PIC: Duke star Khaman Maluach shares candid moment with Cooper Flagg's potential teammate

Coach Jon Scheyer's Duke Blue Devils crashed out of the 2025 NCAA Tournament at the Final Four stage after being considered favorites for the national championship win. The Blue Devils had one of the most talented rosters in college basketball including projected No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg and fellow projected first-round picks Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach.

Flagg's NBA future has been one of the most hotly debated topics among fans and analysts as he is expected to be selected by the Dallas Mavericks who won the draft lottery. The former Blue Devils star is expected to team up with former Duke standouts Dereck Lively and Kyrie Irving.

On Sunday evening, Flagg's Blue Devils teammate Khaman Maluach shared a picture on his Instagram stories of himself and Lively joking around from a training session from last year during a visit by the Dallas star. He captioned it:

"My brother @derecklively," Maluach wrote.

In the latest ESPN Draft projection, Khaman Maluach was the No. 7 pick by the New Orleans Pelicans on draft night. Talented Blue Devils guard Kon Knueppel is also expected to be a lottery pick and is projected to be selected No. 8 overall by the Brooklyn Nets during draft night.

Duke coach hopes Cooper Flagg reunites with ex-Duke star

Former Blue Devils standout Dereck Lively starred under coach Jon Scheyer before getting drafted No. 12 overall by the Oklahoma City Thunder before being traded to the Dallas Mavericks in the 2023 NBA Draft. During a segment of SportsCenter, Scheyer revealed his excitement at the talented Cooper Flagg potentially being teammates with Lively in Dallas due to their shared Duke connection.

"Well, for me the first thing I thought of is that he gets to be with Derek Lively," Jon Scheyer said. "Dereck as a head coach was the first guy to get drafted. So to go from the first lottery pick that I've coached to a guy who I think is going to be the No. 1 pick, it's a pretty special thing to think about those two guys together. Obviously, Kyrie and the Duke connection as well, I think Cooper will be incredible there."

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With Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach all tabbed to be lottery picks during the 2025 NBA Draft, the Blue Devils are set to increase their already considerable presence in the NBA with a host of first-round picks on draft night.

About the author

Cabral Opiyo is a journalist who covers college sports at Sportskeeda. With work experience spanning over 10 years, Cabral is an avid follower of college football and basketball and what goes into making the perfect elite prospect. He brings the news as it happens and analyzes football games to a high degree of accuracy.

As a writer, he loves bringing to life historical and iconic moments with his writing, fueled by extensive and verifiable research, creating an image in the reader's eyes.

Cabral has been known to sneak away from a high-profile NBA game to catch an obscure college basketball game and is an avid re-watcher of Tim Duncan and San Antonio Spurs games from the 2000s.

UConn winning its first national title under Dan Hurley remains his best college sports moment. Cabral rates A'ja Wilson and Caitlin Clark as his favorite players due to their productivity and the Alabama Crimson Tide as his favorite college team.

In addition, Cabral follows football and is a huge Italian and Brazilian football fan. He has written about football for a decade and held a byline with Outside of the Boot Football.

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Edited by Nadim El Kak