Happy NBA draft night to all who celebrate and for all the brave Michigan State fans who are tuning in to watch three Michigan players flirting with the lottery.
The draft brings back plenty of good memories for Michigan State fans from Xavier Tillman defying the odds and going in the second round of the 2020 NBA Draft to Jaren Jackson Jr. being selected No. 4 overall in the 2018 NBA Draft. The latter was the highest Michigan State draft pick in years and he has since been the best Spartan in the NBA.
Speaking of Jackson, he’s since been traded to the Utah Jazz after being drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies and spending the first seven full seasons with the team that picked him.
Because of this trade, the Grizzlies have been desperately trying to rebuild the team and replacing him hasn’t been easy. Memphis continued its chase for Jaren’s ghost on Tuesday night in the 2026 NBA Draft, selecting the next “big” power forward prospect.
While replacing a 6-foot-10 unicorn in Jackson Jr. isn’t easy nor is it going to happen overnight, but the Boozer selection was a good step in the right direction.
Boozer definitely had a better freshman season at the NCAA level, but Jackson has been built to last in the NBA as one of the best young big men with the most impressive bags. He can rebound, protect the rim, and score from all three levels.
Cameron Boozer has some big shoes to fill
Replacing a freak athlete who stands 6-foot-10, has a 7-foot-4 wingspan, and can step out and hit threes isn’t something that teams that pick outside the top five can do, but luckily the Grizzlies were in that range and selected him at No. 3.
It’s going to take some time for Boozer to really get comfortable in the league but he may be the perfect guy to build a franchise around — much like they did to Jackson until he was traded.
Unfortunately for Boozer, he’s going to have to fill those big shoes with Ja Morant likely getting traded. There’s a good possibility that the star point guard is going to end up elsewhere next season or at least by next year’s trade deadline so that’ll make Boozer’s job tougher.
I like the Boozer pick for Memphis because he complements Zach Edey well, but he’s not going to bully post players like he did at Duke.
He’s got some massive shoes to fill.
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