You've seen it throughout the pre-draft process so far with Cameron Boozer. The consensus among dratniks and so-called experts has been that while Boozer has a tremendously high floor, he doesn't have the ceiling that guys like AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, and even Caleb Wilson possess.
The nitpicks on Boozer have been his lack of athleticism. People who didn't actually watch games but saw certain clips on social media or a couple of minutes of a game here and there believe he's strictly a "bully ball" type and will struggle to translate to the NBA.
That is, of course, pure hogwash. Boozer is way more than just bully ball. He can do that, certainly, but his feel for the game, passing, post game, and perimeter shooting are all different facets of his game that he's already an expert at despite being one of the youngest prospects in the class at just 18 years old.
Nothing says the pre-draft process like overthinking things with a can't-miss prospect. People are overthinking it with Boozer. He's a proven winner who has dominated every level of basketball he's ever played in.
Boozer has a strong case to be the No. 1 overall pick, though he likely won't be. Scouts will talk themselves into the ceiling of Dybantsa or Peterson and Boozer will end up with the team that wins the draft by taking him. And that team, as Boozer has put it, will hang banners.
It's happened plenty of times before with prospects, and it appears to be happening again. Corey Tulaba of No Ceilings joined The Field of 68: After Dark this week to discuss Boozer as a prospect and stated he believed he shared a defining characteristic with three NBA superstars.
Corey Tulaba sees Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, and Jalen Brunson in Cameron Boozer
“You also see these guys who maybe aren’t looked at as sexy: Jalen Brunson, and Luka (Doncic), and (Nikola) Jokic, who just have incredible minds, and are super skilled, and just have the intangibles and the variables that you can’t measure. And that’s Cam Boozer," Tulaba said.
"This dude is just all business. I think he’s going to play way more on-the-ball, in a more wing-y type role, stuff that we saw at times at Duke and a little more in high school. I don’t think he has a flaw. Sometimes when guys don’t have a flaw, really, we think that they don’t have the same kind of highs, and when we look back, it might just be one of these situations where people go ‘I understand why we overthought it, but we kind of overthought this.’”
The knock on Boozer was also the knock on that trio, too. Doncic wasn't athletic enough to do what he was doing in the EuroLeague in the NBA. Neither was Jokic. And Brunson, despite leading Villanova to the national title, was too small to boot.
All three have developed into Top 10 players in the NBA. Jokic is a three-time MVP and NBA Champion. Doncic is one of the most prolific scorers in the league. Brunson has the Knicks in the NBA Finals and two wins away from the team's first world championship since 1973.
In re-drafts, all would go higher than they originally did. Plenty of teams are kicking themselves for passing on those three, and anyone who passes on Boozer will be kicking themselves five years from now.
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