A.J. Griffin is the fifth Duke player this spring to enter his name in the NBA draft. The Blue Devils’ forward made it official on Sunday.
Griffin follows sophomore center Mark Williams, freshman forward Paolo Banchero, junior wing Wendell Moore and freshman guard Trevor Keels in submitting their names to the draft this week.
Griffin, a 6-foot-6, 222-pound guard from Ossining, N.Y., started the final 25 games of the year for Duke, averaging 10.4 points. He was dangerous from behind the 3-point line, shooting 44 percent from deep. He connected on six made 3s at Syracuse on Feb. 26.
In the first 14 games, Griffin came off the bench as he worked his way back from a sprained knee injury suffered in preseason practice.
He showed flashes as a reserve, scoring 18 points in 21 minutes against Lafayette and 19 in 22 minutes against South Carolina State. In his first start, Griffin scored 22 points (on 8-of-11 shooting) on the road against Wake Forest in 36 minutes of action.
Griffin had a career night on the road at North Carolina on Feb. 5, scoring a season-high 27 points.
At the end of the regular season, Griffin was named to the ACC All-Freshman team and was honorable mention All-ACC. Twice this past season, Griffin was named ACC Freshman of the Week.
NBADraft.net projects Griffin to go No. 8 overall to the New Orleans Pelicans. Bleacher Report projects Griffin to go No. 6 overall to the Portland Trailblazers. Sports Illustrated has Griffin going No. 10 to the Washington Wizards.
Coming out of Archbishop Stepinac in White Plains, N.Y., Griffin was a five-star prospect and the No. 1 ranked player in New York. He was also the No. 1 ranked small forward in the country in the class of 2021.
