CHICAGO – Cameron Boozer and Caleb Wilson sat only feet apart on Wednesday, back to back on either side of a divider bearing the NBA Combine logo, once again thrown together as a duo.
They were AAU teammates, college rivals, in the same testing group this week and will almost certainly be the first two forwards taken in the NBA Draft. Both are expected to go in the top four, which means they have been scouted and scrutinized and interviewed by the same teams, constantly compared to each other.
There’s nothing new about that. The venue may have changed but their careers continue to be intertwined, moving on parallel tracks toward the NBA. They have different strengths and different weaknesses and will have different careers, yet they may forever be compared to each other, as they have since they were teenagers.
Most experts expect Boozer, the National Player of the Year at Duke and son of former Duke and NBA star Carlos Boozer, to go ahead of Wilson because of his outside shooting and demonstrated ability to take over close games in late moments, but there’s always a chance an NBA team could instead choose the explosive athleticism and open-floor playmaking ability Wilson showed at North Carolina. For the moment, they remain hard to separate.
“It’s cool,” Wilson said. “I’ve known Cam, played with him in AAU, won a national championship together. It’s kind of surreal. We’re both on a journey toward the NBA and I feel like it’s really cool to see someone going through some of the things that you do. The only thing I can say I don’t like about Cam is he went to Duke. Other than that, he’s great.”
That Boozer-Wilson rivalry never really got its moment in the spotlight in college; Boozer outscored Wilson 24-23 in their one meeting, a 71-68 North Carolina comeback win in Chapel Hill, but there was no rematch after Wilson broke first one hand and then the other, cutting his season short in February. Duke won the ACC title; North Carolina crashed out of the NCAA Tournament without Wilson, getting coach Hubert Davis fired in the process.
Still, in that limited window, Wilson was a dominant rebounder while averaging almost 20 points per game and 2.7 assists. Asked to play mostly inside as a traditional post, Wilson was surprised to hear questions about his shooting at the combine after going 7 for 27 from three-point range with the Tar Heels.
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“I can shoot,” Wilson said. “I didn’t have the best numbers this year, but it’s an interesting situation because that’s not what I was asked to do at the college I was at. I was just doing what I needed to do to help us win. So you know, people that say I can’t shoot, I feel like that’s interesting, but I’ll prove it over time. It doesn’t matter.”
Boozer, on the other hand, was able to demonstrate the full range of his abilities at Duke — inside, outside and on defense. He did a little of everything well, averaging 22.5 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists while making 54 threes at a 39.1-percent clip. He almost single-handedly willed Duke to wins over Michigan, Arkansas and Michigan State and performed well in the physical testing at the combine. And none of that is what he considers the primary attribute he’ll bring to his future NBA team.
“Competiveness, a will to win, what I do every day to show up and do the right things,” Boozer said. “I think that’s something that just affects people and once one person starts doing it everyone starts doing it, especially if it’s the best player doing it yourself. That’s something for sure.”
While AJ Dybantsa is expected to go first overall to the Wizards, with Boozer and Wilson and Darryn Peterson going next in some combination, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Boozer go No. 1; it would be mildly surprising, if not impossible, were he to fall to the Bulls at No. 4. That’s a possibility Boozer and his father discussed on Thanksgiving when Duke played Arkansas at the United Center.
Carlos’ time in Chicago wasn’t always smooth, as he labored under the expectations of the big free-agent contract he signed there. Cameron has tried to find his own way in the basketball world; there would be some historical symmetry were he to do it with the Bulls.
“I feel like up to this point I’ve carved my own path,” Boozer said. “I get called by my own name now. For a long time it wasn’t like that. There’s nothing wrong with that, having a dad who had the career he had. I think it’s special and something you need to embrace. It’s great for our family. But at the same time, you want to be someone who does something at the highest level and someone who has your own story.”
Boozer will probably be gone by the time the Bulls pick. They’re more likely to end up with Wilson, who might spend his entire career being compared to Boozer, particularly in Chicago. Then again, that wouldn’t be anything new for either of them.
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