Orange County’s Filipowski projected to be early pick in NBA draft

June 23, 2024
4:50 am

NEW YORK – Kyle Filipowski made his debut for the Minisink Valley boys’ basketball team as a freshman in 2017 and coach Matt Caputo saw much potential in the prospect.

Filipowski could shoot, had a great feel for the game, made plays, and worked tirelessly at improving. After one year, Filipowski transferred from Minisink Valley with stops at Fordham Prep, Wilbraham & Monson Academy in Massachusetts, and Duke University, where he became an All-American this year.

Now, Filipowski, a former Westtown resident, is poised for the biggest stage in the world: The NBA. Filipowski, a 7-foot center, is projected to be a first-round draft pick in the NBA draft on Wednesday.

“I think it is cool that Kyle has a local connection,” Caputo said. “We followed him and watched him play at Duke on television. The players on the team talk about it. When you see someone make it to that level, it is amazing. You appreciate it and you root for him.”

7-foot center Kyle Filipowski. (Photo Credit: Duke University Athletics)

Zach Rosen from Priority Sports, the agency that represents Filipowski, declined a Mid-Hudson News interview request with the player for this story. Mock NBA draft projections have Filipowski being picked in the first round anywhere from 22^nd overall (Phoenix Suns), to 24^th (New York Knicks), to 28^th (Denver Nuggets), to 30^th (Boston Celtics).

“Our mock draft has Filipowski going to Phoenix with the 22^nd pick which makes sense,” said ESPN Front Office Insider Bobby Marks, a Marist College graduate and the former assistant general manager of the Brooklyn Nets. “Phoenix needs depth in the frontcourt. I think any team that needs frontcourt in Kyle’s range, Philadelphia with the 16^th pick, Toronto at 19, New Orleans at 21, make sense.”

A player from the Hudson Valley rarely plays in the NBA. In the last decade, Pine Bush graduate Cleanthony Early served as a reserve for the Knicks (2014-16) and Tyler Lydon, who attended Stissing Mountain High School in Pine Plains, played for the Denver Nuggets from 2017-19.

Filipowski averaged 16.4 points and 8.3 rebounds as a sophomore this season for Duke.

“Kyle did a ton of work and was reaching for the stars,” Caputo said of Filipowski. “He had a tremendous commitment and had the work ethic to go with it.”