Duke Blue Devils: Trade Season Moving Alums Around
The Duke Blue Devils have some in demand alums as the NBA trade deadline approaches.
The Duke Blue Devils have become an entrenched force in the NBA. The only evidence that one needs of this is has been the flurry of trade activity going on around the league. The Miles Plumlee to the Charlotte Hornets trade may seem like old news, but there are still Duke related deals being cooked up.
The first trade to notice also involves a Plumlee. That would be Mason Plumlee, the middle Plumlee brother and the one recognized as the most skilled Plumlee. Mason was on the United States Mens’ Basketball Team for the 2014 World Championship.
Plumlee was on the Portland Trail Blazers. Last year’s version of the Trail Blazers impressed people who thought the team would sink into the abyss without LaMarcus Aldridge. This year’s version may be showing that those predictions may simply have been off by a year. Portland was going nowhere fast and looking to build to the future.
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Enter the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets have the honor of being the eighth seed in the West right now. Their team has depth, but could use some more skill. As a result they made the move to get Mason Plumlee from the Blazers for center project Jusuf Nurkic. Nurkic was having a harder time getting minutes due to the recent success of Nikola Jokic.
Also involved in the trade were two draft picks. Portland gets a first rounder from Denver, and Denver gets a second rounder from Portland. Now Mason Plumlee can play for a contender of sorts as they try to make the playoffs.
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While the Plumlees were moving teams, another Duke player was being held back from playing. That would be Jahlil Okafor, the oft rumored to be moved big man with the Philadelphia 76ers. The situation has not changed much in Philly since the beginning of the year. Joel Embiid looks like the real deal when healthy, and Dario Saric has not disappointed.
That means the situation remains unclear for Okafor. His minutes are limited given the glut of players around him and there are whispers that Ben Simmons might try to come back this season and make it worse. Recently the team has held Okafor out because of ongoing trade talks. Perhaps he will be on the move soon.