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9 hours ago
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The Duke Blue Devils didn't necessarily see the 2024-25 season end in the way they had hoped, as they lost in the Final Four, but that doesn't diminish their talented roster.
Headlined by AP Player of the Year Cooper Flagg, the Blue Devils are expected to pump out three lottery picks in the upcoming 2025 NBA Draft.
While Flagg is projected to go No. 1 and is viewed as a generational prospect, former five-star recruit and dominant center, Khaman Maluach is also generating some buzz. ESPN NBA draft analyst Jonathan Givony recently shared a post highlighting Maluach's pre-draft process, and the Duke social media team made it clear they expect him to go early in this year's draft.
"Top 3 pick," read the post.
At 7-foot-2 with plenty of athleticism, Maluach is viewed as the perfect rim-running big man that NBA teams all desire. In addition to his size and athleticism, the video also highlighted his ability and willingness to stretch the floor and shoot the three.
In his lone season with Duke, which marks around his fifth year of organized basketball, Maluach averaged 8.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game, while shooting 71.2% from the field.
Duke Blue Devils forward Cooper Flagg (2) reacts with center Khaman Maluach (9).
Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
In Bleacher Report's latest mock draft, Maluach was projected to go a bit lower than the top three, but still found a nice home with the Dallas Mavericks at pick No. 11. If he were to end up with the Mavs, he can be the rim-protecting center that can allow for Anthony Davis to play power forward.
Duke coach Jon Scheyer sent a strong message about the amount of room for growth upon declaring for the draft.
“His best years are by far in front of him,” Scheyer said. “I can’t wait to see what he’s going to do because he’s just scratching the surface. He has an amazing base for who he is as a player, but that skillset is just going to continue to grow.”
A strong pre-draft process could see the 2024 Paris Olympian with South Sudan fly up draft boards, but only time will tell.
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