What if Cameron Boozer is off the board at #3 for the Memphis Grizzlies?

The Memphis Grizzlies have "earned" the right to select #3 in the 2026 NBA Draft. That's the good news. But with that power comes great responsibility - the chance in a potentially generational draft to select the next face of the franchise. Heavy is the head that bears that crown.

Grizzlies GM Zach Kleiman and his front office in Memphis will undoubtedly leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of such a player. But if some early prognostications go according to plan, the choice for the Grizzlies will be clear. Cameron Boozer had an elite season at Duke as an 18-year-old collegiate superstar, and he fits a position of need in the wake of the Jaren Jackson Jr. trade to the Utah Jazz.

Easy, right? WRONG. There's a chance that Boozer is not on the board when the #3 selection is on the clock for Memphis. If that occurs, what should the Grizzlies do?

Take the other "big" with a "higher" ceiling?

Caleb Wilson vs. Cameron Boozer is likely to be a fun debate over the next week among basketball fans, assuming Boozer is not taken by the previously mentioned Jazz at #2 overall. Boozer is highly skilled, Wilson has a higher athletic profile. But his lack of three point shooting is eye opening - he either wasn't asked to do it at UNC, or North Carolina knew he wasn't able to be the scorer from range needed to help their offense.

Either way, that red flag - while not disqualifying overall outside the top-4 - should set him firmly behind an established talent like Boozer. But if Boozer is gone? Wilson makes a ton of sense in Memphis. He is a combo forward who can play on the perimeter as well as around the rim, and his athleticism makes him a higher level defender than Boozer. Especially in one on one settings.

Wilson could be the best player taken in this draft. But there's a space between that potential and the current reality. Boozer off the board would mean a large-scale swing on such possibilties, but that's not a bad thing. It's just a changing of the calculus for Memphis.

That'd be true of the other "likely" option, should this scenario come to be.

The Darryn Peterson dilemma

A special 6'6" scoring talent from Kansas falls to #3 overall? The Grizzlies should be sprinting to the podium to make the choice...correct? Assuming AJ Dybansta of BYU continues his ascent to likely #1 overall status to Washington, a Boozer-to-Utah choice would make Memphis consider bringing Peterson to the 901.

While Wilson has combo forward talent, the perimeter skill of Peterson should push him over the top. Perhaps the most talented wing scorer since Anthony Edwards, Peterson can get a bucket at all three levels of the offensive floor. There is quite simply nothing Peterson cannot do with the ball in his hands, and as a two-way player that can hold his own defensively Peterson should see his game thrive in the NBA.

Combine that with Memphis' possible need for another starting wing (if you believe Jaylen Wells is better served in a reserve role as the Grizzlies start to climb the proverbial NBA mountain again), and Peterson is a home run choice. But Peterson infamously had some issues with health and possible communication with coaches at Kansas. A possibly attitude-driven, potentially injury-prone lead guard with the Memphis Grizzlies?

What could go wrong?

Peterson is, of course, not Ja Morant. But anyone nervous about soft tissue injuries and inconsistent availability likely won't be appeased by a Peterson selection. Should the sins of the past impact the present opportunity for the Grizzlies?

THE VERDICT

Friendly reminder - the Memphis Grizzlies have already won. Once in the top-4 of this draft, it's extremely unlikely any of the consensus top guys (Dybansta/Peterson/Boozer/Wilson) are "busts". Naturally one or two will be better than the others, and Boozer is set up as well as anyone to thrive early. But there is no awful option. Just varying levels of action and reaction.

Watching the NBA Playoffs, and in particular the dominance of Anthony Edwards, the choice becomes clear. Wilson should be a very good NBA player. But he doesn't have the kind of game designed for full blows takeovers offensively - especially because of his current three-point shooting limitations.

No such limits exist for Darryn Peterson. Which is why, if Boozer is indeed not available for the Grizzlies, the Kansas guard should be the selection.

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