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Player Khaman Maluach

Maluach, who turns 18 in September, has only been playing basketball for five years, but has made rapid improvement since joining the NBA Academy Africa in 2021. He's a competent shooter and emphatic finisher who displays coveted versatility defensively covering ground on the perimeter and blocking shots with excellent timing. He measured a 9-foot-8 standing reach in Indianapolis last month, which would eclipse the figures posted by stalwarts Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert before entering the NBA.

"I use that length to block shots, go get rebounds, and dunk the ball whenever I can. I love watching basketball. I watch a lot of Giannis, Joel Embiid. Victor. Chet. Anthony Davis. I watch everybody. I try to see what players are good at and learn from them."

Maluach is considered the best prospect to come out of the NBA Academy Africa, established in 2017, and hopes to become the first program graduate to be drafted.
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Sweet. Now that he's committed, I will actually watch some of his highlights. I just assumed he wasn't going to Duke.
 
One of my favorite non-results experiences of being a Duke fan is the rare time when we have a bead on someone who could potentially be the Next Big Thing, and we get to revel in this knowledge that if they perform to to their potential, we'll get to enjoy it as our own before even the draftniks are aware, let alone the more casual fans.

Only got it a little with Zion because of his notoriety before even committing to Duke, and the very limited time before he exploded onto the scene within a game or two of his college career and the rest of the world seeing it.

Even *if* Maluach doesn't put up anymore than 10/7/3 blocks in ~20 minutes a game, just getting to experience the oozing potential as a newcomer to the game keeps growing -- both literally and figuratively -- and witnessing it dawn on the rest of the basketball world, especially in context of how good we expect Flagg to be, could be something to cherish.
 
I'm assuming Wemby and Gobert's standing reaches increased since they were drafted? Can't tell if that's how it's worded. Regardless, a 9'8" standing reach is ridiculous. Duke never seen a kid like this. Would Lively be the closest comp?
 
dukeboy911 said:
I'm assuming Wemby and Gobert's standing reaches increased since they were drafted? Can't tell if that's how it's worded. Regardless, a 9'8" standing reach is ridiculous. Duke never seen a kid like this. Would Lively be the closest comp?
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Mark Williams has a 9'9" standing reach according to the NBA's website. Lively's is actually "only" 9'4".
 
Recruiting machine go BRRRRR yet again. Could 2015 Kentucky be a comp for that team defensively?
 
Reading about Maluach, I'm very excited to see him play at Duke. Seems like he's got a great attitude, willing to be coached and an extreme work ethic that is contagious to those around him.

Assuming he does well, I'm likewise excited about the possibility of Scheyer and his staff creating a recruiting pipeline to Africa.
 
This will be a nice test/problem to have for Scheyer in the offseason and potentially next season with rotations, ironically made much easier with N-guy sitting out next season to rehab. I hope a 4-man rotation at 4/5 with Flagg getting around 28 minutes in big games, Mitchell getting around 24 and Stewart snd Maluach splitting the other 28 will keep everyone happy. Ideally youā€™d play Flagg more than that, but 28 should allow him to defend and rebound like an animal.
 
DurhamSon said:
I don't think there is a comp. Wouldn't he already be our tallest player ever from day one?
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Mark Williams has him beat on standing reach, but yes, he's technically taller than either of Williams or Lively.
 
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Wow. Massive get.


A frontcourt of Maluach, Flagg and Stewart may challenge that 2019 squad's insane block rate which posted the highest block % for a Duke team under K.
 
The storylines will be very intriguing. Is Maluach going to be similar to Zion, where he enters Duke ranked behind another commitment (RJ for Zion, Flagg for Maluach) and then it just slowly becomes obvious that he's going to be the #1 overall pick?
 
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