Maliq Brown's meteoric draft rise sends him to organization that will appreciate his niche

For a large part of the pre-draft process, Maliq Brown appeared to be destined to be an undrafted free agent. Even after winning the ACC's Defensive Player of the Year as a senior at Duke, Brown's lack of offensive game seemed likely to keep him from being one of the 60 players selected.

But that changed in recent weeks. Brown clearly impressed scouts at the Combine in Chicago and in individual workouts in the lead-up to the draft. He started finding his way into the late 2nd round range of mocks, and then closer to the early-to-mid 2nd round range.

On Wednesday, Brown got to hear his name called.

With the 44th pick of the 2026 NBA Draft, the Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs selected Brown:

Maliq Brown selected by the San Antonio Spurs with the 44th pick

The Spurs are one of the best organizations in the NBA, and they will give Brown all the help he can stomach to carve out a role in the league. Brown can come right in and be an impactful defensive player, carving out a niche as a specialist on that end of the court.

Whether or not he can be a "playoff rotation" player down the road for the Spurs or elsewhere will come down to whether he can develop on the offensive end of the court. The swing skill that will determine Brown's NBA future is three-point shooting. If he can become a 34% or so three-point shooter, he's going to be one of the more impactful two-way role-players in the league.

The Spurs are a great organization, but they have a crowded depth chart that will make it difficult for Brown to make the NBA roster. The Spurs used two first-round picks already in this draft to select Kentucky's Jayden Quaintance and UConn's Tarris Reed Jr. There's going to be a lot of competition for a role on next year's team.

In all likelihood, Brown will sign a two-way contract with the Spurs and spend the majority of his rookie season in Austin with San Antonio's G-League affiliate. That will give him the opportunity to work on his game to a point that he can develop into an effective role player.

His path won't be easy, but it never has been for Brown. If you're going to bet on a player, Brown is exactly the type of player you bet on. He'll bring consistent energy, effort, and a "glue guy" mentality that might tip the scales for the Spurs' pursuit of their first post-Tim Duncan championship.

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