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Projected top-three draft pick Cameron Boozer has clear familial ties to the Jazzwho hold the second pick in the 2026 draft. His father, Carlos Boozerspent six seasons in Utah, including his two All-Star years, and works with the team to this day in their scouting department.

Cameron was born in Salt Lake City, though he moved away before his fourth birthday, and he says that his conversations with his dad about following in his footsteps generally had more to do with Chicago than his hometown, Kevin Reynolds writes for the Salt Lake Tribune.

When it comes to the young power forward’s potential on-court fit with Utah, though, there are clear questions, as the Jazz already boast one of the larger frontcourts in the league, led by Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr.and Walker Kessler. Boozer could fit in nicely as a big off the bench who can play alongside any of those other big men and focus on his play-making, which was a strength in college.

While Boozer views himself as the top talent in the draft, he said his focus is on getting to the place that will get the most out of him.

“Whether it is one, two, three or four, I want the best fit,” Boozer said. “I mean, it would be nice to play for a city that my dad played for. Obviously, Chicago (picking fourth overall) is another great city.”

We have more from around the Northwest Division:

Damian Lillard‘s first season back with the Trail Blazers consisted of a three-point contest championship and a lot of mentoring from the bench. Next season, he is expected to return to the court, but not everyone is clear on what that will look like. “I don’t understand what he brings to the table, especially with (Jrue Holiday) and (Scoot Henderson) already on the roster,” one anonymous scout told Joe Freeman of Oregon Live. “You could say he brings shooting. Well, yeah, but how did he get his shots? With the ball in his hands. It didn’t work in Milwaukee. If he’s dominating the ball, is (Shaedon Sharpe) developing? Is Scoot developing?” Lillard, for his part, says that his time watching from the bench helped him understand exactly those questions: “I  got an opportunity to learn my teammates. I’m going to be playing with these guys, and just seeing what might set them off, seeing what they’re doing when they play well, seeing where they might struggle, seeing where our team struggles, ways that I think we could improve.“
The Trail Blazers have plenty of roster decisions to make this summer, starting with what to do with Henderson. Unless the former third overall pick is included in a deal for a star player, it would behoove the team to try to work out a reasonable contract extension with him, Sean Highkin writes in a player movement prediction article for the Rose Garden Report (subscriber link), citing Sharpe’s four-year, $90MM extension from last summer as a reasonable starting place for Henderson. Vit Krejci and Sidy Cissoko are strong candidates to stick around, while players like Robert Williams III and Matisse Thybulle are worth hanging onto but could also be more valued by other teams.
Isaiah Hartenstein only played 12 minutes in the Thunder‘s Game 1 loss to the Spurs. Prior to Game 2, coach Mark Daigneault pulled the German big man aside and told him that he “didn’t feel great” about giving him so few minutes, Jenni Carlson writes for The Oklahoman. Hartenstein was unbothered, saying he’d do whatever was needed. In Game 2, what was needed was to take the lion’s share of minutes against Spurs star Victor Wembanyama. “The other night, (Wemby) just had way too much of the restricted (area), but if you zoom out, they turned the ball over a ton, we gave up 101 points in regulation,” Daigneault said. “The quality of shots were what we would want, other than his stuff at the rim.“
Putting wings on Wembanyama in Game 1 created a shot diet in the paint that the Thunder coach felt was too sustainable, which is why he turned to Hartenstein to add physicality and size as a rim protector. In addition to helping hold the French superstar to just four rim attempts (compared to 17 in Game 1), Hartenstein added eight offensive rebounds and made sure Wembanyama felt him every time down the floor. “I thought he just did a good job of being physical, making him work all game,” Alex Caruso said. “Which ended up being beneficial for him on the glass late in the game. He cleaned that up offensively and defensively for us.”