One of the most intriguing narratives of a BPM God you will ever see... PRO: I think there's no other way to start this without talking about his advanced statistics and general statistics profile. 17 BPM which is 99th percentile, 96th percentile TS%, 15.5 RAPM best in college, 90+ percentile in a total of 22 statistics measured on Draftballr's metrics section too many for me to go one by one and name each of but it highlights truly what Cam's game is about. Its about impacting winning and its about high versatility, he can do almost everything on the court to a high level especially when you look at the offensive game. First true skill pro would be his offensive versatility in uses. He can run as your primary ball handler off screens, he can be your roll man, positive playmaker in short roll for himself and others, he can pop out to the perimeter and shoot off the catch and he does it all to a high level. He's simply a high IQ offensive player. 25.6 Ast% thats a 97th percentile stat. He was the offensive engine of a no.1 seed Duke team, the notion he may struggle to create for himself on the perimeter at the NBA is dismissive of what Boozer has shown in the NBA just because he's viewed as an unathletic prospect but his utilisation of his size, strong handle and enough of a first step that he can 100% beat bigger guys off the dribble he's got a variety of ways to beat his man. High IQ, Highly skilled. That works in the NBA. The one issue I have with a Kevin Love comparison, seems to be a common one is Boozer is very much a superior offensive talent on the perimeter and his driving skills are also more adept there's so much more utility for his offence than these comparisons give him credit for. Now what gives those comparisons SOME credibility is the elite rebounding. Rebounding is so vital to win the possession game, last years Rockets, this years Celtics follow that exact theme high OREB numbers create extra possession, good looks at the rim, kick out opportunities and Boozer creates them. 97th percentile OREB%, 86th percentile DREB%. Similar reasons for why DREB% is important for strong defensive teams but also what it allows Cam to do in transition. He is an elite outlet passer, high production of easy points through this starts high pace offence I shouldn't have to remind you of a Pacers team last year that thrived off that same idea in the playoffs. this is high functionality rebounding. Defensively most people have questions but one thing i've been very impressed in his ability to be aggressive in passing lanes without gambling, produce transition opportunities where he can go out and really flash athleticism he supposedly doesn't have and can't produce. He's also a strong isolation defender, moves his feet really well. If you cant get his momentum shifted before attacking him its really hard to create advantages against him but he's so strong its so hard to beat him straight off the dribble. CON: His largest technical deficiency is by far his talent as a rim protector. Yes he isn't the most talented vertical athlete, he's also not true center sized to make up for that to be a great rim protector but he also isn't technically good, not aggressive enough at going to get the ball in its path and more concerned staying tall and just contesting the shot and thats a weak point. It will be ideal at the NBA level to pair him with a strong enough rim protector to make up for this. Closeouts specifically are the other issue, he's big and it's just very difficult for anyone that size to have the agility and change of momentum to matchup with fast guards or generally fast players not the perimeter so NBA teams should truly prioritise switching and avoiding moments where he can have his momentum exploited. I think true vertical athletic concerns are fairly overblown, it doesn't pop but its in the film. Mid range concerns, I get the low volume but really how Duke used him was to remove that out of his game, he never was forced to go to it and he has a good volume of priors to tell me that shouldn't be something im gonna weigh him down with. NARRATIVE:PERCEIVED_POTENTIAL: The issue: - Boozer's playstyle has less potential to be an all NBA - MVP level player than AJ Dybantsa or Darryn Peterson and therefore shouldn't go no.1 I don't wanna harp on this but where there are these sort of narratives with prospects I would like to attack it and see why and this is a crazy one to me with Boozer. His lack of aesthetics within his game has made people conform this idea he's "Low potential". I can't really understand this we are talking about a guy who's not 19, going to be one of the youngest prospects we see in this class maybe THE youngest in this class good chance he is and we are struggling with his potential. He doesn't miss games, doesn't get injured and miss vital development time, he's got one of the deepest and balanced games of a prospect you will see. He's already NBA sized he's got all the muscle you could want. He's the smartest offensive player in this class and will have some of the best offensive IQ once he gets to the NBA and really the only concerns I've found with his game personally are issues that are very fixable and also common issues in young players on the defensive end. Why can't we get Boozer leaner keep that muscle and improve his agility and talent. He's already got high impact NBA skills. Not saying he's Nikola Jokic but Jokic IS a flawed defender, IS unathletic and yet he IS a multi-time MVP, Champion and probably in my top 10 all time. Boozer isn't Jokic, he isn't a 7 footer and I don't think he will average 10+ assists per game and be the best playmaking big man of all time but to say he can't be a top 5 player in the league at any point or even lower with the same limitations and reasons that a multi-time MVP was drafted in the second round for? We gotta learn from the past. PROJECTION: Ive truly gone back and forward on what the best comparison is for a guy like Boozer because there's quite simply not many players that are as good as he is as a prospect. So I went with Siakam as a likely Outcome but truly I think he ends up a different player. Siakam is probably the best illustration of how someone with Boozer's versatility of Scoring, Playmaking, Defensive impact while not being that athletic and aesthetic star player. It's that theme of winning where he goes. But truly Boozer can be the one to take it to the next level in that Mould. My ceiling for him is Kevin Garnett that would be a very very high end outcome but I think thats where the next level is with becoming a stronger defensive presence. Baseline is projecting Boozer to win and impact the game has never been an issue.