The 7’1 freshman center is a safe bet to find himself in the top-10 of next summer’s NBA Draft.
As an American, I’m excited to watch Team USA in the Olympics. As a Wizards fan, I’m excited to see Bilal Coulibaly suit up for France. As an NBA Draft nerd, I’m probably most interested to see Khaman Maluach in action for South Sudan.
Maluach is a 7’1 freshman center who will join Cooper Flagg in the frontcourt for Duke this upcoming college basketball season. If the Wizards aren’t lucky enough to score the #1 overall pick in the 2025 draft, taking someone like Maluach a few spots lower would be a nice consolation prize.
Based on what I’ve seen of him to date, I think I would have strongly considered him at #1 in the 2024 draft had he been eligible. Granted, I don’t have nearly as many data points to back that up as I did for most of this past draft’s lottery selections, but the physical tools are obvious right away.
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He’s absolutely massive, he does the dirty work, he bangs in the post, he catches lobs, he blocks shots, and he’s already shown enough touch to give me confidence he’ll be able to shoot threes long-term. If the Wizards are adamant about Alex Sarr being a power forward, Maluach could be the ideal complement to him in a twin-towers setup.
In South Sudan’s recent one-point exhibition loss to Team USA, Maluach played twelve competent minutes. He scored 7 points on 3-4 shooting, including 1-1 from three. He also added 3 rebounds and 1 block.
South Sudan will get a rematch with the US on July 31st and plays against Serbia on August 3rd. Maluach will likely play sparingly during the Olympics but even garbage minutes against the likes of Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, and Anthony Davis will be great learning experiences.
He’s one of my early favorites for the 2025 draft so I figured I’d put him on your radar before Olympic competition kicks off.