ACC All-Freshman Trevor Keels 2021-22 Duke Season Highlights | 11.5 PPG 2.7 APG

March 15, 2022: (2022 NBA mock draft: Drafting players competing in the NCAA tournament) -- Keels is a skilled two-way combo guard with a strong foundational skill set and the type of defensive toughness -- when fully engaged -- that NBA teams covet. Keels' early-season ball pressure, along with his strong frame, earned him comparisons to a guard such as Luguentz Dort. As the season has gone along, however, Keels' defensive motor has fluctuated wildly. The 18-year-old has as much riding on this NCAA tournament as any of the Duke prospects given the extreme highs and lows he has had this season.

When Keels is making shots and defending with energy, he looks like a potential lottery pick who could help an NBA team tomorrow, as he's capable of spot shooting, making the right reads in the pick-and-roll and pressuring the ball. Yet when his jumper isn't falling (32% from 3 on the season), his physical limitations, lack of length, issues finishing, defensive inconsistencies and sometimes erratic decision-making are more pronounced. Rediscovering his defensive toughness, finding a rhythm from 3 and determining the right blend between scoring and playmaking will go a long way in solidifying his status as a top-20 prospect. -- Mike Schmitz

February 25, 2022: (Projecting Duke players) -- Strengths: Keels is a powerful combo guard with the exact offensive versatility teams generally covet. A far better shooter than his percentages suggest, Keels can add value in catch-and-shoot situations while also picking apart a shifting defense out of second-side pick-and-roll opportunities. He does a nice job of playing at different speeds in ball screens, putting his defender in jail before either bouncing out for mid-range jumpers, hitting the roller in stride, spraying the ball out to a shooter circling up or re-attacking open space with his powerful 221-pound frame into a tough finish. From a skill perspective, Keels doesn't have a ton of true holes in his game given his ability to spot shoot, knock down tough pull-ups and make most basic reads -- he's averaging 3.9 assists and just 1.8 turnovers per 40 minutes on the season.

While his pass-dribble-shoot skill-set has shined bright in spurts all season long, it was Keels' defensive toughness that originally drew NBA scouts to the stocky 18-year-old guard. He's proven more than capable of taking on the defensive challenge against elite guards -- see Duke's win against Kentucky and TyTy Washington -- bringing the type of energy and toughness at the point of attack that coaches at all levels covet. He set the bar so high early on that his ball pressure and off ball intensity has fluctuated at times over the course of the season, but overall he's a hard-nosed on-ball defender who should be able to check either back court spot in the NBA regardless of his untraditional build. There's little downside to an ultra-confident guard like Keels, as he's at the very least a longtime rotation player in the NBA.


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