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Duke's Khaman Maluach (9) reacts after a play during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against North Carolina State in Durham, N.C., Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Summary: Maluach is a towering rim protector with switchable mobility, erasing shots at the rim and shadowing quick guards on the perimeter. But beyond dunking lobs, he’s a work in progress on offense with a lack of seasoning as a screener, shooter, and creator. Such a raw skill-set should come as no surprise since the South Sudan native didn’t start playing basketball until he was 13.
Comparisons: Rudy Gobert, Mitchell Robinson
Strengths
Rim protection: Maluach swats and alters shots using his massive NBA-ready frame. His timing and length allow him to cover significant ground defensively, and he projects as a long-term paint anchor.
Mobile defender: Moves well for a player of his stature. He can hedge out on pick-and-rolls, comfortably switch, and rotate quickly as a weak-side shot-blocker.
Interior finishing: A constant target for lobs with soft hands, catching passes at their high-point and then finishing even in traffic. He similarly does an outstanding job of cleaning up on the glass and cutting to the basket. And when a dunk isn’t possible, he has soft touch scoring with layups and tip-ins.
Hard-nosed mindset: He plays his butt off. He sits in a stance on defense. He hustles up the floor on offense. All of his indications reflect a player who wants to help his team win, and his year-to-year improvement is indicative of a player working hard off the court too.
Concerns
Perimeter offense: Outside of shots at the rim, Maluach has little self-creation ability. He lacks refined post moves and hasn’t proven he can shoot. Though he has a good free throw percentage even going back to high school, he’s still just a theoretical 3-point shooter.
Defensive production: Despite his immense size and length, he doesn’t log a ton of blocks and rebounds. The lack of counting stats pops up on film as well: In Duke’s February loss against Clemson, Maluach was memorably overpowered on box-outs and failed to offer resistance at the rim.
Raw role-player skills: He didn’t start playing basketball until his teens, and it’s clear with his foul-proneness, odd screening angles, and decision-making. So the team drafting him will need to be patient.
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