NBA Executive Says Grizzlies Rookie Cameron Boozer Is ‘Figuring It Out’

Cameron Boozer was one of two Memphis Grizzlies players an NBA executive named in Eric Pincus’ Week 3 notebook for Casino.org on Thursday.

Ty Jerome was the other.

“They’re deep,” the executive said. “They have shooting. Cam Boozer is figuring it out, and Ty Jerome has been tremendous.”

Memphis drafted Boozer third overall out of Duke in June. Through Monday’s game against New Orleans, Boozer was averaging 17.4 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 5.6 assists while shooting 37.5% from the field, Pincus reported.

Boozer went 2-of-15 and scored 7 points in the Oct. 21 opener against Utah, though he still had 11 rebounds and 5 assists in a 123-103 win.

Two days later at Golden State, he scored 25 points on 6-of-13 shooting. He made 4 of 7 from 3-point range and all 9 of his free throws, and he finished with 13 rebounds and 6 assists in a 111-108 win.

At Sacramento on Oct. 25, he went 5-of-21 for 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

He had 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists on 4-of-12 shooting in a 110-105 win at Utah the next night.

His first career triple-double came Oct. 29 at Portland. He had 18 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists in a 124-103 win. Against New Orleans on Monday, he finished with 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists in a 135-134 overtime loss.

Jerome found him for a 3 with 46 seconds left Wednesday, and it cut the Indiana Pacers’ lead to 104-101. Indiana still won, 107-103. Boozer finished 4-of-14 for 10 points and made two of his five 3s. He had 6 rebounds and 4 assists in 33 minutes, along with 5 turnovers, and never got to the free-throw line.

Pascal Siakam had 2 steals Wednesday, both on Boozer turnovers. It was the first time Boozer had matched up with the 11th-year forward.

Siakam’s championship résumé came up when Boozer described the matchup.

“It was a fun matchup,” Boozer said. “For me, it pointed out some things I could get better at. Obviously, he’s someone who’s been in the league for a long time. He’s won championships, and he’s been a huge contributor to winning teams. So it was great to match up with him, and there’s a lot of fun out there.”

Siakam finished with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting. In the final two minutes, he scored 5 straight Indiana points, the last of them on a free throw that put the Pacers ahead 104-98 with 1:04 left.

Boozer is going to look at the turnovers on film and clean them up.

“I would just say sometimes it’s just playing a little rushed,” Boozer explained. “Just got to slow down. But [something] I’m going to clean up, [something] I’m going to look at it and get better.”

Memphis committed 19 turnovers against Indiana, and the Pacers scored 24 points off them. In the fourth quarter, Boozer went 1-of-6 from the field. He set up Kris Murray’s 3 that put Memphis ahead 87-86 with 7:34 left and fed Zach Edey for a dunk that made it 94-93 Indiana with 4:01 remaining. The Grizzlies went 12-of-44 from 3-point range for the game.

Boozer and the coaching staff planned to go over the film before Friday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Tip-off at FedExForum is 7 p.m. CT.