Duke Could Keep NBA Draft Streak Alive with Filipowski, Proctor

Duke, one of the more illustrious basketball programs, has a proven track record of getting its players to the NBA.

Players like Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, Kyrie Irving, Jayson Tatum, Wendell Carter Jr. and plenty more reinforce that. But it’s been evident by the past two drafts alone, where Paolo Banchero went No. 1 overall to the Magic in 2022 and more recently in 2023, where Dereck Lively II was selected twelfth overall by the Mavericks.

Now, with two lottery picks in the past two drafts, Duke will look to keep that streak alive with returnees in forward Kyle Filipowski and combo guard Tyrese Proctor.

Flilpowski, a modern-oriented seven-footer, was highly-regarded in his own class, being ranked fourth per RSCI. After averaging 15.1 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game as a freshman, he was certainly draft eligible, but opted to run it back in Durham.

Proctor was in a similar, albeit slightly less lionized boat. At 6-foot-5, Proctor was regarded as a skilled all-around player coming into college out of the NBA Global Academy. He averaged 9.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists — strong numbers for a freshman guard — but his efficiency was lacking: just 38 percent from the floor and 32 percent from beyond the arc.

Now, both players will be preseason lottery candidates heading into the Blue Devils’ next season.

Filipowski likely has the harder path between the two. The NBA has been trending towards offensive-minded, skilled bigs for awhile now. Which is great for his skillset. But scouts and organizations will be keenly watching to see if the seven-footer can impact the game outside of scoring, namely defensively or as a hub or playmaker.

And a bump in efficiency wouldn’t hurt "Flip’s" case, either.

In what’s been lauded as a slightly weaker guard class than year’s past, Proctor has a relatively straightforward path to being a lottery pick: improve his efficiency and show general growth in his already-strong areas.

In order to be a strong combo guard in the NBA, or even a solid point guard, Proctor will have to score better overall, but especially from deep. His 32 percent on 4.1 3-point attempts wasn’t a particularly awful number. But if he can raise that to around 40 percent on decent volume, while improving on things like passing and general defense, he could be a lock in the top 14.

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