Why Duke's Cameron Boozer is more likely to be the 3rd pick than 1st in 2026 NBA Draft

Why Duke's Cameron Boozer is more likely to be the 3rd pick than 1st in 2026 NBA Draft originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

In a lot of NBA Drafts, Cameron Boozer would've comfortably been the No. 1 overall pick.

In the 2026 NBA Draft, the Duke Blue Devils' freshman phenom seems likely to go No. 3.

Whoever is picking third will certainly be happy about that. In ESPN's Jeremy Woo's latest mock draft, he has the Brooklyn Nets landing Boozer with the third pick.

That's after AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson go first and second. Boozer just happens to be in a stacked draft class.

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Why is Cameron Boozer projected 3rd pick, not 1st?

Boozer is viewed as having less athletic upside than Dybantsa and Peterson.

"He has the makings of a foundational, tone-setting player, and while his limited vertical lift might cap some of his upside, at some point, it's hard to argue with the results he has gotten," Woo writes. "Boozer is a longer shot at No. 1, but teams largely feel comfortable with the production they're going to get from him."

The reality is that a team like the Nets would love to get Boozer.

"Brooklyn has a lot riding on this lottery, as it continues to look for a young franchise player to anchor the team and doesn't have control of its 2027 first, which is owed to Houston," Woo writes. "Boozer is the safest choice on the board in that respect, as the Nets try to accelerate the competitive timeline of a young roster."