It's no secret that North Carolina is desperately scouring the corners of the big man market in hopes of uncovering a hidden gem to replace Henri Veesaar after he elected to enter the NBA Draft and bypass his senior season in Chapel Hill.
Veesaar's departure, paired with Caleb Wilson's early entry to the draft, leaves a massive void in the frontcourt for Michael Malone's first season at UNC and has some experts questioning whether his roster is even good enough to make the NCAA Tournament next year.
Jon Scheyer doesn't have those problems.
After landing Wisconsin guard John Blackwell in the portal, retaining some key contributors from last season, and signing one of the top high school classes in the country, Scheyer has Duke once again positioned to be one of the elite teams in college basketball in 2026-27.
Anything Duke adds from here would be a luxury addition. The Blue Devils would like to find a backup center behind Patrick Ngongba, with the expectation that freshman big man Maxime Meyer will be a redshirt candidate as a long-term developmental project.
If Scheyer can do that while also further screwing over North Carolina, well, that's just the icing on the perfectly baked offseason cake.
Duke could steal international center Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje away from UNC
Boumtje is a player that North Carolina covets as a potential plug-and-play starter at the five spot in place of Veesaar.
According to 247's John Watson, Boumtje has become a legitimate candidate for Duke to fill the Blue Devils' final roster spot.
The 7-foot, 230-pound big man from France has played professionally for FC Barcelona and is ranked as the No. 118 overall player in the 2027 recruiting class. He's an upside swing with the potential of filling an obvious need for a backup big man in Duke's frontcourt while also potentially serving as the long-term replacement for Ngongba at the five.
Duke added Dame Sarr late in last year's recruiting class from FC Barcelona, and lightning could strike in the same place two offseasons in a row.
Duke has been linked to other options at the four, including Santa Clara's Allen Graves, but it appears likely that if Scheyer ultimately uses that final roster spot, it'll be on a guy like Boumtje, who has significant potential and won't leave Duke at the altar to remain in the NBA Draft as Cedric Coward did a year ago.
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