2023 NBA Draft Update: Not Looking Like A Vintage Duke Year

As the college season moves towards its apex, the two codas are going to get more attention: recruiting, which is less important now than it used to be due to the transfer portal (some coaches are vowing to just use the portal and are barely recruiting at all), and the NBA Draft.

This is always a big deal around Duke and this year, three Devils are getting some first-round attention: Kyle Filipowski, Dereck Lively and Dariq Whitehead.

Victor Wembanyama is clearly the prize of this draft. The 7-3 native of France is potentially a revolutionary unicorn and everyone wants him. The lottery obviously complicates that pursuit but teams are tanking left and right just to get a crack at him.

Duke-wise, the picks are going to come later, if they do.

The Athletic has Whitehead going to the LA Clippers at #21, Lively going to Utah at #26 and Filipowski to Brooklyn with the next pick at #27.

However, NBADraft.net sees only Filipowski being drafted, and only in the second round.

Clearly there is a lot of uncertainty this year about the draft. It may end up that Duke’s prospects declare and go through the assessments before deciding, which could make next year really intriguing.