Duke Basketball: Kyle Singler should return to Durham after being waived

The Oklahoma City Thunder will likely waive former Duke basketball star Kyle Singler by the end of the week, so what’s next for his career?

Because his jersey number is not hanging from the rafters in Cameron Indoor Stadium, it’s easy to forget that Kyle Singler ranks fourth in total points (2,392) and seventh in rebounds (1,015) among all former Duke basketball players.

Here’s another fact: Christian Laettner and Mike Gminski are the only Blue Devils other than Singler to have scored more than 2,300 points while grabbing more than 1,000 rebounds.

And that’s some rather strong company.

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In terms of his production at the NBA level, though, the stats aren’t so impressive. Across seven seasons in the league, his career scoring average is 6.5 and his rebounding average is just 2.9.

Last season, his numbers hit an all-time low — he scored less than two points per game and collected less than one rebound per game for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

That’s why the Thunder will likely take advantage of the stretch provision and waive Singler by the deadline on Friday.

For those readers who have better things to do than study the rules concerning NBA contracts, the provision allows for a team to waive a player with a remaining guaranteed salary — Singler has one year left on his contract worth nearly $5 million — while stretching the owed amount over several years.

And as soon as the Thunder take advantage of this provision in order to kick Singler to the curb, other teams aren’t exactly going to be lining up to sign the 30-year-old.

So what’s next?

Here’s a suggestion: Singler should return to the Duke Blue Devils, where his former teammates — Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith — are now playing vital roles within the program. Scheyer is the associate head coach, and Smith is the director of basketball operations.

Although there may not be a current opening on the coaching staff, surely head coach Mike Krzyzewski would find something for Singler to do.

Singler, Smith, and Scheyer combined to form arguably the second-most accomplished trio of stars to play together at Duke (it would be difficult for any group to ever top Laettner, Bobby Hurley, and Grant Hill). And it would be comforting to watch the three leaders from the Blue Devils’ 2010 National Championship team helping to mold current and future Duke basketball players.

If nothing else, Singler could open a bar or an art gallery — he majored in visual arts and once painted a mural to commemorate Duke’s title — on Ninth Street in Durham. After all, there are plenty of Duke basketball fans who would gladly be his customers.

If nothing else, Singler would witness countless people stopping by his business just to shake his hand and thank him for all he did during his four seasons as a Blue Devil.

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Myself included.

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