AJ Griffin Has Arrived

One of the really cool things that has happened lately for Duke is the explosion of AJ Griffin. He started behind after an early knee injury, which came after a high school knee injury, and it took him a while to catch up.

Well consider him caught up. He’s full healthy now and he’s given Duke multiple advantages. Three point shooting is huge and he has opened the court for Paolo Banchero, Mark Williams and Theo John inside.

But he’s also an excellent defender and he is a coach’s son and plays like it. He's really changed Duke’s team. With Griffin, Wendell Moore, Trevor Keels, Jeremy Roach and a vastly improved Joey Baker, Duke has multiple perimeter players. Griffin helped Duke get past the Keels injury with minimal disruption and with everyone back now, and in good health (remember Covid hit the team at Christmas and John had back issues as well), the stretch run is looking quite promising.

And as far as Griffin personally, he looks to have played himself into the lottery and some now see him as a Top Five pick. Quite a rocket ride for the freshman from New York.

• ‘He’s a rising star’: The story behind AJ Griffin’s emergence for Duke men’s basketball
• Duke Freshman A.J. Griffin Is Now A Projected Top-10 NBA Pick, And His High School Coach Isn’t Surprised One Bit
• Spurs Draft Spotlight: Why A.J. Griffin Looks Like a Must-Draft
• With AJ Griffin, it’s reasonable to ask: Does Duke have two top-5 picks?
• NBA Draft.net