The Blue Devils are hopeful NBA teams will select their two draft prospects early on Thursday night.
The NBA Draft is finally here, and the Duke basketball program is making it clear to general managers that passing over two Blue Devil prospects, Jared McCain and Kyle Filipowski, would be a mistake.
Both players are likely to be selected in the first round of Wednesday’s draft, but McCain appears to be in a much stronger position than Filipowski, as the 7-footer has been spotted near the end of the first round in the most recent mock drafts.
However, the Blue Devils announced on social media Tuesday afternoon that “GMs will regret it someday” if Duke’s NBA Draft record of 30 lottery picks is not broken.
The program has also generated 22 first-round picks in the ten years after Jon Scheyer joined the Duke coaching staff, with at least one player picked in 24 of 26 drafts and 40 first-round picks throughout that time period.
Last year, Dereck Livley and Dariq Whitehead became the first Duke draft picks with Scheyer as head coach. Both prospects were taken within the first round.
ESPN’s most recent NBA mock draft sees Jared McCain being taken 16th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers.
McCain’s shooting skill and maturity on the court will have an immediate impact on whatever organization drafts him. During his lone season at Duke, the rookie averaged 14.3 points per game and hit 41.4% from three.
Kyle Filipowski is now expected to join the Milwaukee Bucks as the No. 23 overall pick.
Filipowski was considered a lottery pick after returning to Duke for his sophomore season, where he averaged 16.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. However, he has begun to drop in recent mock drafts.
Both players will be in the Green Room at the Barclays Center when the NBA Draft begins at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN/ABC.
