The Duke Basketball offense seems set up for shooters and playmakers, so where will big man Javin DeLaurier fit into the equation.
In 2017, Duke had one of the bigger teams in the country, with Wendell Carter Jr., and Marvin Bagley III manning the paint. The Blue Devils grabbed 37.5 percent of available offensive rebounds, which was tied for first in the country with Cincinnati.
Although the Blue Devils will have a smaller front-court in 2019, they could potentially be a good offensive rebounding team once again, with Javin DeLaurier back for his third season.
But, what will his role be for the Blue Devils this season?
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DeLaurier played just a little over 13 minutes per game last season, but in those limited minutes, his offensive rebounding percentage was a little under 15 percent (14.9%) — a rate that was higher than both Bagley and Carter, although in a much smaller sample size.
With the talent on this team, put-backs and wide open dunks will more than likely be the only shots DeLaurier gets this season, but that won’t necessarily be a bad thing.
Most of DeLaurier’s shot attempts in 2018 were put-backs off of offensive rebounds. He was able to convert those offensive rebounds and put-backs into 1.14 points per possession, and a 62.5 FG%, according to Synergy Sports.
Shooting is the biggest question mark with the Duke offense in 2019, so there could be a lot of second-chance point opportunities for DeLaurier this season.
One of the best times to shoot a three is after an offensive rebound once the defense crashes the glass. Brian Zoubek was great at this for Duke during the National Championship run in 2010.
DeLaurier hasn’t shown to be a great passer yet, but if he’s able to recognize open shooters after an offensive rebound, the Blue Devils are going to get even more open looks from deep.
He didn’t play much in the preseason opener against Virginia Union (possibly because he’s coming off a foot injury), but the athletic forward was able to grab one offensive rebound in just 10 minutes of action.
Expect DeLaurier to play as many minutes as he can handle once the season starts.
DeLaurier started all but one game for Duke on the Canada tour this summer and showed why he is going to have a huge role on this team, grabbing 17 total rebounds, including six offensive, in the three games.
DeLaurier is in for a large increase in minutes this season, and while most teams are going to focus on keeping Zion Williamson off the glass, the six-foot-ten-inch junior is going to be able to grab a ton of offensive rebounds and turn them into easy and efficient second-chance points for Duke.