Carey Booth

Booth is a long-term stock. He’s not ready to dominate a game and has several areas that need to be addressed before he’s college-ready, but long-term, there are a lot of markers for future success. He is the son of longtime NBA player and current Denver Nuggets GM Calvin Booth. The crux of the upside is based on the combination of size and skill. At 6-foot-9, he can already stretch the floor and projects as someone who should continue to become more consistent as a floor-spacer. More subtle, but just as intriguing long-term, is the basketball IQ. Booth not only grew up around the game, but he’s been very well-coached, and it shows. He moves without the ball very well for a frontcourt player – slipping out of screens, back-cutting, and being able to function in various schemes and actions. He also shows some athletic flashes of quick bounce in space. He needs to build-up his body and get a lot stronger in order to impact the game in the paint. He isn’t yet able to play through contact consistently and needs to be a better rebounder on both ends of the floor. He has a tendency to hang around the arc too much and can go through periods where he just doesn’t impact the game as much as he should. There are also some edges to smooth out. He doesn’t have an ultra-fluid gate when running the floor and has a small hitch in his shooting release with a very wide-base in his lower body. Overall, Booth is a work-in-progress as he continues to get stronger and more assertive, but one that I am buying long-term because of his combination of size, skill, and IQ.