For first time in a decade, no Duke players picked in NBA Draft first round
Duke’s streak of NBA draft lottery picks not only came to an end Wednesday night but the Blue Devils’ nine-year streak producing at least one first round pick was also halted.
For the first time since the 2010 NBA Draft, no Duke players were selected among the first 30 picks. The Blue Devils had seen at least one of their players selected among the top 14 picks, which constitutes the draft’s lottery portion, in each of the last six NBA Drafts.
The first Duke player selected Wednesday night was 6-foot-10 center Vernon Carey, Jr., last season’s ACC freshman of the year who went in the second round to Charlotte at No. 32 overall.
San Antonio selected Duke’s Tre Jones later in the second round.
Last season’s ACC player of the year, Jones was selected with the No. 41 overall pick. That gives Duke at least one first-round pick in 10 consecutive NBA Drafts, a streak that began in 2011 when Kyrie Irving and Nolan Smith were picked.
Prior to Wednesday night, Duke had seen at least one of its players selected in the top three picks in each of the last six NBA drafts. Over that time, 11 former Duke players went in the lottery portion of the first round.
Three of those lottery picks — Zion Williamson, R.J. Barrett and Cam Reddish — were selected in the 2019 NBA Draft after leading Duke to the 2019 ACC championship and the NCAA tournament’s regional final round.
The 6-foot-2 Jones entered school with those three players and was the starting point guard on that team. But he stayed around for his sophomore season at Duke aiming to improve his overall game and draft prospects. Jones did just that, averaging 16.2 points, 6.4 assists and 4.2 rebounds while also being named the ACC defensive player of the year.
A third Duke freshman, 6-6 small forward Cassius Stanley, also went in the second round. Indiana selected Stanley with the No. 54 overall pick.
This story was originally published November 18, 2020 at 11:33 PM.