2023-24 (too early) projected lineups

[tommy]

I agree with both the current lineup and the idea that it's a pretty good team but probably not a great/elite team. Which might be good enough to win the ACC again, depending on how well Miami restocks on the transfer market.

That said, I also agree that it's very much still a fluid situation. I would assume that we'll be adding a center, either Flip or a transfer.

Not sure how much Miami is going to need to restock on the transfer market. Jordan Miller is the only senior on the roster that gets any playing time. Some of the other guys could declare, but none of them are close to first round prospects, at least not this year. Miami could, of course, bring in more guys anyway, but even if they don't, if everyone besides Miller returns, they'll be plenty tough again.

[DavidBenAkiva]

Not sure how much Miami is going to need to restock on the transfer market. Jordan Miller is the only senior on the roster that gets any playing time. Some of the other guys could declare, but none of them are close to first round prospects, at least not this year. Miami could, of course, bring in more guys anyway, but even if they don't, if everyone besides Miller returns, they'll be plenty tough again.

Wong seems poised to go pro. Losing him and Miller would be a big loss as those are two of their big three scorers.

Miami has proven to be willing and able to throw NIL money at players. If they lose Wong, I think they will be able to attract talent. It just depends on who is in the portal and open to their pitch. The talent in the portal seems to be the limiting factor for them.

[CDu]

Not sure how much Miami is going to need to restock on the transfer market. Jordan Miller is the only senior on the roster that gets any playing time. Some of the other guys could declare, but none of them are close to first round prospects, at least not this year. Miami could, of course, bring in more guys anyway, but even if they don't, if everyone besides Miller returns, they'll be plenty tough again.

Losing Miller is a HUGE loss. He is such a matchup nightmare, and on a team that is undersized to begin with it's no small issue to replace their best frontcourt player.

And there's a reasonable chance that Wong goes pro.

But even "just" losing Miller will require the Canes to hit big on the portal to be more than just a streaky/dangerous but not great team next year.

That being said, I'm quite sure that Miami will do well on the portal market.

[JGDUKE2008]

Those of you putting Young as a starter is clueless. He isn't starting If Filip doesn't come back and we get no transfers your starting center will be Stewart. With Proctor 6'5, Foster 6'5, Mitchell 6'9, Mgabko 6'8 and Stewart 6'9-6'10 that's plenty of length, Proctor, Mitchel and Stewart are all A+ defenders

[DavidBenAkiva]

Those of you putting Young as a starter is clueless. He isn't starting If Filip doesn't come back and we get no transfers your starting center will be Stewart. With Proctor 6'5, Foster 6'5, Mitchell 6'9, Mgabko 6'8 and Stewart 6'9-6'10 that's plenty of length, Proctor, Mitchel and Stewart are all A+ defenders

Oh no, the height inflation is infecting other posters!

No one knows what the roster will be next season. I personally think that the C position will be either Flip or someone else through the portal. Young is a valuable player and will see minutes but seems to be best as a reserve or more heavily deployed in certain matchups.

But until we get clarity on the roster, it is all speculation.

[proelitedota]

Those of you putting Young as a starter is clueless. He isn't starting If Filip doesn't come back and we get no transfers your starting center will be Stewart. With Proctor 6'5, Foster 6'5, Mitchell 6'9, Mgabko 6'8 and Stewart 6'9-6'10 that's plenty of length, Proctor, Mitchel and Stewart are all A+ defenders

We can always run a 5 out lineup like the below

6'4 200 McCain
6'6 185 Proctor
6'6 200 Foster
6'9 220 MgBako
6'9 235 Mitchell

that's a bigger starting lineup than the Golden State Warriors.

[trinity79]

Should we start up the playing time thread?

Only provided that we can include hypothetical players from the portal.

[proelitedota]

Only provided that we can include hypothetical players from the portal.

In addition, since we play 5 on 8 in most of our games, it's only fair we are allowed to put 8 players in our starting lineup. 1 more forward, 1 more wing, and 1 more guard

[AGDukesky]

I’m watching Stewart play right now for Montverde- no chance we want him as a starting center in the ACC next season. He doesn’t look more than 6’8 with neither the bulk (he’s average to slightly above build) or length to make up for it.

[johnb]

But not in that team pic from the McDonald's, or the slam dunk contest. He was getting at least an inch or two of apparent height from his hair.

It's always difficult to assess a hair apparent, and I'm an optimist until proven otherwise (and I won't allow it to prove anything when I predict who's going pro next year), so I'm happy to predict that we won't have a regular starting lineup but instead we'll have a robust 9 deep rotation populated with young men who will all earn NBA paychecks, which means that the end of the bench will be getting into many games as we roll to an undefeated NC.

Okay, there is loss. Aside from the seniors, Dariq is gone, and--from the silence and the reality that it looks like we'll already have several awesome combo/point guards--I'm guessing we're bidding Jeremy adieu, so I'd say we'll start

Lively or Flip or an elite transfer
MM
MM
JM and his 566,000 instagram followers (duke basketball has 1 million; duke football has 109,000)
Tyrese

I'm guessing that Sean Stewart and TJ Power didn't become their state's best player and one of the country's 20 best players to spend a lot of time on the bench, and they'd say that there are potentially 3 forward positions that should have their names on them.

Similarly, Caleb Foster might not like a prediction that he's a sub when he was also super-elite, including being considered the 2nd best player in the state of California (behind Mr. McCain); especially after having had his McDonald's Big Meal handed to 3 semi-undeserving kids of famous fathers. I imagine he'll be ferociously focused over the next 6 months, preparing hard to force Coach into playing him 20 mpg.

Did I forget our 24 year old likely captain? The team will be better if he gets his time as well.

Blakes, Reeves, and Schutt may look at this crew and decide there won't be an opportunity to play, which does appear to be likely (based on 2nd hand reports and minimal actual observation). If any or all double up their effort, and do decide to stick around, and get a soph/jr bump, any or all might surprise to the upside.

While I remain hopeful that we'll retain at least one of Lively/Flip/Roach, we should be terrific, regardless of their decisions; this would still be a great assemblage of motivated talent.

[tommy]

Those of you putting Young as a starter is clueless. He isn't starting If Filip doesn't come back and we get no transfers your starting center will be Stewart. With Proctor 6'5, Foster 6'5, Mitchell 6'9, Mgabko 6'8 and Stewart 6'9-6'10 that's plenty of length, Proctor, Mitchel and Stewart are all A+ defenders

You think a 6'8" kid right out of high school and ranked around #13 in the country as a recruit is going to start over a 24 year old veteran with 122 games of college experience under his belt, including a full year at Duke in which he was a very important contributor off the bench and who is also the team leader in the locker room? With all due respect, I think you are very very wrong.

[BrummieDevil]

Wong seems poised to go pro. Losing him and Miller would be a big loss as those are two of their big three scorers.

Miami has proven to be willing and able to throw NIL money at players. If they lose Wong, I think they will be able to attract talent. It just depends on who is in the portal and open to their pitch. The talent in the portal seems to be the limiting factor for them.

I'd be stunned if Wong returned.

He's a senior, his numbers have been consistent over the past few seasons, he's ACC POY and led Miami to (at least) the Final Four. Plus, he already tested the draft waters last year and if he played a fifth season he'd be 23.5 by the following NBA Draft.

NIL money is about the only reason he'd stay, but even if he only got a two-way contract with an NBA team that's $500k, so...

[DavidBenAkiva]

We can always run a 5 out lineup like the below

6'4 200 McCain
6'6 185 Proctor
6'6 200 Foster
6'9 220 MgBako
6'9 235 Mitchell

that's a bigger starting lineup than the Golden State Warriors.

I find it so funny that you keep tacking on an inch or two to every player while at the same time trying to say that an NBA team is shorter than this so it would work.

What do you make of the fact the shortest NBA and college basketball MVP/Player of the Year was Zion Williamson in 2019?

[johnb]

I'd be stunned if Wong returned.

He's a senior, his numbers have been consistent over the past few seasons, he's ACC POY and led Miami to (at least) the Final Four. Plus, he already tested the draft waters last year and if he played a fifth season he'd be 23.5 by the following NBA Draft.

NIL money is about the only reason he'd stay, but even if he only got a two-way contract with an NBA team that's $500k, so...

College awards don’t matter much to NBA GM’s.

In looking through some online mock drafts, the highest I saw Wong was mid 2nd round, and he wasn’t always even mentioned. That’s the region where NIL might be the better financial decision.

Incidentally, Lively and Flip are usually ranked toward the end of the 1st but are also ranked as 2nd rounders according to a couple of these mocks.

[DavidBenAkiva]

College awards don’t matter much to NBA GM’s.

In looking through some online mock drafts, the highest I saw Wong was mid 2nd round, and he wasn’t always even mentioned. That’s the region where NIL might be the better financial decision.

Incidentally, Lively and Flip are usually ranked toward the end of the 1st but are also ranked as 2nd rounders according to a couple of these mocks.

Don't trust the mock drafts that came out before the NCAA Tournament. The ones that come out in April and May are informed by a great deal of scouting.

[DavidBenAkiva]

The Field of 68 crew seems pretty high on the Duke roster heading into next season.

[BrummieDevil]

College awards don’t matter much to NBA GM’s.

In looking through some online mock drafts, the highest I saw Wong was mid 2nd round, and he wasn’t always even mentioned. That’s the region where NIL might be the better financial decision.

Incidentally, Lively and Flip are usually ranked toward the end of the 1st but are also ranked as 2nd rounders according to a couple of these mocks.

He has little left to accomplish at this level and has played a full, four-year college career. He also showed last offseason that he wants to make the leap.

The awards merely speak to the first point above. Coming back for a 5th year and having another season like he's had for the past 3 only to enter the draft at 23 isn't going to improve his draft stock either - little, if anything, will do so.

As we've seen, whether or not you're a hot prospect doesn't mean all that much if a guy wants to leave and start their pro career. Wong's NIL money when Pack signed ($400k/yr.) with Miami was $100k. I assume it went up after he complained about that, but the NBA rookie minimum is $1m and two-ways are $500k. Worst-case scenario for Wong is basically going undrafted, signing a camp deal and playing in the G League next season. That camp deal would come with an Exhibit 10 bonus, which combined w/ the G League salary would likely be ~$100k, too.

[dukelifer]

College awards don’t matter much to NBA GM’s.

In looking through some online mock drafts, the highest I saw Wong was mid 2nd round, and he wasn’t always even mentioned. That’s the region where NIL might be the better financial decision.

Incidentally, Lively and Flip are usually ranked toward the end of the 1st but are also ranked as 2nd rounders according to a couple of these mocks.

No but performance during the tourney does or at least can matter. Wong is showing his stuff the last few weeks. He is not an uber athlete- so he is not going to be a first rounder- but he has game and could get a contract. We will see if he wants to jump start his pro career.

[sagegrouse]

You think a 6'8" kid right out of high school and ranked around #13 in the country as a recruit is going to start over a 24 year old veteran with 122 games of college experience under his belt, including a full year at Duke in which he was a very important contributor off the bench and who is also the team leader in the locker room? With all due respect, I think you are very very wrong.

Yes, because I think Ryan does very well coming off the bench, and there may be no reason to change that.

[kAzE]

You think a 6'8" kid right out of high school and ranked around #13 in the country as a recruit is going to start over a 24 year old veteran with 122 games of college experience under his belt, including a full year at Duke in which he was a very important contributor off the bench and who is also the team leader in the locker room? With all due respect, I think you are very very wrong.

You realize Ryan Young wasn’t good enough to play against our round of 32 opponent in the tournament, right? We got killed when he was in the game. I like Ryan Young and I’m thankful to have him on the team next year, but he is strictly a matchup play. He can and probably will start some games, but there are many teams, even in the ACC, who can play him off the court, and that is not what you want for your locked in starting center.