NBA Prospects at Duke: Cooper Flagg
Brian breaks down the top prospects at Duke University. This includes Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, Khaman Maluach, Isaiah Evans, Tyrese Proctor, Sion James and more!
Duke had an absolute monster year. They made it to the Final Four and were one of the most dominant teams all season. They defied the trend of older players winning. Yes, it was a disappointing finish as they lost to Houston and collapsed in the final minute, but that still doesn’t take away from the fact that they were one of the most dominant teams all season long. Now, let’s break down the prospects on this loaded roster.
Cooper Flagg/Duke
My Opinion:
I know this might be a controversial statement but Cooper Flagg is good at basketball. I really don’t know what more you really want. Cooper Flagg has everything he needs to be a potential MVP candidate if he develops right and he works on his game, and every indication is that he will. If you get him in fantasy, I wouldn’t trade him unless you are getting a young potential MVP candidate in return. (Wemby, Shai, and maybe Luka.) You never see this with the Tankathon stat strengths and weaknesses either. Just completely absurd. He led the college basketball as a freshman in BPM and EvanMiyakawa’s BPR.
I’m disgusted that Dallas won the lottery but here we are. He’ll likely be a PG type of player because they don’t have a starting caliber PG and he did it at Duke this year. He might be a top 20-30 player in fantasy next season to be honest. I’m not ruling it out.
Kon Knueppel/Duke
My Opinion:
He’s going to be an NBA player for a long time. I know he doesn’t look the part all the time with how slow he moves at times, but he can play. He’s a real deal shooter who can score when he wants to. He is physical and isn’t afraid to push people around. He did a great job leading the team when Cooper Flagg went out. High feel player who has the makings of a great role player early on. He’s someone that you don’t want to overthink. He may not be a star but he’ll be a rock solid player for a long time.
Khaman Maluach/Duke
My Opinion:
I think he’s got a pretty high floor given his tools and size. I also think that he’s not the top end talent that some people make him out to be. Someone like Mitchell Robinson could be another interesting comparison for him given his size and length. Maluach is more talented than Mitchell but it’s just something to think about. I don’t see the star upside that some see right now. I think he’ll be a solid NBA center.
Tyrese Proctor/Duke
My Opinion:
Here we go again! Third time’s the charm, right? After the PG experiment failed at Duke, he became an off-ball wing for the team, and he really helped himself. His shooting improved, as well as his defense. His role in the NBA is going to be very simple, and I’m not entirely sure there’s much scalability in what he does. He’ll likely be someone to consider in the second round, but he probably shouldn’t be a priority.
Sion James/Duke
My Opinion:
Sion James is someone I think has a shot at being an impact player, but he’ll need to take an additional step forward in his shooting for that to happen. My gut feeling is that if he does end up being an impact player, it probably won’t be immediate, and it might take a year or two before that actually happens. I like him, but I’m not sold on him as a long-term NBA player.
Quick Hits:
This segment will cover some lesser-known prospects who may not have as much buzz as others but could play in the Summer League or be sleeper names to watch next season. In addition, since we have entered transfer portal season, any player who enters the portal will be discussed in the context of the team they played for this season rather than their new team.
Duke’s Isaiah Evans was a highly touted freshman who was expected to be the starter on the team. Then Kon Knueppel took his spot and Evans played himself into a good 6th man. He was initially at the combine but decided to go back to school (likely because they gave him more money as insurance that they wouldn’t lose him and Cedric Coward who committed there.) Evans is in the Brandon Ingram mold of a scorer. Evans can really shoot but there’s not much else into his game at the moment. He needs to get stronger. He’ll likely enter the season as a projected top 20 pick for 2026.
Duke’s Caleb Foster was on draft radar after his freshman season but this season really dropped off. He’s a good scorer but a little undersized. His numbers and efficiency dropped off this year but will head back to Duke this upcoming season. He’ll likely come off the bench next season unless he manages to overtake one of the incoming freshman. I wish he transferred personally.
Duke’s Darren Harris is a high level shooter who has good size at the SG/SF position. He barely played this season and will go back to Duke. I really like him and think he could have a real jump next season and emerge as a top 10 pick.
Duke’s Patrick Ngongba is an absolute monster of a big man who has a real change to emerge as a potential first rounder next year. He didn’t play that much but was effective when he played. He’ll probably be on some boards to start the cycle next year.