The most obvious answer to this question is “whoever the Wizards don’t pick between AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson.” Right now on FanDuel, AJ Dybantsa is at the highest it’s been all draft season at -500. Those aren’t the astronomical odds that were set for Cooper Flagg and Victor Wembanyama, but it’s interesting they keep climbing.
With those odds, it’s a good bet that Utah will be choosing between Darryn Peterson and Cam Boozer, and it will come down to who the Utah Jazz prefer between those two.
Recently, we’ve heard more buzz around Cam Boozer, with new mock drafts claiming the Jazz will seriously consider all options, including Boozer.
With the NBA Finals now over and the New York Knicks now champions, is there a lesson to be learned from them? One thing we saw from the Knicks was Jalen Brunson’s insane shot-making. It’s a reminder that the most important thing our offense needs is an elite, shot-making playmaker who can score when you need them to most. Cam Boozer is going to be a great player. He’s going to shoot it with great efficiency. He’ll also punish mismatches in the post and make great passes when the defense folds. That said, it’s hard to see Boozer being an elite isolation scorer like Brunson when the defense is at its toughest. One thing I can see is Darryn Peterson evolving into one of the best isolation scorers in the league. The toughest thing in the NBA is when things get tight at the end of playoff games, and you need players that can defend but also score at a high level in isolation. That is 100% a description of Darryn Peterson, a player that should be All-NBA at some point in his career. It’s easy to see Peterson being an absolute demon scorer for the Jazz, especially when defenses focus on the plethora of shooters on the floor.
There’s also the simple fact that Peterson is just the better player. Cam Boozer is the analytics darling, but the spacing in the NBA is going to take Peterson’s game to another level. He’s going to score at such an efficient level, and that’s why he’s the player the Jazz should select at #2.
