Some thoughts on Duke and the NBA Draft

Rarified air for Devils

Then Kentucky head coach John Calipari called June 24, 2010 “the greatest day in the history of the program.”

He was much ridiculed for that statement. But I’ve always assumed recruits were the targeted audience, so maybe he said what he meant to say.

The Wildcats had five players drafted in the first round of the NBA draft that day. Never happened before, never happened since.

Daniel Orton (29^th) was the fifth and final first-round pick. It was a head-scratcher then and a head-scratcher now. Orton averaged 3.4 points per game in his one season in college and played 51 games in an injury-plagued NBA career, averaging 2.8 points per game.

But the other four picks were John Wall (1^st), Demarcus Cousins (5^th), Patrick Patterson (14^th) and Eric Bledsoe (18^th).

Patterson was a junior, the other four were freshmen.

Wall was on the way to a hall-of-fame career before injuries shut that down. Cousins was a multiple all-star, Bledsoe averaged 13.7 points per game in 12 NBA seasons, while Patterson was a complementary player over 11 NBA seasons.

In other words, Orton excepted, the Kentucky guys did well.

Why am I bringing up 2010 Kentucky? Well, it does put Duke’s 2025 draft into perspective. One of the best NBA drafts by a school but not necessarily the best.

And second, you may remember how that 2010 season turned out. Kentucky advanced to the East Regional title game but was stunned by West Virginia.

Leaving little ol’ Duke to claim the title, over Butler. Duke did not have a single player drafted in 2010. Lance Thomas was one of three senior starters on that Duke team and the only one to play in the NBA, 399 regular-season games as an undrafted free agent.

Does this prove that draft status has nothing to do with post-season success?

Not at all. Thomas was one of seven players on that 2010 Duke team to play in the NBA. In fact, Mason Plumlee is still going strong. He just completed his 12^th NBA season. Plumlee was a freshman in 2010, the same year all those Kentucky draft picks were freshmen and he’s the last man standing.

Of course he also outlasted Duke teammates Nolan Smith, Kyle Singler and brother Miles.

So, there’s that.

Jon Scheyer was Duke’s best player in 2010 and he didn’t play in the NBA. An eye injury didn’t help but he suffered that injury over the summer after going undrafted.

Another object lesson. To borrow a phrase from Mark Twain, college success and NBA potential sometimes rhyme. But they aren’t identical.

A reminder on that is always useful.

Kentucky had six players drafted in 2012, led by Anthony Davis at number one and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist at number two.

So, Duke’s 2025 quintet doesn’t even tie a record.

But there are some Duke bests.

Only three teams have had three top-10 picks in the same draft. Florida did it in 2007, Al Horford (3^rd), Corey Brewer (7^th) and Joakim Noah (9^th).

Horford’s NBA career dwarfs Plumlee’s for longevity, by the way.

Of course, it dwarfs almost everyone else’s. Dude is old.

Duke duplicated three top-10s in 2019, Zion Williamson going first, followed by R.J. Barrett at 3 and Cam Reddish at 10.

And this season, Cooper Flagg first, Kon Knueppel fourth, Khaman Maluach 10^th.

Flagg also became the sixth former Blue Devil to be selected number one. Or fifth.

The variable is 1963 when the New York Knicks selected Art Heyman first. The NBA had a so-called “territorial” pick in those days in which a team could use its first-round pick on any player within 50 miles, the better to drum up local fan support.

Coming off a league-worst 21-59 record the Knicks went first and used their territorial pick on Heyman. But they had the first pick, didn’t leapfrog anyone and almost certainly would have picked Heyman number one under any scenario. He was national player of the year after all.

Anyway. Since Heyman, Duke has had Elton Brand (1999), Kyrie Irving (2011), Williamson, Paolo Banchero (2022) and Flagg go number one.

No other school has had more than three number one picks.

Other accolades depend on what criteria we use. Duke’s criteria has Duke with the most draft picks in the last 10 years; that would be 28. Duke also has 52 first-round picks since the lottery era began in 1985, also the most.

You’ve probably noticed that the three top-10 picks in 2019 and the three top-10 picks in 2025 all left Duke for the draft after their freshman seasons. I’m not sure how we define the beginning of the one-and-done era in Duke. Irving in 2011 and Austin Rivers (10^th) in 2012 went top-10 after their freshmen seasons.

But 2013 picks Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly were seniors, while freshmen Amile Jefferson and Rasheed Sulaimon never were drafted.

So, let’s go with Jabari Parker and 2014. Beginning with Parker, Duke has had at least one freshman selected in every subsequent draft, a total of 26 freshmen in the last 12 drafts.

But it’s not freshmen all the way down. In the time-frame specified above Duke has had five sophomores drafted, Rodney Hood (2014, ist round), Luke Kennard (2017, first round), Tre Jones (2020, 2^nd round), Mark Williams (2022, first round) and Kyle Filipowski (2024, second round).

All five of these guys were All-ACC, Jones was ACC Player of the Year, Kennard, Jones and Filipowski AP All-American.

And all have had or are having solid NBA careers.

So, coming back for a second year is not necessarily a career killer.

Upperclassmen? Well, we’ve come a long way since the days when Duke got four years out of the likes of Johnny Dawkins, Danny Ferry, Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley or Grant Hill.

Wendell Moore went in the first round in 2022, Tyrese Proctor in the second round in 2025. Both were juniors. Since Plumlee and Kelly in 2013 Grayson Allen is the only Duke senior drafted. He was a first-round pick in 2018. Grad-student Sion James went first round this year.

For those of you keeping score at home that’s four Duke upper-classmen or grad-students selected in the last 12 drafts.