NBA.”
But it’s hard to watch Darryn Peterson’s first two games in the Salt Lake City Summer League and not think he can be truly special. Monday night, in a game hyped as No. 2 pick Peterson against No. 3 pick Cameron Boozer, it was Peterson who stole the show with 25 points and 12 assists (to just two turnovers). He was explosive, showed off his shooting range, and his decision-making was way beyond his years. “What is greatness to me? I think it’s just kind of being one-of-one,” Peterson said. “I would say to achieve greatness, definitely something I want to try to achieve. Far away from it now, so early in my career — it’s Summer League — but it’s something I wanted to try to achieve in my career.”
"Obviously I didn't know it was going to happen," Boozer said July 2. "Ja is a great player. It's not our decision to make. It's the front office's (decision). I think we got a great young core. I think that's what they're looking to build off of, so I think (the future) is really exciting. "Obviously it sucks to lose a guy as good as Ja, what he's done for the city and the team, but it's part of the business."
All these GMs know you. So, when they ask you why should they draft him, and if we don’t, what would you say? Carlos Boozer: If they miss the boat, they will regret it. This kid is a winner. Basically, the one thing about Cam that separates him from everybody else in the draft is that he’s a guy that the rest of the team will galvanize around because he doesn’t cheat the game. He shows up every single day, he studies the game, he puts his work into it every single day. He’s as dedicated as you’re ever going to find a player to his craft. And so, because of that, the team will always follow him because he’s the natural leader. And if you’re looking for that, then you’ll find that in him. And if you don’t draft him, then you’re going to regret that.
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At what point did you say, ‘What I’m seeing from Cameron is different. What I’m seeing is something that could be on the highest level’? Carlos Boozer: I knew that this one was really special, probably like around like sixth grade. We had him with different trainers that were really good with developing skill sets in the backyard. And he was picking it up faster than everybody else early. And the light bulb went off like seventh, eighth grade, and he just took off from there. And you guys know that the résumé speaks for itself. But I felt like sixth grade and then, after he figured it out, he just ran away with it.
When Cam gets to the NBA, what lessons have you instilled in him that you know he’s going to take with him wherever he goes? Carlos Boozer: He’s so fundamentally sound. He has a great focus. He’s not going to get sidetracked. A lot of guys, me included, you get to the NBA and you start to get access to stuff that you didn’t have access to. You start to hang out a little bit. You start to mingle a little bit. He’s so locked in. He may do some of that with his teammates and have a good time. But he’s very disciplined. Very mature. More mature than most 18-year-olds. So, I think he is just going to be himself, which is what he’s been his whole life.
Growing up with his older brother, Carmani, and twin brother, Cayden, when one of them played a sport, all three had to play. The boys grew up playing basketball, baseball, football, soccer and even hockey together. It didn’t take long for Carmani to gravitate to baseball and the twins found their love for basketball. “I probably had a basketball in their crib, all three of my sons,” Carlos said, laughing. “They got serious about basketball around four or five years old. Then they got good, like really good where I knew they had something, around middle school. “I think Cam was No. 1 in the country in seventh grade. The lightbulb started going off for them in middle school and then obviously once they hit high school, they were beating everyone and winning at the highest level.”
That’s the point Boozer tried to hammer home at last month’s NBA Draft combine. Over and over, when asked about his defining traits, he pointed to the one that matters most: winning. “I just think my feel for the game is elite. My competitiveness and my will to win, I think those are things that will translate,” Boozer said.
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The bottom line is Boozer wins and, as for why, he believes it all starts with preparation. As the son of a former All-NBA big man, Carlos Boozer, he’s had those habits drilled down since an early age. “I think what I do every day; I show up and do the right things. I think that’s something that kind of just affects people. Once one person starts doing it, everyone starts doing it, especially if it’s the best player,” Boozer said.
Ten of the 13 executives and scouts we spoke with were willing to name the player they think Washington should draft at No. 1. Dybantsa received seven votes. Peterson garnered two votes. One person voted for Boozer. “Take AJ Dybantsa and sleep like a baby,” one of the seven respondents who voted for Dybantsa told us, saying that Dybantsa’s upside and floor are so high that he’s the safest pick in the draft. Dybantsa’s worst possible outcome, that respondent said, would be to have a career similar to Andrew Wiggins, the No. 1 pick in 2014, a wing who has made one All-Star team during his 12-year pro career.
So what will the Jazz do at No. 2, especially considering Cameron Boozer's dad, Carlos Boozer, currently works for the organization in a scouting role? Most expect Kansas guard Darryn Peterson to be the Jazz's pick here. While there's more public speculation about other options, sources around the combine speak with almost the same level of confidence that Peterson goes No. 2 as they do Washington taking Dybantsa at No. 1.
Dybantsa has shaped up as the favorite at No. 1, but that's not the consensus, with most around the NBA having seen Peterson as a strong candidate for that spot all season, and varying opinions on Boozer's and even Caleb Wilson's candidacies. The talent gap between that foursome, particularly Dybantsa and Peterson, might not ultimately be wide enough to trade up from No. 2 to 1 in a vacuum, regardless of which teams owned which picks.