March Madness: Breaking Down Duke’s Top Prospects Duke has three potential top ten picks on their roster this season. What are their strengths and areas of improvement?
The Duke Blue Devils dominated the ACC, and have looked dominant throughout the NCAA Tournament.
Duke through four games in the tournament has won by an average of 23.5 points per game. Despite being the youngest team remaining out of the four teams they have a chance to go all the way. They have three projected top-10 picks in the 2025 NBA Draft between Cooper Flagg, Khaman Maluach and Kon Knueppel. Let’s dive into their strengths and areas of improvement:
Cooper Flagg | Forward
Flagg is the projected and consensus number one overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. He leads the Blue Devils in every major statistical category which speaks volumes to how versatile of a player he truly is. Offensively he’s a true three level scorer with great playmaking abilities at 6-foot-9. He’s able to finish in traffic and through contact.
The pull-up mid-range game is there and he’s currently shooting 37.4% from behind the arc. Funny enough his scoring might not even be his best offensive attribute as his passing ability is elite for someone at size. On the other end Flagg is a defensive menace. He averages 2.7 stocks per game and does a great job as the on-ball or off-ball defender.
The projected top pick has special defensive versatility and is a true two-way talent. The next step for Flagg is to improve his ability to bump off defenders when attacking the paint. Sometimes he elects to settle for a post-up rather than bulldozing the on-ball defender out of his way. As he gets older and matures he should naturally improve here.
Khaman Maluach | Center
Arguably the top center prospect in the 2025 NBA Draft is on this roster. Maluach has ridiculous measurements as he stands at 7-foot-2 with a 7-foot-5 wingspan while weighing in at 250 pounds. The massive young center has elite potential as a rim protector. He does a great job of using his size, quickness getting off the ground and defensive instincts to alter a ton of shot attempts at the rim.
Maluach has great instincts and awareness as the helpside defender for a freshman in college. He’s comfortably the best rim protecting prospect eligible in this year’s draft and he has shown why during his time at Duke this season. He’s still a tad raw on the offensive end but the flashes are there. Maluach is a lob threat at all times due to his wide catch radius and quickness getting off the ground.
Before his time in college he showed potential as a stretch center and he has even converted four 3-pointers this season while shooting 76.4% from the free-throw line. The touch is there and if Maluach develops a consistent jump-shot then the sky’s the limit for the young prospect.
Kon Knueppel | Wing
The second leading scorer on this Duke team is fellow freshman Knueppel out of Wisconsin. The 6-foot-7 wing excels as a perimeter shooter. He is currently shooting 40.1% from behind the arc on five attempts which is believed to be the highest out of all college freshmen this season. Knueppel has a pure shooting stroke from the outside.
He’s lethal off the catch, he’s a very good movement shooter and is even capable of consistently making pull-up jumpers. Outside of being a very tough scorer and shot-maker he does a very good job at doing the dirty work. Especially when it’s a close game. Outside of scoring he is a very good decision-maker with the ball in his hands.
Knueppel shot 91.2% from the free-throw line this season which is amongst the top players in all of college basketball. On the other hand he’s not very explosive or quick so at times he struggles to pressure the rim or beat his man off the dribble. Scouts question if he’s worth a top ten pick due to him not looking like a pure star at the next level, but a very valuable role player.
