Suns select Khaman Maluach #10 overall in 2025 NBA Draft

[Superbone]

[Superbone]

[Superbone]

[Superbone]

Maluach was excited to go the Suns where he will get reacquainted with star guard Devin Booker. Maluach said Booker was very complimentary and nice to him when he visited with him a couple times during the 2024 Paris Olympics. The South Sudan center also played against Booker and Team USA in an exhibition game in London and during the Olympics last year.

“We had a dinner and I went to say what’s up to him because he had his own table. He said to, ‘Go do it,’ and then I shook his hand. He told me, ‘I’ll see you in a year.’ But when he said, ‘See you in a year,’ I know he meant the NBA. Now, I’ll see you with the Phoenix Suns. I will be his teammate.”

[Superbone]

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[Flagrant Fowl]

The Ott and Mobley stuff catches my attention. Mobley was much more skilled coming into the league in part because he started much younger, but that's the blueprint for Khaman. This is a grand slam pick if his peak is even the current version of Mobley.

For as long as James Jones has been leading draft player personnel, he's really only missed once with Jalen Smith. Khaman fits a lot of the character and work ethic stereotypes of a James Jones pick and that's trending to be a good thing.

[Mori Chu]

I really like the kid. Seems like a genuine dude with a really good attitude and enthusiasm. Very good character fit and locker room energy. Basketball-wise I don't think we have very many minutes for him given Williams and Richards being on the roster. That's okay; we can take our time bringing him along. But I would have enjoyed a rook who could get lots of minutes right away. And we still have gaping holes in our roster at PG and PF, so maybe I would have gone with someone at those positions. Cautiously optimistic about Maluach but I don't know anything about NCAA so I really don't have a good sense of who we "should" have drafted.

[pickle]

I like the Maluach pick a lot and have high hopes for the young man. Just kind of hate the Mark Williams trade in conjunction with the pick.

Maybe we can turn Royce or Grayson into a four. Not sure we are solving the 1 problem.

[ShelC]

Here's a very interesting article about Maluach and international athletes, in general. A lot of work goes into making sure they have the proper paperwork and visas. I don't want to turn this into a political discussion but things are harder now for some international athletes. This might have played a part in Toronto passing on him at 9.

https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/nba/nba- ... rcna213634

https://www.si.com/nba/raptors/toronto- ... -nba-draft

[ShelC]

[Kryptonic]

Gotta love the kids heart.

[Superbone]

Yeah, what a great kid. I found this interview with him from 2023. He also pronounces his name at the beginning.

[O_Gardino]

Very easy to root for Mr. Maluach.

[Superbone]

I hope Oso is working on changing his shot form. Maluach's is much better.

[Superbone]

[England Sun]

You guys know me and I always say you can’t teach heart.
For some of his first words to be about getting in the gym and putting in work to get your rewards says all you need to know.
Don’t know the kid, but, that’s good enough for me to be excited at what he can become.
Do we know if he also likes giving and taking contact in the paint? That would be even better.

[Gladiator]

I really like the kid. Seems like a genuine dude with a really good attitude and enthusiasm. Very good character fit and locker room energy. Basketball-wise I don't think we have very many minutes for him given Williams and Richards being on the roster. That's okay; we can take our time bringing him along. But I would have enjoyed a rook who could get lots of minutes right away. And we still have gaping holes in our roster at PG and PF, so maybe I would have gone with someone at those positions. Cautiously optimistic about Maluach but I don't know anything about NCAA so I really don't have a good sense of who we "should" have drafted.

I think there will be enough minutes for Maluach, either from Williams being injured, Richards being traded and even some potential spot minutes at the 4. I don’t hate it that we are not relying on him to anchor the paint by himself right out of the gate, and think his long-term potential is tantalising.

[INFORMER]

Yeah, what a great kid. I found this interview with him from 2023. He also pronounces his name at the beginning.

Why does no one pronounce it correctly?

[Superbone]

Yeah, what a great kid. I found this interview with him from 2023. He also pronounces his name at the beginning.

Spoiler: show/hide

Why does no one pronounce it correctly?

Good question. I think they just guess at it. Just not very professional. Last night was laughable with all the different pronunciations I heard. One of the ESPN heads, I think it was Shams was laughable. He didn't even try to finish it and it sounded different every time.