The Memphis Grizzlies selected Duke forward Cameron Boozer with the third pick in the NBA draft Tuesday night, adding another high pick in their latest rebuilding project.
Boozer joins 7-foot-3 center Zach Edey, the ninth overall pick in 2024, and Cedric Coward, the 11th selection a year ago and member of the All-NBA rookie team.
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Cameron Boozer arrives for the first round of the NBA basketball draft Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Cameron Boozer arrives for the first round of the NBA basketball draft Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Cameron Boozer gestures as he walks off the stage after being chosen by the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the NBA basketball draft, Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Cameron Boozer, right, poses for a photo with Adam Silver, left, NBA Commissioner, after being selected by the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the NBA basketball draft, Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
“It’s crazy,” Boozer said of hearing his name called by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. “It’s a happiness. It’s a joy.”
The 6-8, 253-pound Boozer is the son of former Duke and NBA player Carlos Boozer. He was the fifth freshman voted AP men’s national player of the year. Now Cameron Boozer joins Edey, a two-time AP men's national player of the year, in Memphis.
Carlos Boozer said his son shows up every single day, and he had some advice for him now.
“Take this moment, enjoy this moment,” Carlos Boozer said. “Obviously be where your feet are. Go enjoy it man, go enjoy it.”
Boozer averaged 22.5 points and 10.2 rebounds while helping Duke win 35 games and reach No. 1 in the AP Top 25 poll. The Blue Devils claimed the top overall seed for March Madness and reached the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight.
He showed the kind of toughness the Grizzlies can use after so many injuries over the past couple seasons. Boozer finished a loss to UConn with 27 points despite suffering multiple facial fractures in the first half.
That helped Boozer prove he can finish through contact shooting 55.6% from the floor and also shot 39.1% from 3-point range. Boozer also is a strong passer (4.1 assists), notably assisting on Isaiah Evans’ late 3-pointer to beat reigning national champion Florida.
The Grizzlies came into this draft as the NBA’s only team with three selections in the top 35. They also hold the No. 16 spot in the first round and No. 32 early in the second round giving general manager Zach Kleiman plenty of flexibility to continue revamping the roster.
Memphis kicked this rebuild into gear last summer trading away Desmond Bane and followed up by trading Jaren Jackson Jr. in February.
The only reason two-time All-Star Ja Morant hasn’t joined that exodus was Memphis could not find a good enough deal for the point guard to close out the three core Grizzlies who were supposed to lead the franchise into the future.
Memphis still is expected to move on from Morant with the guard playing only 79 games combined over the last three seasons. Morant could be packaged as part of a move up in this draft by the Grizzlies with two years left on his current contract.
The Grizzlies moved up from sixth to third in the lottery after finishing 25-57 and missing the playoffs for the second time in three years. That record makes it difficult to get a read on coach Tuomas Iisalo, and whether his time in European basketball will translate to NBA success.
Memphis also has shooting guard Jaylen Wells, who has started 143 of 148 games in his first two seasons. He joined Edey on the NBA’s All-Rookie team, and veteran Ty Jerome was added a year ago as another guard option.
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Cameron Boozer arrives for the first round of the NBA basketball draft Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Cameron Boozer arrives for the first round of the NBA basketball draft Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Cameron Boozer gestures as he walks off the stage after being chosen by the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the NBA basketball draft, Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Cameron Boozer, right, poses for a photo with Adam Silver, left, NBA Commissioner, after being selected by the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the NBA basketball draft, Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
NEW YORK (AP) — Democratic incumbents are facing spirited challenges Tuesday in at least two of New York's congressional primaries, the latest proving ground in the high-stakes fight between the progressive left and the party establishment over the Democratic Party's future.
U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman and U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat are both seeking to stave off candidates backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old democratic socialist who's testing the limits of his growing political muscle in the state's first batch of elections since he took office in January.
Mamdani and his slate are promising to push the Democratic Party further left on key issues, the war in Gaza chief among them, even as establishment Democrats in Washington worry that their policies could alienate swing voters in midterm elections across the country this fall.
Goldman faces former city Comptroller Brad Lander while Espaillat, who chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, faces another Mamdani pick, Darializa Avila Chevalier, a democratic socialist who once helped organize pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University. Mamdani is also backing his democratic socialist ally, state Assembly Member Claire Valdez, who along with the rest of the mayor's candidates has vowed to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“It’s not just a question of electing more Democrats. It’s a question of electing better Democrats, ” Mamdani said Tuesday. “When I look at these candidacies, I see in them a willingness to also put working people back at the heart of our politics.”
In Washington, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries downplayed the influence of the Mamdani-backed candidates should they prevail Tuesday, which would make them the overwhelming favorites to win congressional seats in November given New York City's strong Democratic makeup.
“We have agreed to strongly disagree,” Jeffries said of Mamdani on Capitol Hill. “There are 215 members of the House Democratic caucus. A handful of primaries that go in one direction or the other, in a given state or two, aren’t going to reshape who we are as House Democrats.”
Meanwhile, Democrat Jack Schlossberg, the 33-year-old grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, is hoping to write his own chapter in Camelot lore as he competes in a crowded field for a seat being vacated by retiring U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler. Mamdani has made no endorsement in that race.
The Kennedy scion is running in one of the country's wealthiest congressional districts — covering much of the center of Manhattan — but faces questions about his lack of work experience against more seasoned opponents.
The field includes state Assembly members Micah Lasher, a longtime government hand backed by Democratic leaders, and Alex Bores, whose proposals to regulate artificial intelligence have triggered tech industry blowback. Also running is George Conway, who helped start the anti-Trump group, The Lincoln Project, and has centered his candidacy on impeaching the president.
Mamdani, whose first six months in office have drawn praise from establishment Democrats and even President Donald Trump, has made a big push to promote three congressional candidates who are challenging Democrats supported by the party's leadership.
Two of Mamdani's congressional slate identify as democratic socialists, while Lander has often aligned himself with the movement. All three have repeatedly promised to “abolish ICE,” condemned the “genocide” in Israel and vowed to “tax the rich” if elected.
Mamdani's most polarizing pick is Avila Chevalier, 32, in her race against Espaillat, 71, who was the first Dominican American elected to Congress and represents a district in upper Manhattan and the Bronx.
Avila Chevalier has not held political office and casts herself as an outsider. Around an hour before polls closed, she was standing on a street corner in Harlem with controversial streamer Hasan Piker, chatting with voters in a final Election Day push.
On the next corner, a small truck displayed an ad attacking Avila Chevalier, highlighting a disparaging remark she made on social media about former Vice President Kamala Harris. Avila Chevalier had previously apologized for the post.
Espaillat’s allies have called Avila Chevalier unfit for office, pointing out a history of inflammatory and profane social media posts when she was in her 20s.
In East Harlem, 47-year-old voter Sara Hyler said she flip-flopped several times between Avila Chevalier and Espaillat in the lead up to Election Day, but eventually cast her ballot for Avila Chevalier after learning about AIPAC’s heavy support for the incumbent.
“It was the breaking point, my last straw,” she said of AIPAC’s donations to Espaillat.
Hyler said it was important to elect a new crop of progressive democrats who aren’t beholden to AIPAC and the Israeli government. “As much as I support Israel, I don’t think we should be paying for them,” Hyler said.
Lander, a fixture of the city's progressive Democrats, got the mayor's endorsement in a race against Goldman, a progressive former federal prosecutor who served as lead counsel for Trump’s first impeachment.
The war in Gaza has been a dividing line between the two candidates, both of whom are Jewish. Lander assailed Goldman for not being tough enough on Israel over its military action against Palestinians. Goldman has consistently criticized Israel's government and condemned settler violence but has stopped short of describing the conflict as a genocide, which Lander has done.
Still, Goldman has amped up his criticism of Israel's war posture in response to Landers' barbs and shifting voter sentiments, all while seeking to keep his campaign focused on the high cost of living and such issues as opposing Trump's agenda.
Mamdani has also backed Valdez over Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, in the race to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez in a district covering parts of Brooklyn and Queens. Reynoso was Velazquez's handpicked successor, but failed to earn the mayor's backing.
Yvette Sanchez, a 30-year-old preschool teacher who voted for Espaillat, said she was put off by Mamdani's attempts to unseat the incumbent in her district and stifle Velazquez’s preferred successor, arguing that the established candidates are supported by Black and Latino communities.
“Do you just think you can insert anyone you want or do you actually want to listen to us?” Sanchez, who supported Mamdani last year, said of the mayor.
In northern New York state, a Trump acolyte with no previous political experience is facing a conservative state lawmaker in the Republican primary for a seat soon to be vacated by U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik.
Anthony Constantino, head of the custom sticker company Sticker Mule, showcased his enthusiasm for the president by putting a massive “Vote For Trump” sign atop one of his company buildings. He also released a hip-hop album titled “Thank You President Trump," and commissioned a statue of Trump and gave it to the president in Florida. Trump has endorsed him.
Constantino's opponent, conservative state Assembly Member Robert Smullen, has strong support from local Republicans and has argued that Constantino's antics, which include regular bashing of the state GOP, make him unfit to serve in the House.
Associated Press writers Jake Offenhartz and Larry Neumeister in New York contributed.
A voter casts a ballot during New York’s primary election on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
A person campaigns for Democratic Congressional Candidate Jack Schlossberg during New York's primary election on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
A voter casts a ballot during New York’s primary election on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., takes part in the National Puerto Rican Day Parade, Sunday, June 14, 2026 in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Democratic congressional candidates, Claire Valdez, Brad Lander, and Darializa Avila Chevalier gesture on stage with Mayor Zohran Mamdani during a Get Out The Vote rally ahead of New York's primary election, Thursday, June 18, 2026, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
FILE - A voter completes their ballot at a voting site, in New York, Nov. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
