Ty Jerome Says Cameron Boozer Was NBA’s Most Ready 2026 Draft Prospect

Ty Jerome and Cameron Boozer started working out together in August, two months before Boozer played his first NBA game for the Memphis Grizzlies.

Jerome described what came out of those sessions on Matt Barnes' "All the Smoke Unplugged." He also talked about watching Boozer during last season's NCAA Tournament.

Memphis drafted Boozer third overall out of Duke in June. He turned 19 on July 18 and is the youngest player in the NBA.

Jerome said he does not want to put pressure on a 19-year-old.

"He's special. Like he's real special," Jerome said. "Like I didn't know. I watched him. I watched the tournament last year, and I got to fight with my boys. And he's actually the most NBA-ready prospect we got. It was cool to see it, right? And they were disagreeing, but I didn't even know he was gonna do this good."

"Like there's nothing he can't do on a basketball court, and he's 19 years old," Jerome continued. "Shoot, pass, dribble, great rebounder, great maturity, great poise. It's pretty impressive, but I don't want to put pressure on him. I don't want to give him like a crazy feeling. It's tough at 19, but nothing that he's been accomplishing in his career is going to surprise him."

Boozer played 33 minutes in his NBA debut against the Utah Jazz on Oct. 21, more than any other Grizzly. Two nights later, his go-ahead jumper with 20 seconds left capped a 17-0 run in a 111-108 win over the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center.

When a defense denies Jerome the ball, he wants to come set an inverted screen for Boozer.

"We got to work out a little bit in the summer, like August, a little August, September work, and we just started there," Jerome explained. "Like, how much [can I] get you into this pocket? And let's see [you make plays] from there. Like if you can pass, like I said, pass, so we'll hit the little pull-up. So how much [can I] get you into that pocket? And then now, like, how much can you handle? And like, if I'm getting denied, can I come and put that little inverted screen for you?"

"So those two main actions to start, and then just let me play," Jerome added. "Now we play so fast that having another creator next to me, whether it's a guard, forward, wing, whatever you want to call them, it's helpful. We [take] the pressure off of each other. That's the biggest thing."

On Oct. 29 at Portland, Boozer had 18 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists in a 124-103 win. He was 19 years and 103 days old, which made him the second-youngest player in NBA history with a triple-double, according to The Athletic. Josh Giddey was 19 years and 84 days old when he set the mark in 2022.

It was Boozer's fifth NBA game. NBA.com put him first in its debut Kia Rookie Ladder a day earlier, and he made the All-Summer League First Team in July.

Through eight games, he averaged 16.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 5.4 assists in 32.3 minutes, per Basketball-Reference. He shot 36.4% from the field and 36.7% from 3-point range on 6.1 attempts per game.

Isaiah Stewart has a right knee bone bruise from Wednesday's 107-103 loss to the Indiana Pacers, and he missed Friday's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo said Boozer is playing a lot at center without Stewart and that Memphis is featuring the rookie in a lot of different sets.

In the 128-97 loss to Oklahoma City, Boozer scored 8 points on 2-of-14 shooting and missed all 8 of his 3-point attempts. He had 12 rebounds and 4 assists in 31:15.

Against Indiana, he committed 5 turnovers and shot 4-of-14. Slowing down is his fix.

"I would just say sometimes it's just playing a little rushed," Boozer said after Wednesday's game. "Just got to slow down. But [something] I'm going to clean up, [something] I'm going to look at it and get better."

Boozer had 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists when the New Orleans Pelicans beat Memphis 135-134 in overtime on Nov. 2.

Boozer and the Grizzlies play the Raptors in Toronto on Monday, with tip-off set for 6:30 p.m. CT.