Hunter Dickinson enters transfer portal: 3 best destinations for Michigan star

Duke can replace departing star bigs with Hunter Dickinson transfer

When healthy, Jon Scheyer’s first season with his alma mater at Duke was highlighted by the interior presence they brought to the table. The combination of Kyle Filipowski and Dereck Lively II gave the Blue Devils a pair of 7-footers that made them absolutely lethal, especially with the versatility that combination could provide.

But both Filipowski and Lively are likely candidates to enter the NBA Draft this offseason, which means that the Blue Devils could be looking to fill the void. Yes, Duke has a loaded recruiting class coming with several 5-star forwards like Mackenzie Mgbako and Sean Stewart coming to Durham. However, no one in that class has the size that Filipowski or Lively offered.

In fact, you could make the argument that no one on the Duke roster that we can project for the 2023-24 season has that. So that’s where Hunter Dickinson could potentially come into the fold.

While there might be a concern about what that could mean for some playing time with the incoming freshman, among some other returners, it would put the Blue Devils in the best spot to win with Tyrese Proctor returning to the fold. Pairing him and Dickinson as an inside-out combo with experience could be lethal with the 5-star talent around them in the ACC.

Duke was in Dickinson’s final four as a recruit in 2019 after a visit to Durham added the Blue Devils to the mix when they weren’t in his final seven schools. Perhaps Scheyer can rekindle that and bring a veteran force to the talented crop of youngsters.