The New Orleans Pelicans presently have the single choice for the 2025 NBA Draft, which will take place in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on June 25–26. They are represented by Zion Williamson, a 2018–19 Duke basketball one-and-done phenomenon and a previous No. 1 overall pick at Monday night’s NBA Draft Lottery in Chicago.
However, given that pick’s mid-lottery position, New Orleans essentially falls inside the area where Khaman Maluach and Kon Knueppel each show up on major boards and mock drafts from different websites. Not to mention that, aside from anticipated No. 1 overall choice Cooper Flagg, there is already talk suggesting that the Pelicans are particularly interested in this year’s only two NBA-bound one-and-done Blue Devils.
In his NBA Draft Lottery commentary on Tuesday morning, Jeff Goodman of The Field of 68 stated, “I think the Pelicans are deciding between the two Duke guys — Kon Knueppel or Khaman Maluach — and I think they should take Kon.”
Highly skilled guard Kon Knueppel and rising 7-foot-2 big man Khaman Maluach alone accounted for more than 25% of the full-throttle Duke basketball team’s available minutes, shining with Cooper Flagg as the three freshman starters for a Final Four Blue Devil group.
The only two 2024–25 Blue Devils to play and start all 39 games were Knueppel and Maluach.
Before Brandon Ingram was moved to the Toronto Raptors in early February, Zion Williamson had enjoyed at least one other NBA Blue Devil on each of the New Orleans Pelicans teams he had played on since becoming pro six years prior.
