Draft Combos Part 2: If Cam Boozer is 3, who should the Grizzlies target at 16?

Cam Boozer could very well be the third pick to the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2026 NBA Draft. Who should they pair with him with the 16th pick?

The Memphis Grizzlies are in an advantageous spot with the third pick, as they’ll have their choice between two of Darryn Peterson, Cam Boozer, and Caleb Wilson. It’s a great start to the Grizzlies’ next era, as any of these players can be the cornerstone of a franchise.

To make everything sweeter, the Grizzlies have the 16th pick in this draft as well, which is an opportunity to add another key rotation player next to this player, Zach Edey, and Cedric Coward. When identifying possible outcomes with this pick, the answer points back to the question of who may fit well with whoever the player they select with the third pick.

Last week, I wrote about different prospects and their potential fit on a Grizzlies team centered around Darryn Peterson. For part two of this “mini-series,” I want to focus on Cam Boozer.

Frankly, Boozer is the top prospect on my board. He’s a basketball genius who solves problems at a high level. He’s arguably one of the best passers in this class, and one of the best 6’8”+ playmaking prospects in recent memory. He can operate in many capacities offensively, as he's far from a post-up merchant. While he has athletic flaws that impact his defense, he has the smarts and frame to mitigate them. Winning is synonymous with him, and it’s hard to foresee anything differently in the NBA.

With that said, who are some players the Grizzlies could target at 16 when building around Cam Boozer?

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Dailyn Swain

When identifying the type of players the Grizzlies should target when building around Boozer, I go towards the philosophy of Bryson Graham — the newest Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations for the Chicago Bulls.

SLAP — size, length, athleticism, and physicality. When building around a frontcourt of Boozer and Edey, they should target players with athleticism and speed without sacrificing size and physicality.

Dailyn Swain comes to mind immediately in this objective.

His physicality shines on both sides of the floor. Offensively, it is where it popped the most at Texas. He puts relentless pressure on the rim, as he had a stellar self-creation season. He’s so crafty when getting to the hoop, particularly with how he leverages good body control and seeks the space created from the Gortat screen to score at the rim. Defensively, he will need to rev up the attentiveness, as he wavered on that side of the floor with heightened offensive responsibilities. However, he can create turnovers at a high level, possessing a steal rate of 2.8 or higher in all three seasons in college.

With a Grizzlies team that wants to play fast, he runs the floor with such impeccable speed and fluidity — and can ignite transition offense off turnovers and rebounds. I envision him fitting in super well with a Grizzlies team that likes to empower all five players on the floor to be playmakers.

When assessing fits with individual players, Swain is another slasher that can play off Boozer and Ty Jerome’s playmaking. He’s a solid playmaker himself who should at the very least be a steady connector. The defensive trio of Swain, Jaylen Wells, and Cedric Coward gives them role depth for point-of-attack stoppers. His speed and athleticism will be a jolt next to Boozer and Edey.

Finally, he gives the Grizzlies an upside swing. He’s not a quintessential upside swing, as he’s entering the league as a three-year college player that’s 21 years old. There’s a real scalability question, because he took on such a creation load without a credible outside jumper. However, his shooting has progressed each year — up from 25 to 34.8 while nearly quadrupling his volume (28 to 96 attempts). While his NBA translation may be murky, I come back to the question…

What if he’s going to cook regardless?

He possesses an intriguing blend of size, handle, athleticism, and two-way playmaking. It’s a worth swing that has a low risk factor due to the fact that he still projects as a wing that can pressure opponents on both sides of the floor.

Cam Carr

Cam squared. Really, to the third with Cam Spencer. How exciting would that be?

Cam Carr turned heads at the NBA Draft Combine with his explosive performance in scrimmage play. Zooming out to the larger sample, it’s easy to see the vision with him. He has range as a shooter, and his process is pristine. He flies around screens and handoffs, possesses high elevation on his jumper, and doesn’t need much space to get his shot off. He also soars to the basket when cutting, attacking closeouts, and running the floor in transition — exploding to the rim for violent dunks.

Defensively, he makes a lot of standout plays, particularly with his rim protection. He can be a formidable help defender that can be deployed in numerous ways, particularly as the low man and in passing lanes. However, he needs to add more mass to his frame to handle more stopping duties.

When assessing his fit with Boozer, his athleticism will pop defensively in help defense. His three-and-dunks mindset offensively should play so well off the looks Boozer generates. Imagine watching the synergy between Boozer and Isaiah Evans this year but if the latter had a bit more athleticism and length.

From the team as a whole, Carr would be a good complementary piece but not necessarily a bet to be much more due to his creation limitations. The length on the wings between Carr and Coward could overwhelm teams and give the Grizzlies an advantage this era hasn’t had yet. It’s hard to foresee Carr falling to 16 though due to his skillset from the wing and his stock-rising performance at the NBA Draft combine.

Christian Anderson

Analysts may identify point guards for the Grizzlies to draft at 16, as they’re likely moving on from Ja Morant. We’ll put a pin on that conversation for another day.

If the Grizzlies opt for a point guard at 16, one point guard is standing out as a strong fit: Texas Tech’s Christian Anderson.

He’s become a tricky evaluation for me due to his size, as he measured at 6’0.75” barefoot — on a positive note, he has a 6’6.5” wingspan. He’s a shaky defender that could be a target. He doesn’t put a whole lot of pressure on the rim either. However, his strengths are dazzling.

And his strengths are why I’m enamored with his fit with Cam Boozer.

When building around Boozer, he needs to have the ball in his hands as a playmaker more often than a traditional power forward. They should leverage the advantages he poses as a 6’9”, 250-pound forward with his driving and playmaking acumen. So when searching for point guards next to him, complementary shooting is a priority.

Anderson is one of the best shooters in this class — if not the best. He’s capable of letting it rip off the catch and off the dribble. He’s also one of the best playmakers in the class as well. The combination of his shooting, passing, and handle make him a potent pick-and-roll weapon — which could boom in Iisalo’s system.

While I have concerns over his size, particularly with how it can limit his game, Anderson’s fit with a Boozer-led Grizzlies has tremendous upside.

Labaron Philon

If it weren’t for Darius Acuff, Labaron Philon might have won SEC Player of the Year.

His shiftiness fuels his game. He’s difficult to manage on an island due to his handle, pull-up shooting, and lower-body flexibility. He’s a potent three-level scorer as well. Despite the subpar vertical explosiveness, he frequently touches the paint with his herky-jerky style.

While he took off this year with heavy on-ball responsibilities, Philon can scale well and complement a big playmaker like Boozer. He shot 39.8 percent on catch-and-shoot threes. He also spent his freshman year as a secondary playmaker next to senior Mark Sears.

His defensive projection can get worrisome. His activity and effectiveness went down with more on-ball responsibilities. His frame can be worrisome and lead to some “weak link” outcomes on this end. If he reverts closer to his freshman year, expect more feistiness at the point-of-attack, but in the NBA, I envision him to be more of a turnover-creating chaser.

Philon’s production at Alabama could be overlooked, but he has the game to be a major steal in this draft.

Morez Johnson

The Grizzlies could double down on frontcourt depth with Morez Johnson. If you want to know how the fit could be with Cam Boozer and Zach Edey, look at this year’s Michigan team.

Boozer would be more of the 3 offensively while Johnson likely takes on the more perimeter-centric forward defensively. He becomes another rolling option in 3-4 pick-and-rolls — or in 4-5 pick-and-rolls, even if it’s just Boozer and Johnson in the frontcourt.

It could get clunky if those three share the floor together, as Johnson and Edey have steps to grow as playmakers. Nonetheless, the physicality on both sides of the floor can be overwhelming.

Aside from the frontcourt, the physicality and versatility between Johnson, Coward, and Wells would pressure opponents defensively.

A frontcourt rotation of Cam Boozer, Zach Edey, Morez Johnson, and Santi Aldama can be a versatile one that allows the Grizzlies to throw different looks at teams.

Sergio De Larrea

De Larrea is more of a sleeper that may be more of a target in the 32-range. He still has his decision to make, as international players have until June 13th to withdraw from the draft. De Larrea’s season is still going on with Valencia Basket Club. He could technically become a draft-and-stash target.

The intrigue with De Larrea as a fit with a Boozer-centric Grizzlies team lies within his playmaking and shooting. He’s averaging 2.9 assists against 1.4 turnovers in just 14.2 minutes per game — equating to an assist percentage of 29.9, and an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.97. He’s also shooting 41 percent from downtown — including a blistering 47.5 percent on catch-and-shoot threes.

He’s a guard but is more 2-guard sized at 6’5”, pending official measurements. He operates in a system similar to Iisalo’s predicated around quick actions, pace, and pick-and-roll. He plays with great pace and has a wonderful passing map out of the pick-and-roll.

While De Larrea doesn’t encompass the aforementioned SLAP methods, the blend of shooting and playmaking is enticing, and would fit wonderfully in this system.

Trade Up: Brayden Burries

The idea of trading up from 16 will be talked about quite a bit, given the Grizzlies’ bountiful assets and Zach Kleiman’s frequent activity on draft boards. It’s going to be easier said than done — like the point guard conversation, let’s save it for another day.

If the Grizzlies find their way up the board, the player they should identify with trade-up efforts is Brayden Burries.

When looking at the guards that are thriving in the playoffs, particularly in the Western Conference Finals, there are numerous trends:

• two-way physicality

• shot creation

• versatility

• size

Burries checks those boxes. On a physicality front, he can guard positions 1-3 while encompassing different roles. He might be the best guard rebounder in the class, and he uses it to fuel transition offense. As a creator, he’s not necessarily a primary playmaker, but he does well in a secondary sense. The intrigue with his creation is his pull-up shooting equity, as he sported a 53.9 effective field goal percentage on dribble jumpers. His shooting enables him to be a credible off-ball threat that can attack closeouts and make quick decisions. His versatility and size go hand-in-hand on both sides of the ball, as he’s 6’3.75” (barefoot, so essentially 6’5”).

While Burries isn’t a primary handler that can be the point guard of the future, he’s the kind of player that would thrive next to Boozer due to his versatility, shooting, and defensive toughness. He fits the combo guard archetype that’s become coveted and impactful in today’s NBA. A fair question with this fit would be around whether they’d like Cedric Coward to be a 2 or 3 long-term.

Nonetheless, the Grizzlies should feel good going into this next era with a “Core 4” of Cam Boozer, Zach Edey, Cedric Coward, and Brayden Burries.

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If the Memphis Grizzlies get Cam Boozer with the third pick, there are numerous directions they can go with the 16th pick, because of his size and versatility.

Some quick notes on popular names I may have missed. The rebounding advantage would be overwhelming with Hannes Steinbach, but I’m worried about the lack of rim protection between him and Boozer if they’re ever the 4 and 5 together. Jayden Quaintance would be the perfect pairing with Boozer and is a big upside swing, but should the Grizzlies go with another injury risk at the 5 when they’re dealing with Edey’s recent ankle problems? Going with Boozer then Allen Graves may be NBA Draft Twitter nirvana, but the athletic limitations could be a thing — I wouldn’t sleep on this outcome.

At 16, I lean towards stacking upon size, length, athleticism, and physicality. Over the past year, Zach Kleiman has done a good job identifying these types of players — Cedric Coward, Olivier-Maxence Prosper, and Taylor Hendricks. It should continue being a priority, as the rebounding between Boozer and Edey coupled with this level of defensive pressure could pose problems for teams.

If they go with a guard, they should prioritize one that could also function off the ball as a spot-up shooter.

Again, there are no wrong directions here for Memphis if Cam Boozer is the third pick.

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