In the Jon Scheyer era, Duke basketball has produced two or more NBA Draft picks each year. But only once did three Blue Devils come off the board in the first round: 2025 with Cooper Flagg at No. 1 overall, Kon Knueppel at No. 4, and Khaman Maluach at No. 10.
Perhaps 2027 will match that 2025 count. Granted, the 2027 NBA Draft is still over eight months away, but three members of the talent-stacked 2026-27 Duke basketball squad pop up among the top 17 in the latest first round mock draft courtesy of CBS Sports’ Adam Finkelstein. No players from other ACC schools sit higher than even the lowest from Duke in Finkelstein’s projected first round.
Pair of Projected Duke Basketball Lottery Picks
The first Blue Devil on Finkelstein’s list is junior center Patrick Ngongba II at No. 9 overall to the Washington Wizards.
Duke went 70-7 across Ngongba’s first two seasons in Durham. Although the 6-foot-11, 250-pound native of Manassas, Va., has been part of the regular rotation in each of those campaigns – a 28-game starter last season en route to averaging 10.1 points and 5.8 rebounds per contest – he has missed a handful of outings each season due to injury.
Next among Blue Devils on Finkelstein’s mock draft is sophomore wing Dame Sarr at No. 13 to the San Antonio Spurs.
“Sarr is a defensive standout with good wing size and athleticism,” Finkelstein pointed out about the 6-foot-8, 200-pound Italian, who drew a start in 30 of Duke’s 38 games as a freshman last season and finished with averages of 6.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 1.0 steals per contest. “He made only 32% of his threes and 53% of his free throws as a freshman at Duke. Still, there is optimism that he could be a reliable standstill floor-spacer in time and thus fit a coveted 3-and-D archetype.”
Duke Basketball Freshman One Spot Out of Lottery Range
As Finkelstein noted, “The 2027 NBA Draft will mark the first year of the league’s lottery reform…designed to discourage tanking.” So, there will now be 16 lottery picks, two more than in recent years. With that in mind, notice that the last Duke basketball talent appearing in Finkelstein’s projected first round, freshman forward Cameron Williams at No. 17 overall, is just outside the lottery.
Williams, who was somewhat limited in Duke’s Blue-White scrimmage at Countdown to Craziness on Oct. 3 and in the Blue Devils’ 102-62 scrimmage win over Belmont on Oct. 8 after missing some practice time due to illness, arrived in Durham this summer ranking No. 4 overall and No. 1 among power forwards on the 247Sports 2026 Composite.
The 7-foot, 215-pounder from Phoenix, Ariz., is part of a five-deep Duke recruiting class (not counting walk-on guard Nick Arnold) that stacked up at No. 2 nationally, per 247Sports.
Several other Blue Devils could hear their names on draft night come June, as at least a couple more are projected second round picks elsewhwere. That said, keep in mind that in light of the new 5-in-5 eligibility rule in college sports, where student-athletes may now play five seasons so long as they do so in a span of five years out of high school, every player on the 2026-27 Duke basketball roster will have the option of returning to college next year.
