Duke's roster has remained in significant flux over a week since the opening of the Transfer Portal. There are still nine days for players to enter the NBA Draft, and the Blue Devils are waiting on decisions from Cameron Boozer, Isaiah Evans, Patrick Ngongba, and Dame Sarr.
Boozer is as good as gone. Evans is widely expected to enter, too. But there's renewed optimism that Ngongba, along with Sarr, will return next season. Until that's sorted, however, it's difficult for Jon Scheyer to know exactly who to target in the portal.
He has a better idea than any of us, obviously.
One of the bigger questions, particularly if Ngongba returns, is what Duke will do in the backcourt. With 5-star point guard Deron Rippey Jr. on the way, do the Blue Devils have the room to bring back both Cayden Boozer and Caleb Foster? What happens if they land John Blackwell? It's hard to see enough playing time to around in the backcourt at that point, and Blackwell should be prioritized over either Boozer or Foster.
Jeff Goodman talked about it on a recent Field of 68 episode.
"I don't know how that's going to work, though, with Cayden, Caleb, and Rippey," Goodman said. "All three of them, sharing minutes at the point? I just don't know how that's going to work. I feel like one of them won't come back at the end of the day."
Jon Scheyer might have to choose between Cayden Boozer and Caleb Foster
Foster is a good enough shooter that he could play off-ball, but it's hard to imagine the rising senior being happy with a backup role going into his final season of eligibility. And unless Scheyer plans on playing small next year with three guards and Sarr playing up to the four with Cameron Williams splitting his time between the four and five, then he's going to have to make a difficult choice.
That difficult choice probably means encouraging Foster to find a new home for his last year. And that's a brutal reality for Scheyer and Duke fans, considering he'd be the unquestioned leader of next season's team, and considering how much wearing that Duke uniform clearly means to Foster.
Foster worked his tail off to get back for the NCAA Tournament, making a stunning return in the Sweet 16, just a month after breaking his foot in the regular-season finale against North Carolina.
There are still a lot of variables, but bringing back both Boozer and Foster with the addition of Rippey from the high school ranks is difficult to imagine. Boozer has the higher ceiling, however, and should probably be the priority over Foster.
That's not an easy choice to make, but making difficult decisions comes with the territory when you're sitting in the big chair.
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