#628

The portal is closed (as far as Duke is concerned)! According to everything the Duke Basketball Roundup has heard, the Duke roster for 2024-25 is pretty much set. There may be a practice player brought it but in terms of meaningful rotation guys, these are the 11 guys. So, the next natural question is -- who plays what role on next year's team? The DBR Podcast crew -- Jason Evans, Donald Wine, and frequent guest-host Scott Rich -- sit down for a deep dive into that question... and they all have different answers. In part 1 of this exercise, they look only at the perimeter players -- from the 5th year transfers to Duke two returnees to a trio of intriguing freshmen. If you want to know which guys start, which one factor in the rotation, and which ones may struggle for minutes, this is the episode you need to listen to.
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[@DukeFan1971]

I completely agree with the take that has Sion James as a starter. Here's my primary lineup breakdown, based on the completed roster:
STARTERS:
1--Tyrese Proctor
2--Sion James
3--Cooper Flagg
4--Maliq Brown
5--Khaman Maluach
2ND UNIT:
1--Caleb Foster
2--Kon Knueppel
3--Isaiah Evans
4--Mason Gillis
5--Patrick Ngongba
BACKUPS:
Guards/Small Forwards:
Darren Harris
Cameron Sheffield
Bigs:
Stanley Borden
Like you, I don't see both Sion James and Mason Gillis on the floor at the same time, because while Gillis is more of a shooter and James is more of a driver/slasher, their games are too similar to have them play together. But I DEFINITELY see Sion James as a regular starter for us next season, and Gillis in the same role he excelled at at Purdue--as the best 6th man on the floor.

[@DukeFan1971]

Here's my take on Tyrese Proctor:
Yes, he had a relatively bad sophomore year, that ended on a really bad note, with a scoreless game vs NC State in the Elite 8. However, there were MULTIPLE very important reasons for that...reasons which, thanks to the 2024-25 roster that Jon and his staff have put together, no longer exist. Here's what a lot of people missed:
Due to Jon and his staff's inability to either bring back Dereck Lively for a 2nd year...OR to secure one of the half-dozen defensive centers we pursued in the Transfer Portal prior to last season (Kel'el Ware of Oregon, Kadin Shedrick of Virginia, Jesse Edwards of Syracuse, Ernest Udeh of Kansas, and even out-there possibilities like Hunter Dickinson of Michigan or Da'Ron Holmes of Dayton)...several starters were forced by necessity to fill roles that they were neither comfortable in, nor good at.
First, Kyle Filipowski was forced to become our full-time starting center. Despite his weight gain over the summer, to allow him to bang with bigger players...his game was never that of a center. Like players such as Matthew Hurt (who was put in a similar position of needing significant weight added to be effective down low from freshman to sophomore year) and Paolo Banchero, despite his height and size, he was FAR more comfortable and productive as a PF, in conjunction with a top-notch starting center.
Last year, Flip had Lively to play the center role. Before him, both Banchero and Hurt had Mark Williams. The former pairing, with a far more improved Mark Williams, went to the Final 4. His freshman year, Hurt had Vernon Carey. Zion Williamson had Marques Bolden. Marvin Bagley had Bolden AND Wendell Carter. Chase Jeter and Javin DeLaurier had Bolden and Harry Giles. You look at ANY Duke team of the past 2 DECADES, and you'll see a PF who COULD play center, but didn't HAVE TO, because they had 1 or 2 true centers already on the roster. THAT was the biggest thing Duke was missing last year.
As a result of Flip being forced to play full-time center, Mark Mitchell was forced to fill in at his usual spot at PF. As a freshman, Mitchell was FAR more effective as a 3/4 combo who was allowed to play all 3 levels. He started that season shooting over 42% from 3, before settling out at 35% for the season. As a full-time 4, his 3PT shooting dropped through the floor. He started last year shooting in SINGLE DIGITS, and VERY slowly, brought it up into the teens and 20s, ending at 27.5%. So one of his greatest skills as a combo forward was nullified.
And if you watched both of those players last year, it was VERY clear that the passion, energy and joy they clearly felt and exhibited as freshmen was GONE. Many Duke accts on X made multiple references to the complete drop-off of the sophomore class as a whole, as the main reason we didn't have the Preseason #2 level of success that we SHOULD have had last year, based on bringing back 80% of our scoring, as well as our top 4 scorers, neither of which had happened since at least the 2008-09 season.
Duke last year was like that old tale that sums up as "For want of a nail, the kingdom is lost"...except in OUR case, the nail was a defensive center.
And that systemic failure, which manifested in basically the entire starting 5 as players forced into roles they should never have been in, trickled down all the way to the PG position...and Tyrese Proctor.
He was always best as a primary FACILITATOR...the guy who initiated the offense, distributed the ball, fed his teammates, and made everyone else look better. As a freshman, he had plenty of targets for that, and that performance led directly to the widespread expectations that he would have a POY-level breakout as a sophomore...a breakout which never happened.
But that was NOT on him, if you examine what he was forced to do.
He was NEVER comfortable as a primary offensive scoring option. As a freshman, he never HAD to be...but as a sophomore, with everyone else out of position and off their games, he was asked to step up and become what he wasn't: a scorer. And as should have been predictable by anyone who knew him...he wasn't good at that, and he took a significant step back from his 1st year.
However, the series of blunders that led to the group underachievement that was last season looks to be corrected for next season. Yes, we made the Elite 8, but we should have won at LEAST 7 or 8 of the games we lost, if not ALL OF THEM, if we'd had the one missing piece that threw everything else out of whack...and we could have competed with UConn and Purdue with a starter-quality center on the roster, as well as playing our depth...the other huge mistake we made last season.
But next year, we have 3-4 guys who can play the 5, 2 of whom are full-time centers, not a PF playing out of position like Flip last year. We also have the type of roster that BEGS to be let loose and played, so that we don't have half the roster riding the bench all year like Jon made the mistake of doing last season.
THAT, more than who we brought in, was behind the majority of our 7 transfers. Maliq Brown may have been the reason for the departure of either Stewart or Power--or both--but the reason they made that decision SO EASILY in the 1st place was because they both averaged around 6-7 mpg all year, despite both being top 25 players coming out of high school. They were never developed, or allowed to become the starting-level contributors they COULD have been.
But while I questioned the point behind having 8 players who are either 6'5" or 6'6" on the team--multiple times, I might add--I now think that serves a purpose, AND it gives us switchability and versatility at a level we haven't had in recent memory, at every position on the floor. With only a few exceptions, every player can play multiple positions on both offense AND defense.
But more than that, it creates a situation where Jon HAS to play these guys...not only to avoid the mass exodus we experienced during the month of April, but also to maximize this particular team's potential in the long run. THIS year's team, even more than last year's, has the very real potential to go all the way. Rather than having each player fill a specific role...we have the type of personnel to throw a dozen different looks at every team we play.
THAT ability gives us far more than simple versatility. It gives us the ability to confuse teams, throw them off their rhythm, disrupt their offense, and stymie them to a high degree. All of those give US a huge advantage. We may not always be the biggest, most talented or best team on the floor every single game. However, with the ability to discombobulate teams and disrupt them, we can MAKE THEM WORSE, and bring them to heel.
And with Tyrese Proctor back doing what he's best at, that offense and defense has a true leader, and experienced floor general, that last year's team was unfortunately lacking. And with players like Caleb Foster, Sion James and others to both help him out on the floor, or play in his stead while he's off of it, Duke has what could be the best team in America next year.

[@DukeFan1971]

I also agree on the 1st take on Knueppel. He is BY FAR the most developed of the bottom 4 freshmen not named Flagg or Maluach.
BTW, to the guy who thinks he's 6'5"...I thought the same thing. But his own mother got on X and directly said he is most definitely 6'6", NOT 6'5".
Here's the minutes order I see the players getting. Not specific numbers, but in the order of most to least:
1) Proctor
2) Cooper Flagg
3) Khaman Maluach
4) Sion James
5) Maliq Brown
6) Caleb Foster
7) Mason Gillis
8) Kon Knueppel
9) Isaiah Evans
10) Patrick Ngongba
11) Darren Harris
12) Cameron Sheffield
13) Stanley Borden
14) Neal Begovich
15) Spencer Hubbard