Duke basketball: Wendell Moore may spoil NBA Draft green-room parties

Maybe Wendell Moore should be in the green room after all.

Author:
Matt Giles
Jun 23, 2022 1:33 PM EDT

Wendell Moore is not among the 24 players who received green-room invites for the 2022 NBA Draft, which takes place in Brooklyn at 8 p.m. ET Thursday on ESPN. The same goes for fellow Duke basketball alum Trevor Keels.

But that "cool club" on the ground floor will include three 2021-22 Blue Devils: Paolo Banchero, AJ Griffin, and Mark Williams.

While Moore isn't likely to come off the board before any of those three, recent mock drafts suggest a high probability that he'll hear his name before Keels and perhaps several non-Blue Devil green-room patrons.

NBA Draft analyst Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report implied as much in a tweet on Thursday. He wrote that the 6-foot-5, 215-pound small forward — with plenty of guard-like abilities — could be an invaluable long-term asset due to his versatility and relatively young age for a guy with three years of high-level experience in college:

That's not to mention the 7-foot-1 wingspan that Moore displayed at the NBA Draft Combine.

And it's also important to point out the former five-star recruit's sticktoitiveness in developing his game. Remember that he watched six Duke teammates bolt early for the pro ranks during his first two seasons in Durham.

Meanwhile, Moore showed determination and patience in coming back for a third campaign, in which he captained the Blue Devils to the program's first Final Four appearance in seven years.

As a junior, he averaged career-highs across the board: 13.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 1.4 steals. He did so while shooting 41.3 percent from downtown and committing a career-low 1.9 turnovers per game — despite serving as a primary ballhandler.

Furthermore, Moore was one of only three players who started all 39 of the team's games; Banchero and Williams were the other two.

SI.com's final projected Duke basketball product landing spots

Thursday's updated mock draft from Jeremy Woo of SI.com appears to subscribe to the pro-Wendell Moore hype. He pegs the 20-year-old North Carolina native to go No. 19 overall to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

If that holds, Moore will extend the wait of at least five green-room invites.

Woo sees Paolo Banchero going No. 3 overall to the Houston Rockets, AJ Griffin going No. 11 to the New York Knicks, Mark Williams going No. 15 to the Charlotte Hornets, and Trevor Keels falling to the second round at No. 33 overall to the Toronto Raptors.

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