Blue Devil Country

Duke Basketball: Kyle Filipowski's Draft Experience Ends on High Note

The two-year Duke basketball standout may well pull a Carlos Boozer and make teams regret letting him slip to the second round.

Matt Giles

Duke basketball forward Kyle Filipowski
Duke basketball forward Kyle Filipowski / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
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The wait is finally over for Duke basketball product Kyle Filipowski.

Following his disappointing Wednesday night in Brooklyn's Barclays Center, where the 7-foot forward sat in the green room without hearing his name in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft, he came off the board two picks into the second round on Thursday afternoon.

At No. 32 overall, the Utah Jazz selected the 20-year-old.

Now, that franchise brings to mind a sensational Duke basketball big man from two decades ago who surprisingly slid to the early second round yet went on to carve out an impressive 13-year career in the league. Although 2001 national champ Carlos Boozer, the No. 35 overall pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2002, didn't start out with the Jazz, Utah is where he landed a couple of years later and became a two-time All-Star.

Filipowski's lofty stats at Duke were somewhat similar to those of Boozer, a three-year Blue Devil under Mike Krzyzewski. Both were offensive machines in Durham, but each struggled in the eyes of NBA scouts when it came to other areas, such as concerns about their measurements, outside shooting, and defensive abilities.

After becoming ACC Rookie of the Year in 2022-23 and a widely projected first-rounder, Kyle Filipowski decided to return for his Duke basketball sophomore campaign. At the beginning of the season, many draft experts viewed the former five-star recruit as a 2024 lottery pick.

Despite an All-American season, Kyle Filipowski's draft stock gradually dropped throughout the year.

And on Wednesday night, he watched 2023-24 Duke basketball one-and-done guard Jared McCain become the only Blue Devil to go in the first round, as the Philadelphia 76ers snagged the sharpshooter at No. 16 overall.

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Matt Giles

MATT GILES

Matt Giles is the editor and publisher of FanNation's Blue Devil Country and All Tar Heels, covering the Duke Blue Devils and UNC Tar Heels on SI.com.

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