Duke basketball national champs (Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports)
Duke basketball: Two more NBA Blue Devils get waived
And then there were 26. Duke basketball peaked this week with 29 former players on active NBA contracts. But a few of those professional Blue Devils held Exhibit 10 deals — essentially bodies to fill teams' 20-man preseason rosters — and were far from locks to land on a 15-man roster when the regular season gets underway next week.
On Tuesday, the Phoenix Suns waived 2016-17 Duke one-and-done Frank Jackson, a 24-year-old point guard who went No. 31 overall at the 2017 NBA Draft and has averaged 8.5 points across his 213 career games in the league.
RELATED: Frank Jackson gets dropped by another NBA team
Then on Thursday, news of more Blue Devils getting waived popped up on the NBA player transactions log.
The Memphis Grizzlies waived Matthew Hurt. They did so despite signing the 22-year-old power forward only a few days prior and not putting him on the floor for any preseason action. He has yet to be on an NBA regular-season roster since turning pro following his sophomore year at Duke in 2021 and going undrafted.
RELATED: List of every Blue Devil currently in the NBA
Meanwhile, the Sacramento Kings waived 2015 Duke basketball national champ Quinn Cook. Last season was the first since his rookie year that the 29-year-old point guard (a two-time NBA champion: with the Golden State Warriors in 2018 and Los Angeles Lakers in 2020) didn't end up on an NBA team.
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