New Man on Campus: Cameron Boozer
Cameron Boozer's NBA-ready game is going to make him a force for the Duke Blue Devils and one of the key players to watch for the 2026 NBA Draft.
Elite skills come in various packages. Some players are elite shooters, some are playmakers, and others are defenders. Then, every now and then, there are some players who are just winners. It’s a cliché as old as time for a reason, but knowing how to impact winning in whatever form is needed is a massive skill. That is the calling card for Duke’s new man on campus and one of the top players in the 2026 NBA Draft, Cameron Boozer.
Boozer is entering college after winning pretty much everything there was for him to win, and yet, it still feels like he doesn’t have the appropriate hype. Despite winning Florida’s Mr. Basketball three times, Gatorade National Player of the Year twice, McDonald’s All-American co-MVP, four straight state championships, a national title, and two gold medals, Boozer gets talked about almost as an afterthought. It’s like people have gotten bored with his dominance and are already taking his game for granted.
Unfortunately, Boozer’s game is kind of boring—but in the best way possible. Boozer doesn’t play with a ton of flair, but he methodically and surgically breaks down his opponents’ game after game after game. Whatever the right play is, Boozer is going to make it. There isn’t any waste in his game, which is ridiculous to say for an incoming freshman. He could very easily have the most “boring” 20 and 10 season as a freshman we’ve ever seen. Don’t be lulled into complacency with Boozer: his game is already dominant, but he still has a ton of room to grow.
One of the most exciting aspects of Boozer’s game is how well-rounded and solid a foundation he already has. He’s fundamentally sound and processes the game quickly. At 6’9” and 250 pounds, Boozer had more than enough size to play center in high school. While he’ll surely still play some of those minutes at subsequent levels, he’ll also likely need to scale down more to being a power forward. We see players of this archetype struggle all the time with that transition, but Boozer’s combination of IQ, physical tools, and skill makes him shockingly malleable.
One of the areas where this shines the most is on defense. At first glance, Boozer’s defensive playmaking numbers aren’t all that impressive at 1.5 blocks and 1.4 steals per game in his 26 games with Columbus, per Synergy. The numbers are fine, but they don’t scream elite defender. Thankfully, that’s what the tape is for.
Boozer may not have the size and raw explosiveness to be a primary rim protector and shot blocker in the NBA, but he doesn’t need it. Boozer does a tremendous job of ensuring that he’s in the right place at the right time. This allows him to disrupt possessions and deter shots before they even have a chance of being taken. Even when guys challenge him, Boozer’s positioning and strength make it incredibly difficult to finish over, around, or through him.
Even though Boozer will likely transition into defending in space more than he did in high school, it isn’t like he’s incapable or unfamiliar with it. All season, Boozer proved that it wasn’t a good idea for ball handlers to force him to switch in space. Guys who are his size at his age rarely possess the fundamentals, strength, and agility that Boozer already has. His commitment to perfecting the little things has set him up to succeed on defense really early in his career. Sitting down in a stance, having the agility to slide his feet, the strength to cut off drives, and the anticipation to defend without fouling is a beautiful and rare amalgamation of defensive mastery at such a young age.
Boozer’s continued transition away from being a post-centric big is also evident on offense. In his junior year at Columbus, Boozer’s four most common play types (and the only ones over 10% in frequency) were transition, spotting up, offensive rebounds, and cuts, where he ranked in the 88th, 88th, 96th, and 95th percentiles in scoring, respectively. Additionally, Boozer ranked in the 85th percentile shooting off the catch and 93rd percentile at the rim. These are tremendous numbers for a junior.
While these numbers are great, they’re also largely in a play-finishing role. As a senior, Boozer continued to thrive in these situations. Over the last two seasons, Boozer has shot a combined 41.7% from three off the catch. Boozer’s ability to already be a reliable threat in spot-up and pick-and-pop situations will really help his transition to more perimeter-based play.
While Boozer is in a really encouraging spot as a shooter, he still has plenty of work to do. His release was still a bit slow and mechanical, but this feels more of a symptom of improving his release point rather than anything more concerning. Over the last year, Boozer has seemed to shift his release point a little more over his head rather than out in front of his face. He shoots a bit of a moon ball, but once his refined mechanics become a bit more natural, his release should speed up pretty quickly. That improved level of comfort should also help the variety of his shots. This last season, Boozer rarely shot off movement and was typically already squared up and on platform whenever he stretched the floor. It was a great display of disciplined shot selection, but there wasn’t a ton of variety to his shots.
Being a versatile play finisher is an important aspect of the game, but those players tend to have a rather defined cap on their upside—especially ones who are physically dominant in high school despite being undersized for an NBA center. If Boozer is going to get talked about as a legit top 1-3 pick in this class, then there needs to be a bit more outside of just play finishing. Thankfully, Boozer turned his on-ball creation flashes as a junior into more of the norm as a senior.
In his senior season, Boozer’s on-ball creation grew a lot. He was still a dominant play finisher who was relentlessly in the right spot at the right time, but we saw him create on the ball more. His isolation possession frequency rose from 6.2% to 10.5%. His possession frequency of isolations, including passes, rose from 7.3% to 12.2%. His drive frequency rose from 13.4% to just 13.6%, but his field goal percentage skyrocketed from 35.7% to 46.3%. As a junior, he took 42.4% of his jumpers off the bounce and shot just 33.3% compared to 47.2% and 39.7% respectively as a senior.
As we can see, Boozer’s handle is tighter, and he didn’t have issues getting to his spots. He displayed great composure in traffic, quick processing speed, and a soft scoring touch. Now, Boozer is proving that he can parlay those play finishing situations into on-ball opportunities. With more experience and improvement with his handle and shot, Boozer is only going to get more dynamic attacking close outs, in the pick-and-roll, and in transition. He already has a unique blend of power and skill, and it should only get more dominant moving forward.
We love to focus on the scoring with on-ball reps, but that wasn’t all that improved for Boozer this season. As a passer and playmaker, Boozer took a pretty substantial leap. His assists per game jumped from 2.97 to 3.46, his assist rate grew from 14.7% to 17.5%, and his turnover rate dropped from 14.5% to 12.7%. Boozer sees the floor incredibly well and creates from myriad situations. Whether he’s pushing in transition, operating out of the short roll, or operating in isolation, Boozer almost always has his head up and is eager to make the right play.
Everything we saw from Boozer as an on-ball creator improved this season. He has the physical tools to simply overpower kids in high school. He did plenty of that, but he didn’t solely rely on it. He continued to improve his handle, implemented counter moves, and showed continued improvement in his scoring versatility.
The big question moving forward is, how much more is there to be unlocked? Boozer continues to prove that he has more in the tank, but it’ll be fascinating to see how his on-ball creation improves at Duke. It’s tough to be anything other than optimistic, but guys who Boozer gets compared to (like Paolo Banchero) typically had more wiggle and dynamism to their handle at this same point. The growth that Boozer has shown in this realm is overwhelmingly encouraging, but he still has a long way to go to be an offensive hub rather than an incredible number two option.
Even though I have a few hesitations about Boozer’s ultimate offensive role in the NBA, I have zero doubts that he can fit with pretty much anyone in any system. His malleability is a true delight. Even if he doesn’t reach that number one option role in an NBA offense, which is a brutally high bar to clear, he has the type of game that makes everyone better.
Cameron Boozer is far from the flashiest or most eye-popping prospect in the 2026 NBA Draft, but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t one of the best. His mastery of the little things and the mundane is a driving reason for his dominance. Boozer makes everyone around him better because he is constantly doing the things that contribute to winning. He’ll have some of the most “boring” 20, 10, and 5 games this season, but it’ll consistently be a masterclass in how to play. Boozer has a unique ability to make the remarkable look vanilla, and I beg you not to get complacent with his dominance.