Cassius Stanley is entering the 2020 NBA Draft after an explosive freshman season at Duke.
Stanley officially announced his decision to turn pro on Tuesday. Although Stanley wasn’t the most highly-touted among the star-studded Blue Devil freshman class, he made perhaps the biggest splash among the group.
Other five-star talents like Vernon Carey Jr. and Matthew Hurt were expected to be major contributors for Duke this season. Stanley’s consistent scoring proved he was better than the high-end four-star rating he had coming out of high school.
The 6-foot-6 wing had some of the most explosive dunks in college basketball this season. For the season, Stanley averaged 12.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Stanley also proved himself a capable shooter at 47 percent from the floor and 36 percent shooting from distance.
A potential first-round pick because of his athleticism and size, Stanley will be fascinating to track during the draft process. CBT’s Rob Dauster currently has Stanley as the No. 31 overall pick in the first round of the latest NBC Sports 2020 NBA mock draft. If Stanley can prove that his shooting wasn’t a fluke then he could rise up draft boards. But Cassius Stanley also hasn’t proven himself as a standout defender or capable of shooting off the dribble -- two areas he’ll need to address.
Duke has already lost sophomore point guard Tre Jones to the 2020 NBA Draft. The Blue Devils are expected to lose a handful of other freshmen as Carey Jr. and Hurt are both expected to at least test the waters of the draft process.
