It seems increasingly likely Duke basketball star Kyle Filipowski's standout sophomore season will make him a top-10 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. The sophomore big man is listed as the No. 9 overall draft prospect in ESPN's latest prospect rankings, rising two spots since they were last updated.
“Filipowski is in the midst of an All-American season, showing significant improvement while making a major impact on both ends of the floor,” ESPN's Jonathan Givony writes.
“After some early inconsistent play, Filipowski has increased his intensity level defensively as well, posting an impressive 2.6 blocks, 1.6 steals and 9.6 rebounds in December, most notably anchoring Duke's pick-and-roll defense in an important win over Baylor in front of a host of NBA executives at Madison Square Garden. The challenge will now be to translate that to ACC play, where Duke still has work to do on its résumé to be a high enough NCAA tournament seed to make a Final Four run.”
A consensus top-five prospect in the high school class of 2023, Filipowski underwhelmed draft scouts during his first collegiate campaign, failing to answer questions about his lackluster athleticism and positional length while shooting 44.1% from the floor and 28.2% on triples. He's been far better as a sophomore after foregoing the chance to enter last year's draft, averaging 18.0 points, 8.8 rebounds and two blocks per game—up from less than one block a season ago—on much-improved efficiency all over the floor.
Kyle Filipowski lacks the physical tools to be a star in the NBA, and is likely to settle in as a backup at the next level unless he develops into a deadeye three-point shooter. Either way, his draft stock is much higher now than it was this time a year ago, justifying his decision to return to Durham for another run at a national title.
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