Duke freshman Khaman Maluach declared for the 2025 NBA draft before last night’s early entrant deadline, the school announced (via Twitter).
A 7’2″ center from South Sudan, Maluach averaged 8.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 21.2 minutes per game while shooting 71.2% from the field and 76.6% from the line across 39 appearances for the Blue Devils in 2024/25. He is a projected lottery pick, coming in at No. 8 on ESPN’s latest big board (subscriber link).
Maluach won’t turn 19 years old until September, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony notes, making him one of the youngest players in the class. Maluach has a strong motor, is quite mobile for his size, and is viewed as having a great deal of long-term upside, according to Givony.
Raptors! If they stay at 7.
Imagine the Spurs take Maluach and play Victor at the 5
I mean play Victor at the 4
Ideal bulls pick
He still gas a way to go. He is going to be a dominant big. Mutombo with offense.
I don’t think he gets by the Nets at six.Raptors can trade up for him. He is perfect for them.
Find a way, Wolves. Perfect Rudy replacement in a few years.
The guy hasn’t done much to get himself into the lottery discussion. And I’m not sure how high the ceiling is either. There are a bunch of 7 footers in this draft way more developed.
With the draft being 2 days long already, it’s inevitable that they will eventually add more rounds or picks, whether it be before or after adding expansion teams. With the g league being completely different now than ever, with teams calling up players way more often, and using it in a whole new way, why not add a third round that’s tied into the g league? There are always so many players who become undrafted free agents, who often deserve a high pro opportunity, and most of them end up signing minutes after the draft anyway. If there were 30 additional picks, making the draft 90 long, each team could have one pick that they aren’t allowed to trade, and the player drafted will have a choice between not playing in the nba or g league at all and signing overseas, or signing a two way or g league deal with that team and their affiliate. In this scenario, it would be a 1 year contract for the nba team to see what he has, and try and develop him or see if he’s worth a roster spot. That way they are only under a contract for one season, and if they don’t like the team, or want bigger opportunities, they can leave and go wherever they want. It’s basically a glorified draft and stash. The only catch to make it work better is that the g league team can’t release or trade them within that first year unless the nba team renounces their draft rights.
I think this would be a great way for the g league and nba to be a true developmental affiliate. It would take the place somewhat of the g league draft, Wherw most of these guys already go anyway, and that no one even cares about.
I guess this means the visa issue is cleared up? I guess when you Duke Law School behind you, a lot of things get cleared up.
Him or Derik Queen for raps if they don’t get top 2…