How Did Duke Players Do In Summer League Play?

Very well, as it turns out, especially Kon Knueppel

Over at CBS, Cameron Salerno rates the summer league play of the lottery picks and for Duke, that means three: Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach.

So how did they do?

Well, Flagg got an A-, partly because he didn’t play so well in his first game. He was shut down after his brilliant second game so the ranking might be considered incomplete, but given what NBA players past and present have said about his game, he should be fine.

As for Knueppel, after his first, weak game, Salerno says he “played incredibly,” which is pretty high praise but maybe not a huge surprise for Duke fans. This Hornets site thinks he might not be a defensive liability after all, which again is no surprise. Blue Devil fans know that he’s a hardass who plays defense with abandon. The reviews on him after summer league play - where he helped lead Charlotte to the title and won summer league MVP - are extremely optimistic. Knueppel gets an A.

Khaman Maluach got a B. As most fans know, he has a lot of work to do, but on the other hand, he’s just 18 and he’s only played basketball since he was 13.

He has a lot of issues on offense which will take time to work out. But as the old saying says, you can’t teach height. At 7-2, Maluach has a 7-7 wingspan and can shut down the inside.

His improvement accelerated dramatically at Duke and practicing against Brotherhood member Mark Williams every day will only help him to improve, not to mention what the rest of the NBA will do to educate him.

Salerno gives him a B, but we’d grade him on a curve for now, because he’s going to get better fast.