Kyle Filipowski NBA Draft theory emerges after 'odd situation' with girlfriend

Kyle Filipowski’s slide out of the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft may have been due to apprehension concerning the former Duke star’s fiancee , it has been claimed.

Filipowski excelled for the Blue Devils last season, averaging 16.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per game in 36 starts while putting up solid defensive numbers. He averaged 1.5 blocks and 1.1 steals per game, leaving him in prime position to be selected fairly early in a weak draft class - but he fell out of the first round to the Utah Jazz at 32nd overall.

Ahead of Thursday’s second round, intriguing allegations came to light. The allegations concern fiancee Caitlin Hutchison, who is believed to be a few years older than Filipowski.

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ESPN’s Jonathan Givony reported on both "The Lowe Podcast" and on "NBA Today" that teams had actively been discussing and questioning the age gap between Filipowski and Hutchison. NBA franchises may also have been turned off by speculation the center has allegedly distanced himself from his family.

“NBA teams are talking about the fact that they had question marks about his girlfriend being so much older than him, why was he estranged from his family because of this whole situation,” Givony said on "NBA Today".

“He apparently doesn’t talk to his parents or his brother and it’s a very, very odd situation. I personally don’t understand why it would cause him to drop like this into the second round.

“There are no questions about his character, but NBA teams are talking about his nerves and his workouts weren’t great. And when they asked him about the situation in interviews the answers they got weren’t satisfactory for them.”

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Hutchison is reportedly 26 years old, while Filipowski will turn 21 later this year. The first photo of the two together was from Filipowski’s senior prom in 2022. A photo on social media shows Filipowski and Hutchinson from his high school prom, dated May 21, 2022. The NBA rookie would have been 17 years of age at the time.

Hutchinson and Filipowski got engaged in April with a wedding mooted for August. By then, he will have taken part in Summer League for the Jazz alongside former Colorado forward Cody Williams and ex-USC point guard Isaiah Collier.

According to the Duke Basketball website, Filipowski’s parents David and Rebecca both played college basketball, and he has three brothers: Daniel, Taylor, and Matthew. It is unclear why Filipowski is estranged from his family.

Jayson Tatum, who won the NBA championship with the Boston Celtics earlier this month, took to social media to suggest a “lot of teams gone regret passing up on Flip”.

Mirror U.S. Sports has reached out to the Jazz for comment.