Cassius is heading to the NBA

[TJ99]

Just posted a video on instagram

[Tripping William]

Just posted a video on instagram

Yep, from the oficial Duke MBB account:

98963918-6227-4D85-AB4D-49BF1C877474.jpg

[mr. synellinden]

Just posted a video on instagram

That’s how you do it. Well done. Great video and message.

Disappointed but it’s the right decision for him. I hope a team is smart enough to take him in the first round.

[JasonEvans]

Beautiful video with a heartfelt message.

https://twitter.com/cassius_stanley/...01137089499144

[InSpades]

Sad to see him go... would've loved to see another year of those insane dunks. Can't blame him though... he has a world full of potential and the NBA places a supreme value on that. Best of luck young man.

[scottdude8]

This is sad news, but what most of us expected. As one of the guys who read a lot into the various social media posts and whatnot thinking that meant he was coming back, I'll eat all necessary crow. I stand by my general thesis statement that these kids know what they're doing on social media, and in a normal year something like that would've been as good a sign as any as to what Cassius was intending. But this isn't a normal year.

I think it's worth mentioning that this may be the best statement about entering the draft that I've ever seen. Cassius comes right out and says it: "In evaluating players, the NBA values youth." I hope all Duke fans can appreciate that a young man being that transparent about his decision making process is rare, and is a way of reaching out to us... Cassius is under no obligation to "explain" himself to Duke fans, yet he went out of his way to do so.

And, for better or worse, he's right. If Cassius was 19, staying in school would make a ton of sense. At his age, if he came back for year 2 he'd be as old as the typical senior when he entered the draft next year. Even though he'd likely improve his stock through improved play, his advanced age has the possibility to mitigate any gains he might've made. So this decision makes sense.

None of that makes me any less disappointed, as I had indeed gotten my hopes up. A starting lineup with sophomores Wendell, Cassius, and Matthew would've made for a very exciting year. We'll still have a lot of potential next season, especially if the expected attrition from other early projected top teams, like Kentucky and Villanova (they'd be hurt big time if Bey stays in the draft) takes place. Our ceiling remains high, but it just fell quite a bit, and the floor even more so.

I think Cassius has all the tools to have a great NBA career, and he's the type of guy I'll be rooting for hard. He gave his all in his year at Duke. Now let's all cross our fingers that things turn around in the world in general and Cassius is given the opportunity to raise his draft stock by showcasing his incredible athleticism.

[proelitedota]

This is sad news, but what most of us expected. As one of the guys who read a lot into the various social media posts and whatnot thinking that meant he was coming back, I'll eat all necessary crow. I stand by my general thesis statement that these kids know what they're doing on social media, and in a normal year something like that would've been as good a sign as any as to what Cassius was intending. But this isn't a normal year.

Same. Eating crow.

Best of luck to him in the NBA. He is an exceptional talent.

[Phredd3]

Those dang tea leaves. They are tricky little buggers.

I think it is the right decision, for exactly the reason he gives. Age means a lot to sports performance, and the NBA is right to value youth more highly. Projections have Stanley in the low first round, so he has a shot at making a roster now. I'm sad he has to take that shot, but I think we all wish him nothing but the best. I don't follow the NBA much, so I'm especially sad I won't get to see nearly as many of his highlight reel dunks. He was fun to watch.

[kako]

In other news, water is wet.

Some damn fine high flying dunks. I wish we could have seen some in the tourney.



Be better than Westbrook, Mr. Stanley! I wish you well.

9F

[budwom]

always assume they're gone, be happily surprised if they aren't. Works every time.

[WHOneedsSOX]

Those dang tea leaves. They are tricky little buggers.

I think it is the right decision, for exactly the reason he gives. Age means a lot to sports performance, and the NBA is right to value youth more highly. Projections have Stanley in the low first round, so he has a shot at making a roster now. I'm sad he has to take that shot, but I think we all wish him nothing but the best. I don't follow the NBA much, so I'm especially sad I won't get to see nearly as many of his highlight reel dunks. He was fun to watch.

Why is he a year older than other freshmen? Was he held back a year at some point?

[proelitedota]

always assume they're gone, be happily surprised if they aren't. Works every time.

I'm happy either which way.

That said, we're down to 3 guards on the roster for next year. Wendell can play the 2 in a pinch.

[scottdude8]

I'm happy either which way.

That said, we're down to 3 guards on the roster for next year. Wendell can play the 2 in a pinch.

I think Joey can play the 2 if he's on the court with a dominant ball handler... i.e. if he's asked to be a true "shooting" guard. That said, I'm not too worried about having a 3 or 3.5 man rotation for the two traditional guard spots, considering one of those three will be a senior swiss-army knife named Jordan Goldwire. Plus as you said, we have depth at the wing that can slide over if necessary. We could potentially put out a super big lineup with Wendell, Jalen, Hurt, and Williams alongside JG... while shooting would be a question mark, that would be a hell of a defensive lineup if Williams can develop as we hope.

[Hingeknocker]

While it's true that the NBA values youth, I think that doesn't fully capture the picture. Because the players themselves *also* value youth. Given that they have a short, finite window of being able to play sports professionally, every year they choose to remain an amateur is a huge risk to their earning potential.

Now, yes, you can argue that certain players might still increase their lifetime earnings by delaying their professional entry, but I think those examples are much less frequent than most would like to believe. And I also think that the focus on what the NBA values distorts the economic decisions that are taking place.

[Devilwin]

Gonna miss the dunks and threes. Good luck to you. Stay safe, and rattle those NBA rims!

[TKG]

He is moving on and so should we...( an essence of snark)....

[House P]

That said, we're down to 3 guards on the roster for next year. Wendell can play the 2 in a pinch.

Maybe Duke can bring in Matt Haarms to play the two. At 7'3", I doubt he would have much trouble getting his outside shot off.

More seriously, best wishes to Cassius. While it would have been nice to see what he could have done with another year at Duke, Cassius left us with quite a highlight reel.

[Neals384]

Thanks for a great year, Cassius! Enjoyed watching you play at Duke and will root for you in the league. I lost count, but I think you had the most ESPN top 10s since, oh, Zion.

[kAzE]

Major loss for the program, but not an unexpected one. I love Cassius as a prospect, and I hope he kills it in the NBA. ESPN's Jonathan Givony has him ranked 50th overall, and I've never disagreed more vehemently with Givony (who is IMO the best draft guy out there).

If Cassius falls into the 2nd round, some team will be getting incredible value. I still feel terrible that he never got to experience a college basketball postseason, and I think of any of our guys, he stood to gain the most in terms of draft stock had we played out the year like normal. Furthermore, he wasn't able to show his ability at a draft combine, either.

Best of luck, Cassius. Keeping working hard. I'm a huge fan.

[CDu]

I think Joey can play the 2 if he's on the court with a dominant ball handler... i.e. if he's asked to be a true "shooting" guard. That said, I'm not too worried about having a 3 or 3.5 man rotation for the two traditional guard spots, considering one of those three will be a senior swiss-army knife named Jordan Goldwire. Plus as you said, we have depth at the wing that can slide over if necessary. We could potentially put out a super big lineup with Wendell, Jalen, Hurt, and Williams alongside JG... while shooting would be a question mark, that would be a hell of a defensive lineup if Williams can develop as we hope.

Baker can't play SG. Not because he can't do it offensively, but because he can't do it defensively. He's a SF/PF at the college level defensively. If he's your SG, that means you have 3 guys even less suited to defend guards on the court with him.

Fortunately, I don't think he'll be asked to do so. We have DJ Steward and Wendell Moore, both of whom are quite suited to SG (in Moore's case, defensively at least), and Goldwire can play there next to Roach as well. So I agree with your end result even if I disagree with the beginning.

There isn't a position at which I'm concerned with depth for next year, provided nobody besides maybe Hurt goes pro unexpectedly. The question will be quality. If Hurt stays, we should have a ton of quality at the forward spots (Hurt, Johnson, Moore part-time at least, not to mention if Brakefield is better than expected like Stanley was). Then you just hope that Roach/Goldwire/Steward/part-time-Moore are good enough in the backcourt and the combination of Hurt/Williams/Tape/Brakefield/Coleman is good enough at center.