Duke’s Trevor Keels remains ‘all in’ on NBA draft process. What he said during combine
Duke has a place for Trevor Keels on next season’s roster and in the playing rotation.
The rugged guard, who helped the Blue Devils reach the Final Four last month as a freshman, knows that. But, after going through testing, and meeting with teams at the NBA draft combine this week, he’s still focused on beginning his NBA career.
“I’m just focused on this process,” Keels said Thursday at Wintrust Arena. “Coach (Jon) Scheyer knows that. He’s giving me my space.”
Keels, who measured 6 feet, 4 3/4 inches and 223.8 pounds at the combine this week, said he and Scheyer are in almost daily contact. Earlier this month, Scheyer said he encouraged Keels to go “all-in” on the draft process, even though Keels has kept the option of returning to Duke open.
So the focus of their talks is about the draft process for Keels.
However, Keels has until 11:59 p.m. June 1 to withdraw from the draft and return to Duke. He’s projected as either a late first-round or second-round pick by draft analysts.
Keels said Scheyer supports him chasing his NBA goal, and that’s helped him.
“He knows this has always been my dream,” Keels said. “I can attack it. They believe in me so, you know, I’m all in right now. When it’s time to make a decision, I will make a decision. Right now, I’m just focused on trying to compete at a high level.”
Keels said earlier Thursday that he had yet to have any personal workouts for NBA teams. But that changed Thursday night. Paolo Banchero, Keels’ teammate at Duke last season, posted on Twitter that it went well.
He started 26 games for Duke, while coming off the bench and playing in 10 other games. He averaged 11.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game while making 41.9% of his shots, including 31.9% of his 3-pointers.
Keels opted against going through the various shooting drills NBA officials put combine participants through on Wednesday. He did go through strength and agility testing, and his results were not strong compared to other players who participated.
Keels’ maximum vertical leap of 31 inches, for example, was better than only six other participants, and well behind Tennessee 6-foot freshman guard Kennedy Chandler’s top leap of 41.5 inches.
In the shuttle run, a drill designed to show speed and change of direction, Keels’ time was 3.32 seconds. Australian point guard Dyson Daniels turned in the top time at 2.81 seconds. Only two players, Gonzaga 6-7 forward Julian Strawther and Purdue 6-10 center Trevion Williams, had slower times than Keels.
His 3/4 court sprint time of 3.27 seconds tied him for 28th place, well behind Michigan State guard Max Christie’s top time of 3.07 seconds.
Still, Keels believes he’s built for the NBA game given what he showed at Duke this season and how his body is built.
“The NBA is very physical,” Keels said. “You’ve got a bunch of grown men out there. I think my game can really translate there. I’m strong, even though I’m 18 I think I’ve shown I can hold my own out there.”
Later Thursday, Keels’ former Duke teammates from last season Paolo Banchero sounded positive about Keels’ workout for pro scouts.
Duke, meanwhile, is returning just one of its top eight players from last season in 6-2 junior guard Jeremy Roach. The Blue Devils have six incoming freshmen players who make up the nation’s No. 1-rated recruiting class, and have already added two college transfers.
Duke hosted another possible transfer, former Northern Iowa guard AJ Green, on a campus visit Wednesday.
Still, there’s room for Keels.
Roach and Keels were high school teammates who won a state championship together in Virginia. They helped Duke go 32-7 to win the ACC regular-season championship and reach the Final Four last season.
But will they be around for another season? Keels doesn’t know yet. He’s still gathering feedback from NBA teams. What he hears will help him decide.
“Whatever the information is, if I’m comfortable with that information, if I’m happy with that information,” Keels said, “then I’ll make a decision. But right now, I’m just kind of just focusing on what’s happening right now. You can’t really think about that and can’t be one foot in, one foot out. Coach Scheyer knows I’m 100% committed to this right now. I’m not worried about that. He supports me for that.”
Scheyer will be involved when Keels decides his future.
“I love coach Scheyer. Our relationship is unbelievable. I told him that when the time comes, we’ll sit down and have a real conversation and go through everything and make a decision.”
This story was originally published May 19, 2022 at 5:21 PM with the headline "Duke’s Trevor Keels remains ‘all in’ on NBA draft process. What he said during combine."