Duke basketball: Cassius Stanley drops hammer on NBA All-Stars

It’s a bird…it’s a plane…it’s a Duke basketball freshman impressing NBA competition with his flight — and a shooting stroke no longer his kryptonite.

Evidence keeps piling up. Duke basketball’s new mini-Zion is a rim-biter and a legit shot-maker.

Freshman Cassius Stanley was back home in Los Angeles recently, and at a local gym there, the 6-foot-6, 195-pound shooting guard took part in a run that included a handful of NBA players.

Former Duke basketball star and five-year NBA veteran Rodney Hood was on the court. So was the guy with the seventh-highest scoring average in the league last season, Devin Booker, in addition to two-time NBA All-Star Joakim Noah and 2019 All-Star Ben Simmons.

From the mixtape for Stanley below — as well as those for several other players, available on the Twitter accounts of Chris Johnson Hoops and Swish Cultures — a few encouraging highlights stand out:

1. At the start, on a fastbreak dunk following his steal, Stanley reached Zion Williamson altitude — mind you, with a frame nearly 100 pounds lighter than the freshman Airbus for last season’s Blue Devils.
2. The next clip shows Stanley — with what appears to be a new and improved shooting form — splash a 3-pointer from the land of Steph Curry. Though viewers have no idea how many he missed for the day or how ugly his misses may have looked, he was a net-whipping 3-for-3 in the video.
3. Through traffic in the lane, Stanley displayed bouncy handles, one impressive hesitation juke, and feathery finishes — even when his body was sideways to the basket.

https://twitter.com/swishcultures_/status/1162920814909493248?s=20

Admittedly, the footage suggests each player’s defense took a vacation. However, once his first Duke basketball season is underway — begins against Kansas at the Champions Classic on Nov. 5 — if Stanley delights as he did above, he should find himself on Coach K Court far more often than Mike Krzyzewski’s doghouse at the end of the bench.

ALSO READ: Duke freshman Cassius Stanley better than advertised

Stanley, a four-star who ranks No. 37 on the 247Sports 2019 Composite and was the final piece to the nation’s No. 3 recruiting class, figures to compete for a starting gig at the two-spot with juniors Alex O’Connell and Jordan Goldwire (as well as sophomore Joey Baker and fellow freshman Wendell Moore should Coach K opt to go big).

The brief tape above may not prove Stanley should start right away, but it does offer convincing evidence he’ll serve a key role for the Blue Devils next season and may soon deserve a spot on the list below…

ALSO READ: Cassius Stanley labels one fellow freshman ‘brilliant’

Stay tuned to Ball Durham for more updates, analyses, opinions, and predictions concerning the 2019-20 Duke basketball team and all things Blue Devils.