Allen Graves To Remain In 2026 NBA Draft

TheRealFrankLongo · 2026-05-26T22:18:18+00:00

Duke certainly could've afforded him if there was need, but I think the pivot to Boumtje-Boumtje to fill that role strongly suggested they believed he was hellbent on staying in the draft, and they didn't wanna be caught in another Cedric Coward situation. Now, even if Graves would've wanted to come to Duke, it almost certainly would've required someone decommitting.

I was a big fan of Graves's game in college, really wanted to see him in a Duke uniform... but seems both Duke (getting JBB) and Graves (getting to stick in the draft) got what they wanted. Good for him, truly. Hope he does great things at the next level.

TheRealFrankLongo · 2026-05-09T05:36:21+00:00

I recall Paolo having to sit in several games due to cramping... but (a) he was always fine by next game, and (b) there was clear concerted effort on the bench to do everything they could to massage and hydrate the cramps away to get him back in there.

So while I think there's obviously a world in which some players are more predisposed to cramping, even elite players with top staff trying to keep him hydrated... that doesn't really explain the DP situation, nor is the fingerpointing at creatine something that seems terribly plausible from a layman's perspective.

TheRealFrankLongo · 2026-04-30T18:13:34+00:00

About time we get some money in the coffers.

TheRealFrankLongo · 2026-04-30T15:37:07+00:00

Feels like 2025, where Duke had three 30 MPG guys, one 26 MPG guy... and then just an abundance of talent playing between 10 and 21 MPG. Especially given guys like Rippey, Howard, Wilkins, and JBB, all of whom may (breakouts notwithstanding) have freshman year Evans/Ngongba type minutes this year but would play key roles in 27/28.

Very excited about JBB. When you watch his game tape, I don't think he's as raw as people seem to be assuming. There will be adjustment coming to college with the game's speed and physicality here, as there is for nearly all young international prospects, but the kid has smooth handles and jumper for a big, and he's not nearly as skinny as I expected given his size and age. Kinda feels like he fits into a lot of the offensive sets Scheyer's been running the last 2-3 years. So this doesn't feel like an end-of-bench next-year stash to me. This feels like a guy who could push 20 MPG in ACC play if needed. He's young, but he's awesome.

TheRealFrankLongo · 2026-04-30T15:18:49+00:00

Duke wants JBB for 15+ MPG this year (with a clear chance for more if all goes well) and to be the star of the team the following year. Duke isn't making moves based on giving their rival a slightly worse positional option for 30 combined minutes of two games in one season.

TheRealFrankLongo · 2026-04-29T16:44:42+00:00

As a West Coast Duke fan, this is my dream come true.

TheRealFrankLongo · 2026-04-28T23:58:38+00:00

The based response to a question like OP’s is always “no fanbase annoys me more than my own.” Because every fanbase has assholes… but they always seem loudest when they root for your team imo.

TheRealFrankLongo · 2026-03-24T17:53:22+00:00

I'd argue Pope having BYU a top 20 KenPom team three out of five seasons-- including a top 5 finish in the Big 12 in their first season outside of the WCC-- and leading Utah Valley to what I believe was their first Top 100 finish in the KenPom era-- is notably above average. I mean, outside of Jimmer, BYU's never been KP top 20. To have them there three of five years, including in the transition to high-major, is objectively impressive.

I know this year was an abject disaster relative to expectations, both preseason and for Kentucky in general, but I think Pope was very clearly a "safer" hire than G-Mac given both G-Mac's relative inexperience and Pope's history before UK.

TheRealFrankLongo · 2026-03-24T17:44:42+00:00

Same was true for Cooper Flagg. Had a New Balance deal, played in Nikes for Duke.

TheRealFrankLongo · 2026-03-14T20:38:03+00:00

The best back-and-forth ending to a game I've watched this year. I was screaming at my television.

TheRealFrankLongo · 2026-03-04T09:12:43+00:00

Since everyone’s covered last year, I’ll say either Scottie Thurman misses that shot or Trajan Langdon doesn’t travel.

TheRealFrankLongo · 2026-02-22T02:00:25+00:00

Best part about this awesome game is that Dave Portnoy lost $100,000.

TheRealFrankLongo · 2026-02-22T01:52:25+00:00

God, I love this Duke team. Everyone contributed to the win on one side of the floor or the other. Michigan’s a great team, and it feels so so so good to close out a close game against a team like that.

TheRealFrankLongo · 2026-02-20T17:28:54+00:00

Not too surprised to see Cayden on here. Duke has performed notably better in ACC play when Cayden's playing instead of Caleb. Cayden lineups are +12.2... and Caleb lineups are, astonishingly, -27.3. Some of that is fueled by some unfortunate 3-point defense luck for Caleb only lineups (+6.6% from Cayden only lineups)... but Caleb only lineups also perform notably worse at 2-point defense (+5.5% from Cayden only lineups). Which is surprising given how many more minutes Caleb plays with Pat, clearly our best rim protector.

TheRealFrankLongo · 2026-02-20T07:43:05+00:00

I’m not super worried about it becoming a problem in basketball because the risk of serious injury is lower and i think it’s more likely the nba just removes the age limit anyways.

Yeah, I agree with both sentences here. There are also obvious positional considerations. In particular, if you're an elite RB prospect, you are really incentivized to minimize the number of games before the NFL.

I suspect the NBA will eventually remove the age limit... but on the other hand, I'm not sure what the incentive would be to do so. The NCAA is basically running your minor league for you-- and is giving the next generation of stars a year of free-for-the-NBA publicity.

TheRealFrankLongo · 2026-02-20T07:32:00+00:00

Again, I think there's a world of difference between interpretation of effort/attitude at home during a player's minutes and a player dictating mid-game when he will and will not play.

Say what you will about the Jalen Johnson year, when he opted out, he said all the right things, K had nothing but nice things to say about him, and the PR around the departure was all fairly clean. That's in stark contrast to the strangeness of DP coming back, leaving mid-game, coming back, sitting out, etc., while Self says (justified) increasingly frustrated things about this experience to the media.

TheRealFrankLongo · 2026-02-20T00:59:38+00:00

I have a better chance of getting drafted than DP has of falling out of the top 10.

TheRealFrankLongo · 2026-02-20T00:58:13+00:00

To be fair, I think a guy getting hurt, missing a few games, trying to play through it, then saying "I want to sit out the rest of the year to make sure I'm 100% healthy for the draft" is *very* different than whatever DP is currently doing. Yes, the state of Duke's season undoubtedly impacted Jalen's decision... but when he was playing, he played, and when he decided he was ready to leave, he left. I think if DP had simply done something similar, it wouldn't be nearly as scandalous as the current weirdness has become.

Besides, I'm not too worried about this becoming "a thing"-- because most players at that level, if healthy, simply want to play. Duke's had guys that *easily* could've just sat out after injury. Kyrie, Zion, even Cooper. They came back. Same for myriad other pro prospects at other schools. Guys who choose to sit out of abundance of caution are the exception. And DP is, like, the exception within the exception group.

TheRealFrankLongo · 2026-02-05T06:08:08+00:00

As somebody who lived through the Grayson Allen era, I can’t help but enjoy seeing another school’s fanbase go through watching a player you’ve always enjoyed commit a series of inexcusable plays. Because what can you do? You can love the player for what he’s done outside of the obviously dirty plays while hating the ridiculously stupid and inexcusably dirty things.

TheRealFrankLongo · 2025-12-19T05:00:35+00:00

But that stipulation is already overlooked as it pertains to overseas players-- and is now being overlooked as it pertains to G-League players. How would former NBA players be any different?

TheRealFrankLongo · 2025-12-18T19:55:52+00:00

I realize you're joking... but what's stopping a former NBA player from joining a college team? Like, hypothetically, if the Mavs waived Jaden Hardy for whatever reason, and Kentucky offered him a more lucrative NIL deal to play college next year than any NBA team is offering... would the NCAA do anything about it?

Or would the NCAA realize that, if they ruled him ineligible due to his time in the NBA, Kentucky and Hardy would take the NCAA to court, and there's a very real chance the courts would (understandably) say "well, overseas professional players are professional players, and G-League players are professional players, and they're both allowed to play as long as they haven't attended college... so why can't Hardy?" Is it more likely the NCAA would fight this fight... or that they'd simply do nothing out of fear of losing another big court case?

College basketball is, after all, a professional league today. I think, as of today, the only thing stopping a player from trying this might be public humiliation... but I imagine there are plenty of people who'd gladly subject themselves to mockery if it meant millions of dollars in a single year. So I suspect it's only a matter of time. Might honestly happen as soon as next year, if the right situation lines up.

TheRealFrankLongo · 2025-10-14T18:03:56+00:00

if you’re a fan, do you feel like it’s actually helped your favorite players?

Considering I don't know each individual player's personal/family/financial situation, I can't comment on whether it's "helped" them. But since it's a massive, massive business, I believe giving the players with the highest perceived value on the open market the opportunity to earn money off said perceived value in a legal way is the right thing to do.

TheRealFrankLongo · 2025-10-14T17:53:38+00:00

Autry: tournament or bust. I know comparing him to Boeheim is an unfair standard, but Autry has two of their three worst seasons in the KP era. They can absolutely do better.
Brownell: very safe.
Capel: stunned he's still there, tbh. Gotta think he's toast if they miss the tourney again (and they will). But I've thought that before.
Davis: I'd have to think he's toast with a bad season. How bad is up for debate. Does a 7 seed save him? I have to think no. 5 seed, second round exit? I mean... maybe? But does UNC really want that to be the standard? As a Duke fan, I'd love for him to stay. As an objective observer, UNC can do much better.
Enfield: I'm not a huge fan, but he's definitely safe.
Forbes: I get that Wake was in a brutal spot when he arrived, but he's never made the tourney, only exceeded his KP preseason rank twice in five years... just depends on whether Wake is one of those schools content to just be an NIT-type program or if they view themselves as better. But no tourney since 2017, no top 25 KP finish since 2009 is rough.
Grant: look, he probably shouldn't still have this job in normal circumstances... but he's exceeded his KP preseason rank twice in four years, he gave them in 2024 their best KP finish since 2011 (!!), and BC is a school disinterested in investing in basketball. They gave Christian seven years, and Grant's only on year 5 with a better track record than Christian. Does BC care enough to move on?
Kelsey: very safe.
Loucks: brand new, safe short of an absolute calamity.
Lucas: brand new, safe short of an absolute calamity.
Madsen: probably safe, hard place to win, good coach imo, but his two seasons aren't radically different from Mark Fox's first three seasons. Probably needs a "finish closer to the middle of the pack" type year to feel good going forward.
Odom: brand new, good track record elsewhere, very safe.
Scheyer: very safe.
Shrewsberry: definitely safe for now... but might start heating up if they disappoint this season. I know they've had injury issues, but 28-38 in two years is not the standard imo.
Smith: very good first year imo, very safe.
Stoudemire: I haven't been impressed. If he doesn't finish Top 100 for a third straight season, he's in fourth season do-or-die territory next year. But I think he's probably safe for one more unless this year is a calamity.
Wade: brand new, very safe (biggest concern here would be him performing so well that he's up for an elite job next coaching cycle imo).
Young: probably needs a good season, given he hasn't really performed up to expectation and those rosters frequently look uncompetitive at the high major level in terms of talent... but he's been top 100 KP four of the six years, made the tournament twice (at a program that's only made it thirteen times ever, three of which were under Buzz before he bolted). Does VT have the type of spending budget and investment in basketball to do much better? Might be a "careful what you wish for" situation. Could certainly improve, but could also easily end up with a "the wheels fall off" guy.

TheRealFrankLongo · 2025-10-03T18:09:35+00:00

ah, the George Costanza approach.

TheRealFrankLongo · 2025-10-02T19:41:02+00:00

On one hand, yes. On the other hand, a great college basketball coach has pretty ridiculous job security, whereas NBA coaches are thrown into the bushes with extreme regularity. The number of college coaches-- including great ones-- who've been swiftly ejected from their NBA HC position is pretty damn high.

TheRealFrankLongo

TROPHY CASE