Kyle Filipowski, second-round NBA draft pick.
Still wrapping my head around that one.
But it does give me a chance to do the kind of historical deep dive that keeps me at least partially sane when the heat index hits 118.
Filipowski is the 22nd Duke player to be selected in the second round. Is second round a road map to G-League stints, passport renewals and mastering a foreign language or two?
Or the gateway to a long and prosperous NBA career?
Evidence can be found to support either position.
Phil Henderson (1990), Thomas Hill (1993), Eric Meek (1995) and Chris Carrawell (2000) were all selected in the second round and none played a second in a regular-season NBA game.
This is pretty sobering. Henderson led (18.5 ppg) a 29-win Duke team in scoring, a team that made it to the 1990 NCAA title game. The 6-4 Henderson had decent size for an NBA wing and enough athleticism to posterize Alonzo Mourning in the 1989 Elite Eight. He made 41% of his 3s as a senior.
And couldn’t make it.
Hill was third-team All-ACC three times and was the second-leading scorer (14.6 ppg) for the 1992 Duke team, arguably the best in school history. He was 6-5 and a great athlete. But in 141 Duke games Hill had 177 assists and 189 turnovers, which isn’t what NBA teams are looking for in a player his size.
Carrawell. ACC Player of the Year in 2000. He was second-team AP All-American and made at least three first-team All-American teams. He was tough, smart, versatile.
But he didn’t excel in any area and he was an ordinary athlete by NBA standards. San Antonio drafted Carrawell 41st. Carrawell made it to the last cut but the Spurs went with Derrick Dial.
Name sound vaguely familiar? Dial scored 12 points, with six rebounds in Eastern Michigan’s win over Duke in the 1996 NCAA Tournament.
Carrawell and Jon Scheyer are the only Blue Devils to be named AP All-America without ever playing in the NBA or ABA.
I hope they had a follow-up plan.
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