The entire Duke basketball starting five from the 2024-25 season is headed to the 2025 NBA Draft, and all are expected to hear their names called. Cooper Flagg will obviously be the No. 1 overall selection to the Dallas Mavericks, but there has been little buzz as to where fellow Duke rookies, Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach, will end up.
Both Maluach and Knueppel are expected to be selected in the top ten of this summer's draft, but recent reports say that one of the two may jump up into the top three, joining former Blue Devil Jared McCain in Philadelphia.
NBA Draft specialist Rafael Barlowe revealed that the 7'2 center Maluach is now on the 76ers' radar.
“Another name that's quietly gaining traction as a potential option for Philadelphia is Duke freshman Khaman Maluach," Barlowe reported.
This would be a massive draft night swing if Philadelphia does elect to take the freakishly athletic center out of South Sudan, pairing him with a fellow former Duke basketball player in McCain.
Despite Maluach not receiving tons of top-five buzz throughout the draft process, he's one of the most naturally gifted players in this draft. At 7'2 and 250 pounds, Maluach can guard all five positions on the floor and run the court with everybody else in transition. That shouldn't happen.
There have also been reports through the pre-draft process that Maluach has made strides with his outside shooting. If the South Sudanese center can add a consistent three-point shot to his arsenal while already being an elite rim protector and physical presence down low offensively, he'll be one of the best players coming out of this stacked draft class.
What makes this report even more interesting is the elephant in the room: the fact that Joel Embiid exists, one of the most dominant centers in the game whose injury history has kept him on the court much more often than he and the Sixers' front office would've liked.
If Philadelphia elects to take Maluach at No. 3 overall, or even trade down to select him later, that completely shakes up the trajectory of the 76ers and Embiid's immediate future with the franchise.
It's an exciting report to see the potential for two Blue Devils to be taken in the top three selections of the 2025 Draft, and we'll follow along to see where Maluach's stock goes.