Predicting Duke Men's Basketball's Starting Five
By Hugh Straine
Jon Scheyer, in his third year as the Duke Men's Basketball head coach, has several new faces on the roster this season. This includes the #1 recruiting class by 247sports.com and four new players from the transfer portal. But, Duke also lost its top four scorers from a season ago, so Scheyer has plenty of decisions to make before the Blue Devils' regular-season opener against Maine on November 4th.
Let's take a look at the roster and see who makes the most sense in the starting lineup.
PG - Sion James (G, Graduate)
Sion James joins Duke by way of Tulane, where he played four seasons. Many insiders think sophomore Caleb Foster will get the starting nod for the Blue Devils, but I think James' experience and skillset make him a really good fit at the point guard position. The 6' 6" 220-pound guard has improved every season of his college career, notching career-highs in 2023-24 in points (14.0) and rebounds (5.4). He also shot 38.1% from three last season on 3.6 attempts a game while not eclipsing over 33% in any of his three first collegiate seasons or averaging more than 2.6 three-point attempts per game either. Although he isn't known for his scoring, his frame mixed with his athletic ability puts him in the starting spot, giving Caleb Foster the opportunity to run the second unit.
SG - Tyrese Proctor (G, Junior)
The Australian guard returns for his third go-around with the Blue Devils after a somewhat disappointing sophomore campaign. Proctor was labeled as a prime breakout candidate on the national scale in the preseason with many expecting him to generate lottery buzz in this past summer's NBA Draft. And that didn't go as smoothly as expected. Proctor took slight steps forward in most statistical categories, but nowhere near where most around college basketball thought they would be. Nonetheless, Proctor is still a gifted handler with the ball with a knack for creating separation in the mid-range and beyond the three-point line, it just needs to be more consistent for him to be a true star in the college game. With an experienced guard running the point in James, giving Proctor a chance to move off-the-ball and create space for himself mixed with his two years under Scheyer's system, he again will be a guy most are waiting to see finally take that big leap offensively.
Cooper Flagg (SF, Freshman)
The most hyped-up prospect in the last twenty or so years, Flagg is expected by many to come in and be one of the best players in college basketball. He might even be a Preseason All-American candidate, an honor that very rarely is awarded to freshmen. The ESPN 2024 Top 100 #1 overall prospect and consensus 2025 NBA Draft #1 pick, Flagg really has no weaknesses, and even got to spend time at Team USA Training Camp before the Summer Olympics. As Adam Finkelstein of 247sports.com stated, "His instincts are off the charts on both ends of the floor and he competes with a quiet type of killer instinct. He's a defensive standout and particularly dominant as an off-ball defender...Offensively, he's an excellent passer with a good foundation of early skill and developing playmaking ability." Flagg will probably start at the 3-spot but can do it all on any third of the floor offensively.
Maliq Brown (F, Junior)
Brown finds himself in Duke blue after spending the previous two seasons at ACC-rival Syracuse, and he brings a unique skill set to this Blue Devils roster, both offensively and defensively. The 6' 8" 222-pound big man never takes a possession off and is serviceable in every facet of the game. a 2024 ACC-All Defensive Team selection, Brown finished his sophomore season averaging 9.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 2.2 steals. He is a killer on the offensive glass, as he averaged 2.3 offensive rebounds a contest in 2023-24, and has great instincts on grabbing boards off of misses on the offensive end of the floor. The energy he brings along with the luxury of collecting misses to give Duke second-chance opportunities makes him a huge get for Scheyer in the transfer portal.
Khaman Maluach (C, Freshman)
The 7' 2" 250-pound South Sudan native spent the last couple of years in the NBA Academy Africa program. Originally a more raw prospect at the time of his commitment, Maluach showed serious flashes of shooting ability and running the floor during his time with the South Sudan National Team in this past Summer Olympics, despite playing just fifteen total minutes. As Keenan Womack of SI.com said, "His offensive game is a work in progress, but he has shown real talent for knocking down three-point shots and developing his ability to face up and score. Though he will play the center position for Duke, they can take advantage of this skillset by setting him up using guards Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster." Maluach has a long way to go in terms of polishing his game, but he will be an extremely interesting player to watch grow in Durham this upcoming season.