Duke Basketball: Analyzing potential 2019-20 rotation for Blue Devils

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA - MARCH 24: Zion Williamson #1 of the Duke Blue Devils reacts with Tre Jones #3 after a basket against the UCF Knights during the first half in the second round game of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Colonial Life Arena on March 24, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

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WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 29: Zion Williamson #1, RJ Barrett #5 and Tre Jones #3 of the Duke Blue Devils huddle up against the Virginia Tech Hokies during the first half in the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 29, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

Small Forward

Minutes Allocated (40): Wendell Moore (32), Joey Baker (6), Jack White (2)

Small forward is a position with two players that have next to no College Basketball experience between the two of them. Joey Baker had his red shirt burned against Syracuse in February while Zion Williamson was out due to an injury.

After burning his red shirt when the season was nearly over, Baker would go onto play less than 20 minutes over the course of four games. With this in mind in makes you wonder, why did Coach K burn his redshirt if he hadn’t planned on playing him, really at all?

Whatever the answer to that question might be, it happened and there is really nothing that can be done about it now. Baker was a top-20 prospect in the Class of 2019, but decided to reclassify, joining Duke’s stacked Class of 2018 that included Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, Cam Reddish and Tre Jones.

It is because of this that many forgot about Baker and unless you’re a huge Duke or college basketball fan, you likely don’t even know his name.

How he will adapt to the speed and pace of college basketball remains to be seen, but in high school he was a threat when he had the ball in his hands. Baker is a lengthy forward standing at 6’6″ with a 6’9″ wingspan and weighing in at 208lbs.

What those numbers are telling you is that he could definitely afford to put on some muscle, but that doesn’t stop him from driving and getting to the rim. However, I simply don’t see Baker getting too many minutes next season as Coach K typically likes to keep the rotation to about eight players.

That being said, the player you will see a majority of the minutes go to will be freshman, Wendell Moore out of Cox Mill High School in Concord, North Carolina. Moore was the 22nd ranked player in the Class of 2019 and the top ranked player in the state of North Carolina.

Something interesting about Moore is that he played with Duke associate head coach, Chris Carrawell’s son, Caleb-Stone Carrawell. This being said, Carrawell is likely very familiar with the way Moore plays which could benefit the ways in which the freshman is used.

Moore is a fantastic player who is very athletic, has great ball handling skills and he is also great on the defensive glass. He could afford to improve his three-point shooting, especially with the three-point line being moved back going into the 2019-20 College Basketball season.

Another player you should expect to get a couple minutes every now and then at small forward is Jack White. This is simply because I don’t see Coach K’s confidence in Joey Baker being extremely high.

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