Cam Boozer is Arch Manning and more cross-sport comps for every NBA Lottery Pick

Cross-sport comps are a dangerous game. Saying Chris Paul is the Dan Marino of Ken Griffey Jrs. is all well and good until someone uncorks the hyper-obvious “Travis Hunter is the NFL’s Shohei Ohtani” and then we all lose our minds. These things cannot be taken lightly.

It’s also the single most hole-poke-able thing you can publish on the internet, as even ironclad stuff like “Tyreek Hill is Rickey Henderson” will have some Oakland fans saying that beyond speed, Hill’s punt returning isn’t a cool enough second skill to Rickey’s elite on-base percentage. These things cannot be taken lightly, sure, but they also cannot be taken that seriously. 

Until I get around to coding the data analysis tool that parses carefully set parameters like slugging percentage = yards per carry = assist/turnover ratio, these are going to be strictly vibed and not super evidence based. But I assure you of this: they will make sense, because I’m just that good. In the spirit of the most esoteric art in sports media, here are 14 cross-sport comps from the far reaches of my subconscious mind, one for each lottery pick. 

1. AJ Dybantsa is Giancarlo Stanton

When you’re comparing a basketball player who has never set foot on an NBA court to a 36-year-old slugger with 456 home runs, there has to be a unifying principle to cut through all the fluff. Of course I think Dybantsa will be productive like Stanton has been, but for me, the commonality is how huge these guys are.

The first thing I notice when I see both Stanton and Dybantsa is “damn that dude is massive.” I got a similar sense with Paolo Banchero when he was in the draft; there’s just an undeniable, imposing frame that you notice before anything else. Stanton, for all his footspeed limitations, is a physically intimidating dude in the batters box.

2. Darryn Peterson is Caleb Williams

Peterson is my favorite player in the draft, and the one I think is most likely to become a legitimate NBA superstar. Yet questions swirled around him; is he competitive enough? Is he injury prone? Does he lack killer instinct? I reject all that, because it can’t be measured or reliably proven to exist outside of those that work with Peterson day in and day out. 

Caleb Williams dealt with similarly ridiculous questions about “personality,” and concerns about if he could play within structure or stop freelancing or spin-moving. But we all watched Pac-12 after dark; Caleb Williams was just a hooper, as is Peterson. But I might be wrong about both. Whether or not either will become as good as I believe is up them

3. Cameron Boozer is Arch Manning (if he didn’t have two Hall-of-Fame uncles)

Oh, you thought this was going to be Shadeur Sanders, did you? It’s the easiest comp of all time, since the whole father/son thing … but I have a better one! I’ll admit I thought Shadeur was good in college and would be a good pro; that has not panned out. But I never thought he’d be better than Deion Sanders, no one did — Deion is an all-time great. People probably expect Cameron Boozer to be better than Carlos Boozer, a good player at his peak but by no means an all-time great. Even though we’re skipping a generation, give me Arch Manning and his grandfather Archie. Many people probably expect Arch to surpass Archie as the greatest Manning quarterback whose first name starts with the letters “A R C H.” Many people are saying this.

4. Caleb Wilson is Jack Eichel

Eichel wound up in Buffalo after a great career at Boston University, and basically was in witness protection until he was finally traded to the Golden Knights and won the Stanley Cup. Ending up in Chicago for Caleb Wilson is a rough situation; if you look up “dysfunctional” in the dictionary, there’s just a picture of the Bulls logo.

5. Keaton Wagler is Josh Allen

Alright everybody chill out I’m not saying Keaton Wagler will become an MVP and one of the best quarterbacks of his generation; I’m just saying that Wagler has developed into a superstar-level prospect after not being ranked out of high school. That’s an incredible achievement, and reminds me of how Josh Allen was working at his family’s restaurant and got no D1 offers out of high school. After a trip through Reedley and finally to Wyoming, he wound up the seventh overall pick, and the rest has been pretty solid. 

6. Mikel Brown Jr. is Chris Sale

I’m not really sure what I’m cooking here, but I saw 6’5” 190 pounds and just immediately thought of Chris Sale. Brown has the skills and creativity to dominate a number of ways, so I think the comp works well enough.

7. Darius Acuff Jr. is Connor Bedard

This is the “such a sure thing that I’m a little worried they may not actually be a sure thing” award. Everyone I talk to absolutely loves Acuff, so this is like a cosmic zag against the way the tides are moving. 

8. Kingston Flemings is Payton Tolle

“Who?” is probably your reaction, but this comp is almost like an advertisement for you to go read my breakdown of Red Sox rookie pitcher Payton Tolle, who I swear has a lot in common with Kingston Flemings. Tolle’s fastball is a lot like Flemings’ athleticism: legitimately top tier. But like Flemings’ need to develop his shooting, Tolle will need to develop his secondary pitches. Bam.

9. Morez Johnson is post-2018 playoffs Sony Michel

Michel rushed for a ludicrous six touchdowns in the New England Patriots’ 2018 Super Bowl run, and thus became somewhat overrated because of the ring. Johnson jacked up his stock big time during the Michigan run to the Natty, so I went with this unorthodox comp.

10. Brayden Burries is Cooper Kupp if he went to a bigger school 

“Hey, you’re really productive but we have concerns about your athleticism” is the oldest trick in the book, and there are like eight-billion people I could have chosen for this one. Kupp is cool to mention because he leads college football (from FCS) in like every receiving record ever but was a third-round pick. Teams probably want that one back.

11. Yaxel Lendeborg is Bo Nix

“You’d have a better outlook if you weren’t so old” is the second-oldest trick in the book, and Yaxel and Bo Nix seem like a match made in heaven.

12. Aday Mara is Zdeno Chara on skates

Look, I know there are a number of Boston comps, but I think Mara and Chara are a good example of being “visually” tall as well as being actually tall. Mara really uses his height to impact the game, as did Chara back in the day. Also, look at this silly picture of him standing next to Nathan Gerbe.

13. Nate Ament is Trey Lance

“The speculative asset who has lots of physical tools but could get you fired if you’re wrong” is the third-oldest trick in the bo — I’ll stop.

14. Hannes Steinbach is Trea Turner

Kind of shooting 3s and not really protecting the rim is a bit like how Trea Turner kind of hits for average while not hitting for power. Not so sure about that. They do both have their one thing, though, with Turner’s speed and Steinbach’s rebounding. 

More NBA Draft news and analysis:

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow