The Duke Blue Devils and head coach Jon Scheyer are losing a lot of talent to the upcoming 2025 NBA Draft. Cooper Flagg is the headline name, but fellow five-star freshman Kon Knueppel is also worth taking note of, along with center Khaman Maluach.
All three Duke standouts have a chance to be top-10 draft picks. That alone shows just how stacked the Blue Devils' roster was during the 2024-25 college basketball season.
Knueppel is one of the best shooters in this NBA Draft class. With teams always needing elite shooting, he will have a chance to be drafted high and earn playing time early on in his professional career.
During his freshman year at Duke, Knueppel lived up to all of the hype that came with being a five-star prospect. He may not have received the same hype that Flagg did, but he was just as important. Without him on the team, the run to the Final Four likely would not have happened.
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He played in 39 games during his freshman season, averaging 14.4 points per game to go along with four rebounds, 2.7 assists, and a steal. Knueppel also shot 47.9 percent from the floor and 40.6 percent from three-point range.
Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report has also revealed a major new prediction for Knueppel in the 2025 NBA Draft.
In his new mock draft on Thursday, Wasserman has predicted that the Toronto Raptors will land Knueppel with the No. 9 overall pick.
"Only the Washington Wizards averaged fewer threes per game than the Raptors, making Knueppel an obvious candidate at No. 9," he wrote. "But he should also be in the best-player-available conversation at this point of the lottery."
Not only did Wasserman provided a prediction for where Knueppel will land in the draft, he also offered a comparison for the Blue Devils star.
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That comparison was none other than Brooklyn Nets forward Cameron Johnson. It's a comparison that bodes well for Knueppel, especially after the 2024-25 NBA season that Johnson put together.
There is a lot of work to do to become the player that he's capable of being, but Knueppel has never had a problem with work ethic. Regardless of which team selects him in the 2025 draft, the Duke standout will come in ready to work with a burning desire to win.
Fans won't have to wait too much longer to find out where he ends up. The 2025 NBA Draft is scheduled to be held on June 25.
For more college basketball and NBA Draft news, head on over to Newsweek Sports.
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This story was originally published May 29, 2025 at 10:21 AM.