Former Duke Star Lands Unprecedented NBA Contract

Duke fans will have their eyes on the NBA once again as they follow the journeys of two former stars who entered the league this summer. Jared McCain was a first-round pick of the Philadelphia 76ers while Kyle Filipowski ended up with the Utah Jazz as the 32nd-overall pick.

Filipowski's fall in the draft was a major talking point this summer as he was widely expected to be a first-round pick all year. However, everything happens for a reason. Thanks to the fact that the star big man ended up in Utah, he was able to get an unprecedented rookie deal. According to Bobby Marks of ESPN, Flip got a four-year, $12 million deal, much larger than any second-round pick over the last couple of years.

Kyle Filipowski Receives Unprecedented NBA Contract

Marks pointed out that Filipowski's first-year salary is comparable to a No. 22 overall pick. The 20-year-old center benefitted from the Jazz having sufficient cap space to pay him up to $3 million per year.

As a reference, Tyler Smith, who was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks with the pick after Filipowski, received a four-year, $7.9 million deal, with his rookie year salary set at $1.15 million. This is a rather standard deal for a second-round pick and is in line with what Bronny James received from the Lakers.

This is excellent news for the former Duke star as it shows the amount of faith the organization has in him. At the same time, Filipowski has an uphill battle for playing time in his rookie season.

The Jazz just re-signed Lauri Markkanen. They already have a recent lottery pick Taylor Hendricks entering his second year, as well as Walker Kessler and John Collins in the big-man rotation. They also just signed Drew Eubanks in free agency. That is a crowded frontcourt with a lot of mouths to feed. Unless Utah makes a trade to balance out the roster, Filipowski may find it hard to see the court early on regardless of how much the franchise values him.

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