NEW YORK — It took an extra day, but Duke big man Kyle Filipowski finally heard his name called as part of the 2024 NBA draft.
Filipowski, a 7-footer who played two seasons with the Blue Devils, was taken with the 32nd overall pick by the Utah Jazz, as the NBA debuted a new format that had the draft split into two days, with the first round being held Wednesday night and the second round Thursday.
Filipowski was one of two players — along with Kansas forward Johnny Furphy — who was invited to the NBA’s green room for the first round but wasn’t selected.
But Filipowski, who averaged 16.4 points and 8.3 rebounds as a sophomore, saw his wait end quickly Thursday, as he followed University of San Francisco center Jonathan Mogbo, who was taken 31st overall by the Toronto Raptors to kick off the second round.
Furphy waited a few more picks, but the Australian eventually went off the board when the Indiana Pacers traded up one spot with the San Antonio Spurs to nab the 35th selection, which they used on the versatile forward who shot 36% last season at Kansas.
The Spurs then took Juan Nunez, a Spanish point guard, with the 36th selection — the first of the 10 players who traveled to ESPN’s Seaport studios for Thursday’s second round to hear their name selected.
Another player who attended Wednesday’s draft but wasn’t selected — G League Ignite big man Tyler Smith — went at No. 33 to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Meanwhile, Bronny James went 55th overall to the Los Angeles Lakers, where he’ll join his father, LeBron.
The fact the second round was on its own day was a vastly different setup for the NBA and its teams. Previously, the second round had immediately followed the first on draft night and had generally gone by in a frenzy, with teams barely being able to keep track of what was going on while working into the early hours to line up undrafted players and two-way contract signings.
In addition to being its own day, the second round featured four minutes between each pick — as opposed to the two minutes that used to be the norm.
The 18 hours or so between the end of the first round and the start of the second presented teams with opportunities to discuss potential trades to remake their rosters.
A few deals did in fact take place in the hours leading up to Thursday’s event. The Raptors traded forward Jalen McDaniels to the Sacramento Kings for forward Sasha Vezenkov, guard Davion Mitchell and the 45th pick; the Golden State Warriors traded the 52nd pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder for guard Lindy Waters III; and the Houston Rockets landed guard AJ Griffin from the Atlanta Hawks for the 44th overall selection.
