The Brooklyn Nets are waiting patiently for Sunday’s 2026 NBA Draft Lottery to begin so that they can finally learn their fate for where they will be picking in June. Brooklyn, like every other team in the Lottery, is hoping to get the No. 1 overall pick for the presumed ability to take BYU forward AJ Dybantsa, but what if the Nets end up with the third overall pick?
“Cameron Boozer has bounced back and forth between No. 2 and 3, a movement dictated by the play of his main competitors: AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson,” Jonathan Wasserman wrote for Bleacher Report when discussing Duke forward Cameron Boozer. At this point in the pre-draft cycle, Boozer seems to be the third-best player in the 2026 class after Dybantsa and Kansas guard Darryn Peterson.
“Boozer has been steady all season. There wasn’t a minute when a new development or red flag emerged,” Wasserman continued. “There are some scouts who’ve been prepared to ignore any worries about lack of explosion or reliance on strength. These evaluators buy his track record and the idea that he’ll problem-solve with skill and intangibles.”
Boozer finished his one-and-done season at Duke with averages of 22.5 points, 10.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 55.6% from the field and 39.1% from behind the three-point line. Boozer had one of the best freshman seasons in college basketball history and while Duke was stunned in the Elite Eight by UConn, he was still awarded with virtually every Player of the Year award, including from the Associated Press.
There have been some reports of scouts preferring the upside of North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson ahead of Boozer, but that could come down to who Nets general manager Sean Marks and the front office believe is the better fit for head coach Jordi Fernandez’s system. Brooklyn likely can’t go wrong with either Boozer or Wilson, but if they have the No. 3 pick, it seems like choosing Boozer would be the right way to go.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Who should the Nets take with the No. 3 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft?
Reporting by Sharif Phillips-Keaton, Nets Wire / Nets Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
