Say that five Duke basketball talents do come off the board in the first round of next summer’s NBA Draft. That feat would break the program record of four, set by the 1999 Blue Devil quartet of Elton Brand, Trajan Langdon, Corey Maggette, and Will Avery, and matched in 2022 by Paolo Banchero, Mark Williams, AJ Griffin, and Wendell Moore Jr.
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Last week’s way-too-early CBS Sports 2025 NBA mock draft courtesy of 247Sports national recruiting analysts Adam Finkelstein and Travis Branham projects four freshmen and one sophomore in Durham to surpass that mark.
Naturally, they have Duke freshman forward Cooper Flagg at No. 1 overall:
“The top-ranked prospect in the national high school class of 2024 is arguably the most anticipated college freshman since Zion Williamson…He’s an exceptional defensive player, and one of the best non-seven-foot shot-blockers I’ve ever evaluated. Offensively, he’s an exceptional passer with some point forward type potential, but the extent to which he is able and willing to step into a signature role offensively will be one variable scouts follow next year.”
Finkelstein and Branham then list Duke basketball freshman big man Khaman Maluach at No. 5, sophomore guard Caleb Foster at No. 14, and freshman wing Isaiah Evans at No. 16. Finally, freshman wing Kon Knueppel sneaks into their first-round-only mock draft at No. 30.
The inclusion of Evans, Knueppel, and even Foster may come as a surprise to some, as not everyone forecasts them among the Blue Devils’ likely early departures next year.
But in the case of Knueppel, the 6-foot-7, 217-pound advanced bucket-getter from Wisconsin has put on a 3-point show in practice of late. And he’s actually 13 spots lower in the eyes of Finkelstein and Branham than where he sits on the latest 2025 mock draft from ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo.
