Duke basketball: Matthew Hurt should get drafted before Jalen Johnson

Why Matthew Hurt is Duke basketball’s best 2021 draft prospect: Dedication

Granted, Matthew Hurt did have several limitations as a Duke basketball player. He’s not all that fast. He’s not much of a leaper. He’s still a ways away from becoming a bonafide bruiser.

That said, as Gary Parrish alluded to when projecting Hurt to go No. 28 overall, some franchises are likely to look past Hurt’s deficiencies in the athleticism department and instead come to appreciate what all he’s proven to possess:

“Whether evaluators like Hurt or not comes down to what they focus on — the things he can do or the things with which he struggles.”

Aside from brilliant shooting, Hurt has displayed an impressive level of dedication in trying to master his strengths and minimize his weaknesses.

It starts with humility, which Hurt exhibited just by accepting the challenge to work on his shortcomings between his freshman and sophomore seasons. That led to a 20-pound gain via the weight room and his honed jumper via a family-reported 50,000 shots in the summer.

Again, weigh all that next to what Parrish wrote about Jalen Johnson:

“Johnson’s underwhelming play at Duke that preceded him quitting the team has him projected to go much lower now than he was projected a year ago.”

Perseverance. Stick-to-itiveness. Whatever observers choose to call it, there’s no denying that Hurt has publicly shown more of it than Johnson. Up to this point, it’s no contest.

Still, Johnson likely will go before Hurt on draft night. Yet that doesn’t mean he should.