Duke Professional Athletes

Duke's fingerprints are all over the NBA's most compelling preseason storylines this week, and the Blue Devils' alumni contingent has never looked more loaded heading into a new season.

Flagg and Irving: The Pairing Everyone's Watching

Cooper Flagg's rookie year is already the stuff of Cameron Indoor legend — Rookie of the Year, a franchise cornerstone, and now a viral moment involving a one-of-one autographed debut patch Topps Chrome card currently on the auction block for north of $2 million. But the real headline entering training camp is what happens when Flagg finally shares a healthy floor with Kyrie Irving.

The two Mavericks took the court together at a West Coast practice this week, the first significant look at a partnership Dallas has been building toward since Irving missed last season with an ACL injury. Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki has been vocal about his excitement for the duo, and with Dallas's starting lineup spots largely unsettled beyond the Flagg-Irving foundation, there's genuine intrigue about how the pieces around them take shape.

The hype isn't without friction, though. ESPN's future rankings haven't been especially bullish on Dallas despite having a Rookie of the Year on the roster, and Flagg's own trainer pumped the brakes this week on LeBron James comparisons — reasonable caution for a player entering just his sophomore season, however spectacular the debut. Irving's status also carries a subplot: trade rumors linking him to the Miami Heat have circulated in recent weeks, though no deal appears imminent.

Zion Looks for a Fresh Start in New Orleans

Zion Williamson enters the 2026-27 season with something he hasn't always had: a coaching staff specifically equipped to expand his game. New Pelicans head coach Jamahl Mosley has drawn attention for his potential to unlock a dimension of Williamson's offense that's been conspicuously absent — one that, if developed, could make the Duke product significantly harder to game-plan against. The fit between coach and player is worth monitoring as New Orleans tries to build something sustainable around one of the league's most physically gifted forwards.

Jalen Johnson Cashes In on a Breakout Year

Atlanta's Jalen Johnson isn't generating the same volume of headlines as Flagg or Williamson, but his preseason standing is arguably the most settled of any Duke alumnus in the league right now. Johnson earned his first All-Star selection last season and backed it up with third-team All-NBA honors — a genuine coming-out party for a player who had long been considered a promising work in progress. Sports Illustrated's look at the Hawks' future All-Star landscape confirmed Johnson as the clear anchor of Atlanta's ambitions going forward.

Other Blue Devils to Track

Elsewhere in the Duke diaspora: Jayson Tatum is entering his first full training camp since tearing his Achilles, with Celtics president Brad Stevens offering an encouraging update on the forward's health as recently as September 18. Mark Williams, meanwhile, is dealing with a shoulder injury requiring surgery that will sideline the Suns center for a significant stretch of the season — a tough blow for a player who had just found his footing in Phoenix after appearing in 60 games last season. Marvin Bagley III quietly landed in Denver this offseason as one of the Nuggets' notable free-agent additions.

The 2026-27 season hasn't tipped off yet, but Duke's NBA class is already central to the league's most interesting conversations.

Back in Durham

The Cameron Indoor atmosphere couldn't be replicated, but the talent on the floor this week came close. Kyrie Irving, Jayson Tatum, and Paolo Banchero returned to Duke's campus for a scrimmage that sent photos circulating across social media — and had Duke teasing a highlight video that will only deepen the program's recruiting mystique. Three marquee NBA stars, three different franchises, one shared origin. It was the kind of offseason moment that reminds everyone why "the Duke pipeline" isn't just a cliché.

Irving heads into 2026-27 with genuine buzz in Dallas. After missing the entire 2025-26 season, the Mavericks guard is healthy and paired with rising star Cooper Flagg — a combination Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki called a "dangerous combo" when making his predictions for the upcoming year. Tatum, meanwhile, continues to anchor a Celtics roster being retooled around him following the Jaylen Brown trade. Banchero returns to Orlando with high expectations; Sports Illustrated's bold predictions for the Magic include a significant leap from the former No. 1 pick.

Williams Goes Under the Knife

Not every Blue Devil had a feel-good week. Mark Williams, the 24-year-old center who re-signed with the Phoenix Suns this offseason after a career-high 60 games in 2025-26, underwent surgery on his left shoulder to repair a torn labrum suffered during an offseason workout. Multiple reports place his return timeline around February, putting the first four-plus months of the season firmly out of reach.

Williams had been projected as the Suns' starting center — a role that now opens the door for other big men on the roster to step up. The injury also resurfaces questions about Williams' durability; the Lakers famously backed out of a trade for him after he failed a physical, a decision that looks newly complicated in light of this latest setback. For a Suns team still trying to establish its identity, losing its projected starter before the season tips off on October 21 is a significant early blow.

McCain Channels Westbrook

Jared McCain is entering his first full NBA season with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and he's doing it carrying the fingerprints of one of the game's most relentless competitors. Following Russell Westbrook's retirement announcement this summer, McCain opened up about how the future Hall of Famer shaped him long before the NBA was even a realistic conversation — mentoring him as a teenager through Westbrook's AAU circuit. McCain described the relationship as ongoing, with Westbrook remaining a resource as the Duke product prepares for a full campaign in OKC.

For a Thunder franchise built on hungry, driven guards, the fact that McCain's formative mentor was Westbrook feels less like coincidence and more like cultural alignment. How McCain develops in year two will be one of the more interesting Duke storylines to track as the season unfolds.

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Duke's fingerprints are all over the NBA's pre-training camp conversation — and none more so than Kyrie Irving's, whose 18-month comeback story has the basketball world locked in ahead of the 2026-27 season.

Kyrie Irving: The Comeback Everyone's Watching

Irving tore his ACL in his left knee in March 2025 against the Sacramento Kings — a brutal blow that came at arguably the worst moment for Dallas, which had just traded Luka Doncic and handed Irving the keys to the offense. Now, with training camp approaching, Mavericks head coach Dusty May isn't just cautiously optimistic. He's floored.

May, speaking on the 105.3 The Fan podcast, said Irving's preparation and standout qualities have left him "in disbelief" — high praise from a coach still getting his footing in the league. The Mavericks' expectations aren't vague, either. Per NBA insider Jake Fischer, Dallas is expecting Irving to return at All-Star level. No gradual ramp-up narrative, no managed expectations — the franchise is banking on the full version of Kyrie, immediately.

Trade chatter has swirled around Irving this offseason, with the Miami Heat surfacing as a speculated destination. But those rumors appear to be cooling. Multiple reports indicate Irving's position with Dallas remains firm, and a move looks unlikely — especially with the Mavericks building something real around Cooper Flagg, another Blue Devil, who is already drawing comparisons to future franchise cornerstones.

Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki has publicly said he can't wait to see Irving back in action, though Nowitzki notably identified a different Blue Devil — Dereck Lively II — as the actual key to Dallas's season, citing his health as the biggest variable in the team's ceiling. That's a Duke trifecta in Dallas (Irving, Flagg, Lively) that no other program can match in a single locker room right now.

Kon Knueppel Flies the Blue Devil Flag

Meanwhile, rookie Hornets forward Kon Knueppel took a break from his own NBA preparation to school everyone on Duke basketball history. The former one-and-done Blue Devil named his all-time Duke starting five, coming across — per Sports Illustrated — as a "well-informed Blue Devil historian." The exercise was a lighthearted reminder that Duke's NBA pipeline runs so deep, its current players can debate all-time lineups with genuine conviction.

Elsewhere in the Duke NBA Universe

The week also produced noise around other alumni. Hawks forward Jalen Johnson, coming off an All-NBA season, has Dallas's front office and others around the league quietly circling him in trade asset conversations — though Atlanta's leverage is considerable given his performance. And in Orlando, Paolo Banchero and the Magic are drawing scrutiny for a shooting accuracy flaw that analysts say must be corrected if the team wants to compete in an improved Eastern Conference.

Cooper Flagg hasn't played a minute of his sophomore NBA season, and he's already making news in two very different arenas — one involving a trading card worth millions, the other involving his teammate's future in Dallas.

The Card

A 1-of-1 Cooper Flagg Rookie Debut Patch Autograph card is heading to auction, and the market expects it to shatter records. According to Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report, the card is projected to sell for well north of the $1.1 million Paul Skenes' comparable RDPA card fetched last year — a benchmark that was itself considered remarkable for a baseball player. The owner of the Flagg card reportedly declined a "bounty" offer from the Mavericks organization before deciding to put it on the open market instead. For a player who has yet to play a second NBA season, that kind of collectibles heat is a rare signal of generational star power.

The Irving Question

Flagg's ascending profile is also reshaping the calculus around his Mavericks teammate Kyrie Irving. Dallas has publicly committed to keeping Irving for the 2026–27 season, but according to Bleacher Report and The Sporting News, rival teams aren't buying it — and Flagg is a central reason why. The thinking around the league: if Dallas becomes fully convinced Flagg is the franchise cornerstone he appears to be, the front office may eventually pivot toward a younger rebuild and make Irving available. The February trade deadline looms as the pressure point, with rival executives reportedly "wondering aloud" about Irving's availability.

For his part, Irving's recovery from ACL surgery has drawn praise — Michael Porter Jr. called his floor work "nutty" — suggesting he's physically on track. Whether he's a Maverick past the deadline is a different question, and Flagg's ceiling is exactly why it's being asked.

McCain Returns to Cameron

Away from Dallas, Jared McCain — now with the Oklahoma City Thunder — made a notable offseason trip back to Durham, visiting Cameron Indoor Stadium. The former Blue Devil and Cameron Crazie favorite came home to a program that launched him to lottery status, a feel-good beat amid a busy summer for Duke's NBA alumni.

Tatum Facing Doubt in Boston

Jayson Tatum enters 2026–27 in a complicated spot. ESPN projects the Celtics for one of the more disappointing seasons in the East following the Jaylen Brown trade, a forecast Tatum's own father amplified in candid fashion — calling the current Boston roster "s--t" in a viral exchange with LaVar Ball. Tatum and the Celtics have defied low expectations before, and The Sporting News notes that track record deserves weight. But the noise heading into the season is real, and the burden of carrying a retooled roster falls squarely on the Duke product's shoulders.

Between Flagg's collectibles sensation, the Irving trade drama he's quietly fueling, McCain's homecoming, and Tatum's high-stakes season ahead, Duke's NBA footprint is as wide and storyline-rich as any program in the country this August.