2024 NBA Draft: Breaking Down Duke Big Kyle Filipowski

Measurements and Background

Kyle Filipowski stands at 7-feet with shoes on and has an unofficial 6-foot-10 wingspan while weighing 250 pounds. His primary position will be center and his secondary position will be power forward in the NBA.

He stayed two years at Duke and was the focal point of the Blue Devils offense in his sophomore season. Filipowski was born on Nov. 7, 2003 and was a consensus top-five prospect in the 2022 senior class. The former five-star recruit was likely a first-round pick in last year’s draft, but he elected to return to Duke for a second season as he wanted to improve his game at the collegiate level. It was a great decision as he’s now likely a lottery pick in this year’s draft.

This season in a total of 36 games played Filipowski averaged 16.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.1 steals, 1.5 blocks, 2.1 turnovers and three fouls while playing 30.4 minutes per game. He shot 50.5% from the field, 67.1% from the free-throw line, 55.9% from inside the arc and 34.8% from behind the arc.

When it comes to positives, his assist numbers really standout for a big man. He averaged nearly three assists per game which would rank him third amongst all centers who are projected to be drafted in the 2024 NBA Draft. Related to his assists per game, he also out together a great assist-to-turnover ratio and assist percentage to usage percentage ratio.

When it comes to things that should be considered when evaluating him, Filipowski has a pretty low field goal percentage for a center as he barely shoots over 50% from the field. A lot of that has to do with how perimeter oriented he can be at times. There’s a valid question mark on if he will shoot above 50% from the field in the NBA at 7-feet. Due to a lack of vertical pop, explosiveness and playing out on the perimeter he doesn’t get a lot of offensive rebounds or second chance points.

Filipowski is a phenomenal passing big man. There’s a valid argument to be had that he’s the best passing big man in the 2024 NBA Draft. He has great court vision, a versatile passing arsenal, an advanced feel for the game and processes the floor very quick. He can pass it from anywhere on the floor and make just about any pass in basketball. The sophomore consistently makes the right decision with the ball in his hands.

He’s one of the most skilled big’s in this year's draft. Filipowski has the full offensive package as he can pass it, shoot it, score off the dribble and score in post-up situations. The 7-footer is a versatile offensive weapon that will help lift a team’s offense with his presence on the floor. When comparing his shooting percentages from his freshman to his sophomore year you can tell there was a noticeable improvement to his 3-point jumper. He shot 28% from behind the arc as a freshman then proceeded to shoot 35% from behind the arc as a sophomore.

Although he has his defensive limitations which I’ll touch on later in the article, he’s quite underrated as a defender. Although he doesn’t project as a defensive stopper in the NBA, he has shown the ability to step out to defend in space effectively. He moves his feet very well and does a solid job of containing ball-handlers off the dribble. Filipowksi rebounds very well and had a ton of games in college where he was a double-double machine.

The biggest area of concern is his limitations as a paint defender and rim protector. Although Filipowski stands at 7-feet, he has a negative wingspan by two inches and he lacks ideal vertical pop. Due to his physical limitations and tendency to fall asleep on defense throughout random spurts of the game he doesn’t have an appealing defensive ceiling. I believe he won’t be a defensive liability by any means, but I think there are noticeable flaws to his game on the defensive end.

There are valid concerns about how real the shooting is. This season he shot a concerning 67% from the free-throw line and has shown struggles making pull-up jumpers off the dribble. At times he had some pretty bad misses during his time at Duke. His inconsistency in making 3-point jumpers could be a problem if he’s playing significant minutes at the power forward position. Filipowski will need to continue to improve as an outside shooter so the rest of his game translates and develops smoothly to the NBA.