Two Duke basketball players were selected in this week’s NBA Draft. Jared McCain was chosen first, picked 16th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers, while Kyle Filipowski followed shortly after, going 32nd to the Utah Jazz.
These picks matched the number of Blue Devils drafted the previous June (Dereck Lively II and Dariq Whitehead) following Jon Scheyer’s inaugural season as head coach in Durham.
Looking forward, ESPN’s first update to its 2025 mock draft after this week’s event suggests that the upcoming Duke squad for the 2024-25 season could surpass the combined total of the past two years. ESPN predicts six Duke players being drafted across the two rounds, with all but one being early departures, including three one-and-done prospects:
Freshman forward Cooper Flagg projected at No. 1 overall Freshman center Khaman Maluach projected at No. Freshman wing Kon Knueppel projected at No. 17 Junior guard Tyrese Proctor projected at No. 28 Sophomore guard Caleb Foster projected at No. 39
ESPN just released a NEW 2025 NBA Mock Draft 🚨👀 Thoughts? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/X17cObT8pM
— SLAM HS Hoops (@SLAM_HS) June 28, 2024
Graduate guard Sion James projected at No. 44 No previous NBA Draft has seen six or more Duke players selected.
The record for Duke players drafted in a single draft is five, achieved twice: first in 2017, which included current NBA champion Jayson Tatum, and again in 2022, featuring eventual NBA Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero, selected first overall by the Orlando Magic.
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