Ideal Duke basketball roster entering 2021-22 season

Notable omissions to the ideal 2021-22 Duke basketball roster

Trevor Keels

Trevor Keels also holds a Duke offer, and his list has been trimmed to the Blue Devils, Virginia, and Villanova.

Clearly, a Top-20 prospect will be looking for a lot of playing time, and with the players potentially returning for Duke, Keels would get more playing time at either of his other two finalists and would be better suited there rather than Durham.

However, the one big draw to Duke would be reuniting with his high school teammate Jeremy Roach.

Jaemyn Brakefield

Jaemyn Brakefield has been shifted down the rotation in his freshman season at Duke, and despite not too many forwards on the roster, the former four-star recruit hasn’t been seeing much playing time.

Potentially adding more talented forwards to the roster, it seems hard to envision Brakefield getting more playing time as a sophomore, which could lead to his departure from the Blue Devils.

Jaemyn Brakefield is a very talented player who should be seeing more time on the court right now given Duke’s struggles, but he wants to play and could be looking for another program that will grant him that playing time.

Matthew Hurt

Matthew Hurt entered Duke as a freshman only wanting to be at the school for one season.

Given the struggles of his first season as a Blue Devil, it was clear that the power forward was not ready for the NBA, and he transformed his body, adding over 20 pounds of muscle in the offseason.

Hurt’s work has paid off as he boosted his scoring average from 9.7 points per game to 17.7 points per game and is shooting 52.9-percent from the field and 40.3-percent from three-point range.

Matthew Hurt will almost certainly test the NBA Draft waters, and it’s likely he leaves Durham after two seasons given his offensive abilities.

The case can be made for the power forward to return to Duke for a third year given his defensive issues, but it seems that Matthew Hurt will at least be a second-round pick in this year’s NBA Draft.

Jalen Johnson

Jalen Johnson has all the tools to be a Top-5 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. With many draft experts pegging him to be a Top-10 pick after his freshman year at Duke, it’s all but certain he will bolt to the professional level after the season.

There are questions surrounding parts of Johnson’s game, including his decision-making and his motor, but the abilities he has on the basketball court are unmatched as he can play as a point guard at 6-foot-9.

Jalen Johnson leaving Duke after his freshman year is almost considered a lock at this point.