The Duke basketball program has produced three one-and-done NBA Draft lottery picks in the same year once. That 2019 Blue Devil trio consisted of Zion Williamson at No. 1, RJ Barrett at No. 3, and Cam Reddish at No. 10.
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If NBA Draft expert Jonathan Wasserman’s current Bleacher Report forecast for Jon Scheyer’s third batch of highly touted freshmen proves accurate, the 2025 cast of Duke one-and-dones among the top 14 draft selections will match Zion & Co.’s count.
Wasserman, not to mention almost every other mock-draft craftsman out there, predicts Duke basketball freshman guard/forward Cooper Flagg to come off the board No. 1 overall. His NBA comparison for the 6-foot-9, 205-pound long-limbed centerpiece consists of a mix of Andrei Kirilenko (defense), Shawn Marion, and a 2020-21 Duke basketball talent in Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson.
Next up on Wasserman’s mock draft is another of the Blue Devils’ advanced rookie sensations in guard/forward Kon Knueppel at No. 7, matching his jersey number in Durham. Wally Szczerbiak is Wasserman’s comparison for the 6-foot-7, 217-pound Knueppel.
And Duke’s 7-foot-2, 250-pound phenom newbie from South Sudan, center Khaman Maluach, now sits at No. 13 in Wasserman’s eyes (NBA comparison is Alex Sarr).
Plus, it’s worth noting that Wasserman’s mock draft, along with several of his counterparts elsewhere, sees three more 2024-25 Blue Devils joining Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, and Khaman Maluach to break the Duke basketball program record of five drafted Blue Devils in the same year (most recently in 2022).
I talked to Khaman Maluach in the locker room about his aggression and growth. This kid is something special. He gives a lot of credit to Maliq Brown for the energy and awareness he’s bringing. In other words, it sounds like Duke basketball has a crazy dangerous duo in the paint: pic.twitter.com/ARPDodzynO
— Matt Giles (@MattGilesBD) October 28, 2024
He has junior guard Tyrese Proctor hearing his name at No. 51 overall (NBA comparison is Killian Haynes), graduate guard Sion James at No. 53 (Cody Martin), and sophomore guard Caleb Foster at No. 56 (Jaden Springer).
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