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Darryn Peterson made his NCAA Tournament debut while Brooklyn was hosting the Knicks on Friday, while Boozer made his Thursday afternoon. Dybantsa put on an all-time performance in BYU’s loss to Texas, looking like a potential No. 1 overall pick. “He’s going to be a great player. People talk about comparisons to [Kevin Durant], Jayson Tatum, and it does look like it to me,” Nets rookie Egor Dëmin told The Post of his BYU successor. “It’s a lot of midrange, really aggressive driver, slasher, the transition game, physicality, crazy athlete. He’s got everything to be able to play on the highest level.”
“Do you think the NBA scouts made a mistake, or maybe with hindsight you weren’t at the level you could have been to make it to the NBA?” Nadir Hifi: “It’s not a question of level. When you look at me, in the end, I don’t have the dimensions of an international-level prospect. You don’t bet on a small guy like me, really. I think it’s just a question of opportunity. If maybe I had had a Summer League at that moment, because after my draft I didn’t even get a Summer League. I didn’t even get a spot where I could show what I could do. I got that one or two years later, I don’t remember. But I don’t think it was a scouts’ error, it was just an opportunity, that’s all. But in the end, when you look at the years that have passed, it wouldn’t have been a mistake to draft me, maybe even a good choice. If I had gotten drafted then, it would have been a bonus, because that season at Le Portel where I confirmed myself and had a very good season keeping my team up, I was already very satisfied with that season. And if I could have added a draft after that, it would have been incredible, but I wasn’t betting everything on that, I really wasn’t expecting it at the start of the year. And in the end, it’s not so bad not to be drafted, because when you are drafted only one team has your rights, and if you stay in Europe, now all the teams can take me. So in the end, it’s not so bad.”
Oh No He Didn't: Darryn: "I don't ever say much, I just hoop"
Abby Jones: Dallas Mavericks Co-interim GM, Matt Riccardi on the upcoming draft regarding the upcoming talent playing in the NCAA Tournament: “If you’re just now paying attention during the NCAA tournament, you’re too late. I’ve seen all of our Top 20 guys, 3-4 times live already.”
“How much, at this point, are you kind of like, ‘I actually really care who the seventh pick is,’ versus, ‘If I get it, I get it. If I don’t, either way we’re going to find out in 30 seconds anyway’?” Shams Charania: “The nature of who I am is that I care. I care beforehand, as much in advance as I can get it. Even last year, when we had the draft on ESPN, I was hearing the picks maybe one, two, or three minutes before they were made. Obviously, I’m a team player, so I thought it was best for the network to allow Adam Silver and all of us to break it down. “And I think the way I viewed my role was: how can I give the ‘why’? If there’s a big move, a big trade, if there’s a draft-pick trade, or anything like that, how can I explain it and give behind-the-scenes coverage on the overarching sentiments about the draft around the league? That’s really where I focus my attention.”
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AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson and Cam Boozer have certainly been treated as a Big Three found at the top of every NBA’s team draft board, but I’m hearing more and more support for UNC forward Caleb Wilson forcing his way into that tier. “I don’t think anyone is taking Wilson No. 1 overall,” one general manager told me. “But I think every team is going to have him above one of those other three guys.”
It’s no secret that guard is considered to be the deepest position in this draft ... with some scouts calling it the deepest draft for guards since the 2018 edition that delivered Luka Dončić, Trae Young and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Another executive I spoke to compared this guard class to the Class of 2008, which featured Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, OJ Mayo and Eric Gordon.
I’ve heard multiple respected executives say they think teams will be able to find lottery-level talent in the 20s. Teams are routinely saying that, come June, you could find a player at No. 25 who would have likely gone 15th in a typical draft year. NIL dollars are such in the modern college game that we will inevitably see select players declare for the draft and then decide to return to school ... like Michigan’s projected first-round pick Yaxel Lendeborg did a year ago.
They kept competing, against Texas and against their diminishing hopes. Ultimately, they were a ragtag outfit, even though Dybantsa made them seem stylish. Does that make the whole adventure a failure? No. Does it make any reasonable basketball mind doubt Dybantsa’s NBA potential? No. Does his phenomenal freshman season still feel a little empty? Yes. Yet the phenom has no regrets. “I love this place,” Dybantsa said. “I’m happy I chose here. I definitely made the right decision. I knew coming in I made the right decision. Ever since my visit with the coaching staff, how it’s just a family atmosphere, talking to the academic adviser, everything about this place, I’m just happy. “As far as the season, it’s tough dealing with that type of adversity, but I’d rather do it with nobody else.”
Carlos Boozer says while his son may not have a “40-inch vertical,” he is an elite worker and leader, and his “skill set, IQ and will to win set him apart.” The 13-year NBA veteran added that teams passing on his son will regret it. “There are not that many guys that can be an 18-year-old on the biggest stage in college basketball like Duke basketball — [and] with what comes with that — and the entire team will follow him,” Carlos Boozer said. “You know why they do that with Cameron? Because he gives so much to the game. He gives so much to his team. Whatever it takes, he’s an unselfish superstar, and that translates to the NBA.
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“You look at what Tim Duncan did. I’m not comparing Cameron to Tim Duncan, but he was another guy that wasn’t [athletically] a Kevin Garnett or a Tracy McGrady or a Kobe Bryant or Shaquille O’Neal. But you know what he did? He won five championships in that era [against] those players — the Kobes and the Shaqs, because of his IQ, because of his skill set, and because his team would follow him. “That is who Cameron is. He’s a modern-day version of that. People are going to follow him because of what he gives to the team and what he gives to the game. That translates into winning. So. if you want to win, you pick Cameron. And I’m going to tell you this: The GMs that don’t pick Cam, they’re going to regret that 15 years from now.”
The Boozer twins considered Miami and Florida before following in their father’s big footsteps to Duke. Along with the pressure of being a Boozer at Duke, there was even more pressure that came from the high expectations of playing for college basketball’s most followed program. Carlos Boozer says it’s “been a dream come true” and “incredible” to see his sons not only follow him to Duke but overcome the pressure that comes with playing there.
“I’m just proud of them for going through the fire,” Carlos Boozer said. “I know the weight that gets carried when you put on that Duke uniform. The expectations are through the roof, the players that have played in that jersey before you. … And then multiply that times 10 when your dad won a championship there, and he’s in the Hall of Fame there, had a good career in the NBA, and the pressure that comes with that. “They could have chosen a different path. They could have chosen a path that’s just for them that has no history behind it. They’re making their own history. They could have chosen to go to University of Miami. But my boys, one thing I’ll tell you about my boys, they don’t duck no smoke. They want all the smoke. And I know what that’s like because I was the same way. They are cut from this cloth, and it’s in their blood to be that way. So, I’m proud of them.”
Which NCAA prospect impresses you the most so far? NBA executive #1: “The top three are the top three, in any order. It’s probably going to be AJ Dybantsa [BYU] and Darryn Peterson [Kansas] at No. 1 or 2. But Cameron Boozer [Duke] has put himself in that conversation. He should be considered. Statistically, he’s the best college basketball player. He’s that dominant. The ceiling is much higher for Peterson and Dybantsa than Boozer. How much will he get better? Sure, he’s going to get better. But the upside of Peterson and Dybantsa are much higher. That’s probably why Boozer will end up at No. 3. But from a talent perspective, he’s as good as those two guys.”