Drafted by Dallas Mavericks, Duke’s Wendell Moore traded to Minnesota Timberwolves
The offseason transformation of Wendell Moore’s body boosted his play for Duke last season which has now landed him in the NBA.
Moore, a second-team, all-ACC selection on the Blue Devils’ regular-season conference championship team, was selected in the first round by the Dallas Mavericks in Thursday night’s NBA draft before his rights were traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
A 6-6 forward, Moore averaged 13.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and led the Blue Devils with 4.4 assists as they reached the Final Four for the first time since 2015. He made 50% of his shots, including 41.3% of his 3-pointers and a team-best 80.5% free throw accuracy.
That production marked a dramatic improvement from his sophomore season, when Moore averaged 9.7 points per game and hit 41.7% of his shots from the field.
Moore went through a strenuous conditioning program between his sophomore and junior seasons, aimed at improving his athleticism and making him a more explosive player.
“It’s always been mentality with me,” Moore told the News & Observer last summer prior to his junior season. “The biggest thing was changing my mentality, making it stronger every time I get out there on the court. I really just need to play where I never feel weak on the court. I know my teammates always believe in me and I think now I’m really starting to believe in myself the way everybody else does.”
His coaches pressed him to be more physical and he listened.
“We thought, watching his game, that he had to become more athletic,” Duke associate head coach Chris Carrawell said. “We thought he had to become more explosive, quicker. And he just got older. When you get older, you become more confident.”
Moore, who grew up in Charlotte and played at Concord’s Cox Mill High School, only expects to keep improving from here.
“I really think my confidence can only get better,” Moore said. “It’s definitely something I work on every day. Every day I get in the gym, I get more confident in my own game. I think the sky’s the limit for myself and I intend to reach it.”
This story was originally published June 23, 2022 at 10:43 PM.