The 2024-25 Duke Blue Devils have joined an exclusive club after how they fared in the 2025 NBA Draft on June 25 and 26. All five starters of coach Jon Scheyer’s team last year were selected in the first two rounds of the draft.
The last time a team’s starting five was drafted was in 2012, with the Kentucky Wildcats’ Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Marquis Teague, Terrence Jones, and Doron Lamb. Similarly, in 2006, the UConn Huskies’ starting five — Rudy Gay, Hilton Armstrong, Marcus Williams, Rashad Anderson, and Denham Brown — were selected.
This year, Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, and Khaman Maluach were picked in the first round of the draft, followed by Sion James and Tyrese Proctor a day later in the second round. It was a memorable moment for the Blue Devils, who are coming off their 2025 NCAA Final Four appearance.
THE ENTIRE DUKE STARTING 5 HAS BEEN DRAFTED 🤯@DukeMBB pic.twitter.com/FPzFe07FGq
— ACC Network (@accnetwork) June 27, 2025
As it stands, Flagg was selected with the No. 1 overall pick by coach Jason Kidd’s Dallas Mavericks. He was followed by Kon Knueppel, who went fourth to the Charlotte Hornets despite mock drafts projecting him to be picked after the top five. Maluach then rounded out Duke’s first round selections by being called by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to be the 10th pick by the Houston Rockets.
Maluach, however, will be playing for coach Jordan Ott’s Phoenix Suns in his rookie year in the 2024-25 season, as he was part of the recent blockbuster trade that sent NBA superstar Kevin Durant to the Rockets.
Moving on to the second round, James was taken with the 33rd pick to join his Duke running mate Knueppel at Charlotte, while Proctor was the 49th pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Blue Devils continue their run of producing league-ready players. Last season, Duke won the ACC regular season championship and the conference tournament title en route to finishing with an overall record of 35-4 (19-1, ACC).
Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, and Khaman Maluach selected in the top 10 of 2025 NBA Draft, similar to 2019
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The last time that the Duke Blue Devils had three of their players selected in the top 10 of the first round of the NBA Draft was in 2019. New Orleans Pelicans All-Star Zion Williamson was the top pick at the time, coming out of Durham, North Carolina. He was joined by Toronto Raptors wing RJ Barrett, who went No. 3 to the New York Knicks, and free agent Cam Reddish, going 10th to the Atlanta Hawks.
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