The Philadelphia 76ers recently waived David Duke Jr., along with Ricky Council IV to get their roster determined prior to the start of the 2023-2024 NBA Season. Quick fun fact about Ricky Council IV but his father is actually the original Ricky Council and his two older brothers are Ricky Council II and Ricky Council III. You might remember Ricky Council II as a former Friar himself before he transferred to UMBC.

Duke had previously signed an Exhibit 10 deal back with the Sixers back in early September. An Exhibit 10 contract is a mechanism for teams to bring in players to compete in training camp. They function as one-year minimum contracts, but most of the contract is non-guaranteed. Players who sign Exhibit 10 contracts are also eligible for a bonus if they play for the NBA team’s G League affiliate after being waived. For the 2023-24 season, that bonus can range from $5,000 to $75,000. If that plays out for Duke for this upcoming season, he will be playing for the Delaware Blue Coats. He should be ready to dominate the G-League once again after being named to the 1st Team at the end of last season.

Duke only played very sparingly for the 76ers in the pre-season this year, appearing in 3 games and only playing 5.7 minutes per game. In limited time and a tiny sample size, he played exceedingly well with an offensive rating of 105.2 and a defensive rating of 120.2. He even made 100% of the three-pointers he took. It looks like James Harden will without a doubt be playing elsewhere this upcoming season so there will be at least one guard roster spot open for the taking and it’s not like they have tons of home runs in the backcourt depth besides Tyrese Maxey and De’Anthony Melton, with Patrick Beverly in relief.

Wherever he ends up, he’ll have the entirety of Friartown behind him as always. For some updates on Duke himself, you can check out Bill Koch’s article from the Providence Journal.