My Predictions for Duke's Key Freshman after March Madness

Quinn Campbell |

Duke has always been known as a blue blood powerhouse in college basketball and is widely recognized for churning out high level NBA caliber players every year. Just in recent years (since 2010) , we have seen 15 lottery picks come from Duke, 27 first round picks, and 35 total picks. The three number one picks, Kyrie Irving, Zion Williamson, and Paulo Banchero have all had extremely successful careers so far and have made hundreds of millions of dollars. There is truly no other college that has the reputation and prestige that Duke has when it comes to college basketball, which is why we see the top recruits commit their each year. This year's team was considered the best recruting class since Kentucky in 2017, and some say that it was the best ever. The commitments from number 1 overall recruit, Cooper Flagg; number 3 overall recruit, Khaman Maluach; along with 5 star recruits Kon Knueppel and Isaiah Evans immediately made Duke championship contenders before the season even began.

Duke has certainly lived up to expectations this year, as they look to advance on to the National Championship game if they can beat Houston in the Final 4 this Saturday. As expected, the near consensus number 1 overall pick, Cooper Flagg has been as good as advertised and solidified himself as not only the best freshman, but the best player in college basketball. He averaged 19 points per game, almost 8 rebounds , and 4 assists, all while shooting 48% from the field and 37% from three. He became the first ACC player in 25 years to score 500 plus points, dish out 100 plus assists, and record 30 plus blocks. What is most impressive is that he is putting up these numbers while still playing team first basketball. In every game I've seen, he plays within Duke's system and rarely forces shots. This is highly encouraging to see if you're an NBA team because it shows that he will do anything to help the team win, regardless if he scores 2 points or 30. I definetely believe Flagg will be drafted number 1, regardless of what NBA team ends up getting the pick.

I have seen reports saying that Flagg may consider returning to Duke for another year if the wrong team gets the first pick, but I don't think that is going to happen. Returning to Duke would be a dangerous chance to take, as it risks the chance that he could get a serious injury and hurt his draft stock. Also, it would delay a potential max contract that Flagg hopes to receive after his first 3 seasons in the NBA. I personally believe that Flagg's role in the NBA is not going to be what a typical number 1 pick's role might be. I don't think that he posses the scoring ability to be a true number 1 option on a contending team, but I think he has the potential to be one of the greatest all around players in the leauge. I'm not saying that as a knock on Flagg in any way, I think that he is more valuable than 95% of the players who score more than he does, because he does all of the other aspects of basketball (rebounding, passing, defense) at an extremely high level. He does a little bit of everything on the court and pairing him with a solidified superstar, possibly Victor Wembanyama or Joel Embiid, would immediately make that team championship contenders. If a team like the Wizards or Nets gets the first pick, then we will still see Flagg dominate, but I don't think that it immediately takes that team into playoff contention.

Kon Knueppel, Cooper Flagg, and Khaman Maluach, via ClutchPoints.com

The amazing part about this Duke team is that it has the potential to have three other freshman, besides Flagg, to get selected in the lottery (first 15 picks) in this year's draft. Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach are consensus lottery picks in most NBA mock drafts, with some also featuring Isaiah Evans going in the top 15 as well. I personally believe that Evans and Maluach could benefit from another year playing in college because next year, once Cooper and Kon graduate, they would be the focal points of the team. This would allow them to get more experience playing high level basketball, before making the even more difficult leap to the NBA. Also, Maluach and Evans would have a chance to improve their draft stocks even more for next year, assuming they have successful college seasons.

Kon, on the other hand, would immediately contribute to an NBA team given his ability to shoot the ball and make high IQ decisions. I think his ceiling may not be as high as Flagg or the other two freshman, but he is definitely going to be a consistent role player that will be able to help space the floor and knock down threes. All four freshman have shown flashes of greatness when given time this season and I think that all of them will go on to have successful and long NBA careers. It will be interesting to see how Duke finishes the season this year and what decisions the players make regarding declaring for the draft, returning for another year, or possibly entering the transfer portal.