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Carlos Boozer refused to influence the Utah Jazz's draft decision on his son despite being a team scout
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- Carlos Boozer refused to influence the Utah Jazz's draft decision on his son despite being a team scout
The 2026 NBA Draft was loaded with talent, and some said there were actually three possible No. 1 picks. One of them was former NBA star Carlos Boozer 's son, Cameron , who played for the Duke Blue Devils last year and was the 2026 National College Player of the Year.
While most believed that the Washington Wizards would pick A.J. Dybantsa with the No.1 overall pick, there was a chance that the young Boozer could have gone to the Utah Jazz at No.2 and play for the team where his father earned his two All-Star and one All-NBA selections. Plus, the elder Boozer currently works on the Jazz's scouting team and is one of the front office's talent evaluators.
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However, as he told ESPN's Brian Windhorst recently, Carlos said he purposely did not meddle in the Jazz's draft process because he has faith in his front-office mates and just wanted to enjoy the process as Cam's dad.
"They have obviously incredible minds in that front office, and I recused myself, and I was like, 'I'm just going to go be a dad', and they allowed me that," said Boozer. "I put all my reports in, who I thought were the top guys, I didn't know what pick we were going to get and all the things, but I gave them all my stuff very early so I could just be a dad and enjoy the process."
The Jazz wanted A.J.
There was no question that Utah coveted Dybantsa too, because of his links to the team. A.J. played his senior high school season at Utah Prep, a school owned by Jazz principal owner Ryan Smith.
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He attended BYU, and Provo is just 45 miles from Salt Lake City, where the Jazz play. Of course, many also considered Dybantsa to be the player with the most potential.
However, Boozer's son was equally impressive. Cam was a two-time high school Player of the Year winner. He was MVP at the FIBA U-16 and U-17 tournaments. The 19-year-old was also the 2026 National Player of the Year and the 2026 Karl Malone awardee as best power forward in college basketball.
Carlos could have made a case for Cam
If the Jazz didn't get A.J., Cameron would have been a great choice as the No.2 overall pick, and Carlos could have at least tried to convince his team to draft his son. But he didn't.
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Utah ended up selecting Darryn Peterson from the University of Kansas. Cam was drafted No.3 by the Memphis Grizzlies, and that was fine with the elder Boozer.
"Like I wanted to be present with my son in the moment. So I just got a chance to enjoy Cam's moment and looking forward to the games ahead," he added.
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Draymond said he would do what LeBron did for his son
Interestingly, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green recently defended LeBron James in the never-ending discussion about Bronny James getting drafted by the Lakers because of his father. In his podcast, Dray said he would have done what LeBron did to give Bronny a head start.
"If you can help your child, sign me up. I'm not saying having five kids makes me more of a father than the next man, but sign me up. Like, no-brainer. "There's a way to teach your kid resilience. There's a way to teach your kid to go after something and pursue a goal. I worked my ass off to be in this position so that you don't have to work as hard to do this same thing," Green said .
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Green has a point, and it makes a lot of sense. Just don't tell that to Boozer, though.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Oct 12, 2026, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
