We are just about one week away from the 2025 NBA Draft, where the Dallas Mavericks will begin by taking Cooper Flagg out of Duke University. The San Antonio Spurs pick second, and will likely take guard Dylan Harper out of Rutgers. The real start of the draft will begin with the third overall pick, owned by the Philadelphia 76ers. Another Duke star, Kon Knueppel, could end up being taken third overall; however, 5-10 seems to be the range where he will likely be selected.

Knueppel was recently on the Bill Simmons Podcast to talk about the draft process and Cooper Flagg. Simmons asked what Knueppel thought helped his draft stock rise.

“I think a lot of it helped with the ACC tournament when Cooper was out,” Knueppel said. “So being able to see me in a scenario where I’m the guy for a couple of games. And then just kind of carrying that over into the NCAA Tournament, I think that helped. But then, I mean I don’t really know, I haven’t played in front of anybody other than my team workouts I’ve been doing, so I guess I made a decent impression in some of my interviews.”

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When Flagg injured his ankle, Knueppel had to step up and become the guy for the Blue Devils. Flagg injured his ankle against Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament. In the two games he was out, Knueppel scored 17 points against North Carolina and then 18 against Louisville. In the win against Georgia Tech, he scored 28 points on 50% shooting. Kneuppel proved he can be the guy, and his draft stock certainly improved after that performance.

Knueppel joining Flagg in the top five would not be the first time this happened with Duke. When Zion Williamson was drafted first overall in 2019, RJ Barrett joined him two picks later as he was selected third overall by the New York Knicks.