Maliq Brown injury update: Jon Scheyer reveals latest on recovery, return timeline for Duke forward

With 1:21 left in the first half of Duke‘s 80-62 win over Virginia on Monday, Blue Devils forward Maliq Brown left the game after dislocating his left shoulder. During an appearance on The Goodman and Hummel Basketball Podcast Tuesday, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer provided an update on Brown’s condition.

“He was playing such a great game too,” Scheyer said. “We got to get the rest of his image, X-rays, MRIs today and we’ll know more moving forward. It’s something where you’re not gonna know. It takes some to see how it heals and recovers. So I probably won’t even know anything this week.

“It’s gonna take some time to see just how he recovers. Obviously, he’s a big part of what we do. We’ll see next week or so.”

Before leaving the game on Monday, Brown recorded two points, two assists and a rebound in 10 minutes of action. The 6-foot-9 junior is averaging 2.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game this season while shooting 62.9% from the field.

Maliq Brown was seen with his arm in a sling after the game. Brown transferred to Duke ahead of this season after spending the first two years of his collegiate career at Syracuse. While Brown hasn’t received as much playing time at Duke, he’s been a key part of the Blue Devils’ success.

With the win over Virginia on Monday, Duke is 23-3 and 15-1 in conference play. The Blue Devils are on track to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. A large part of the team’s success is thanks to standout freshman Cooper Flagg.

Sam Vecenie raves about Cooper Flagg’s draft stock

Flagg is a frontrunner for the National Player of the Year Award and is shattering freshman records on seemingly a weekly basis. During a recent episode of Game Theory, The Athletic senior NBA draft analyst Sam Vecenie raved about Flagg’s game.

“He’s unbelievable,” Vecenie said. “He is on par with Zion Williamson as a prospect to me. People melted down about Zion. I think Zion showcased a little bit higher of a ceiling at Duke, but you can’t underestimate the floor. We knew that Zion had a real floor with the injuries. He had been hurt leading into his season at Duke. He largely stayed healthy at Duke other than a couple of minor speed bumps.

“Cooper Flagg’s floor is so much higher than what Zion’s is. Yeah, I guess Zion’s ceiling is a little bit higher, but I don’t know how much higher… It’s not like crazy, crazy, ridiculously higher. It was higher, but when you throw in the floor, I don’t know, man. If you made me bet right now, I will have a higher grade on Cooper than I did on Zion.”