When Cooper Flagg's name is called by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver on Wednesday night as the first overall pick by the Dallas Mavericks, it will make twelve consecutive years that a Blue Devil has been taken in the first round. And it will extend Duke's streak of having at least one first-round selection to 14 of the last 15 drafts.
It won't be long after Flagg hears his name called that more Duke alumni will hear theirs called as well. Kon Knueppel is roundly expected to be a Top Five pick, and Khaman Maluach is projected to come off the board sometime in the lottery range - the first thirteen picks.
In the last mock draft produced by various CBS Sports Analysts, all three players are picked to be taken in the first ten picks. First up is where Gary Parrish sees the trio going.
1. Cooper Flagg (Dallas Mavericks)For more than a year, there's never really been any doubt about which player will go No. 1 in the 2025 NBA Draft. It was always going to be Flagg, the one-and-done star at Duke who led the Blue Devils in all five major individual categories while becoming the youngest Wooden Award winner in history. High ceiling. High floor. It's hard to imagine Flagg not being a high-level NBA player for more than a decade.
7. Kon Knueppel (New Orleans Pelicans)Knueppel was mostly excellent through Duke's run to the Final Four, averaging 19.0 points while shooting 63.6% from beyond the arc. He's an elite shooter, obviously, but far from only a shooter — and anybody labeling him as little more than a catch-and-shoot threat is wildly underestimating Knueppel's versatility as a player who projects as a nice building block for a New Orleans franchise forever in search of floor-spacers to put alongside Zion Williamson.
8. Khaman Maluach (Brooklyn Nets)Maluach's otherwise great freshman year concluded horribly with a zero-rebound effort in 21 minutes during Duke's season-ending loss to Houston. But that was just one game against an older and stronger team, and it shouldn't sour front offices too much on an 18 year-old who can move unusually well for a man his size and serve as a true center in a league that is starting to prioritize them again.
Adam Finkelstein's mock has a similar path:
1. Cooper Flagg (Mavericks)
5. Kon Knueppel (Utah Jazz)
8. Khaman Maluach (Nets)
Matt Norlander:
1. Cooper Flagg (Mavericks)
6. Kon Knueppel (Washington Wizards)
8. Khaman Maluach (Nets)