This Duke star would fit perfectly with the Toronto Raptors’ needs

New on Raptors Draft Watch: Toronto could solve its center dillema for the next decade by targeting Khaman Maluach in the 2025 NBA Draft.

From where Khaman Maluach was over a year ago, his freshman campaign at Duke was impressive. His brooding presence in the paint deterred opposing teams from venturing into the area when he was in the vicinity, as his towering 7’0.75” height and elongated 7’6.75” wingspan made it hard for adventurers to get to the rim and finish with ease.

Despite looking raw offensively, Maluach shot 71.2% from the field, including 77 dunks in the season, which is good enough to rank him second among all freshmen in Blue Devils history. His success at Duke led to many accolades, including the ACC All-Rookie Team, ACC All-Tournament First Team, NCAA East Region All-Tournament Team, and NABC South Atlantic All-District Second Team.

Mock Draft Range

Best rank: 5 / Worst rank: 17

(Per Hoopshype’s Aggregate Mock Draft 6.0)

Strengths

Khaman Maluach is the consensus best center in this draft, based on the synergy of his youth, size, mobility, defensive upside, and budding offence — essentially having the potential to be a modern-day big who can protect the paint, defend in space, and space offensively. Imagine a “big” that can roll, pop, space, and hit the middy on the offensive end. Oh, and be a constant vertical threat for a lob. Sounds enticing!

While the numbers haven’t been eye-popping at 1.3 blocks per game, Maluach’s timing and instincts in going for the block — whether as the primary or help defender — project to translate well at the NBA level. He has also shown at times that he can guard shot creators outside the paint. While he is often blown by on the initial action, Maluach’s recoverability allows him to make up for his inexperience, thanks to his solid foot speed, quick lateral movement, and, of course, his length.

Offensively, Maluach is a pretty good vertical target. He excels in rolling to the basket and catching “-oops” or lurking around the dunker’s spot as a vertical release valve. Despite not having elite “hops,” Maluach’s length, soft mitts, touch, huge catch radius, and quick and compact “catch and lay/dunk” form enable him to get the ball to the basket quickly while he’s around the basket.

Another thing that’s worth noting in Maluach’s game is his ability to roll to the open space on PnR actions swiftly. He’s got an outstanding balance of economical footwork, quickness in rolling, and identifying the path to an open space. They say, “Availability is the best ability.” In this case, Maluach is good at making himself available for these types of passes. It’s a skill set similar to Chris Boucher, who seems to have a magnet for the ball, as it often finds him, whether he’s getting open on a half-court offense or the ball bounces his way.

Maluach’s shooting form (76.6% from the free throw line) shows promise that it can somehow translate into middies and, potentially, pick-and-pop opportunities.

Weaknesses

Defending pick-and-roll has always been a big learning curve for young bigs, and Maluach isn’t an exception. He’s much suited as a “drop” big for now while getting reps on reading the offense’s options manifesting right under his nose. Just like most young bigs, Maluach is prone to making mistakes on his coverage — choosing between the ball-handler and the roller in drop coverage, and when to and not to switch.

One of the most underrated aspects of being a center is the ability to anchor the five-man group’s defense. Sure, being able to block or deter shots at the rim is a prerequisite skill set, but that’s not the end-all and be-all as the team’s center: the ability to anchor the team’s defense while on the floor is critical to the role’s success. Maluach is still learning the job, or in essence, learning basketball as we speak. It’s too much to expect him to protect the paint while reading the offense unfold, call out the screens and actions, and direct his teammates simultaneously.

Maluach’s inexperience also shows up when he picks up quick and unnecessary fouls at times. Part of this is his tendency to rely too heavily on his physical tools and instinct to defend, and part of this is his failure to execute the scouting report, as evident in his blown assignments and incorrect defensive reads.

Offensively, Maluach’s got a long developmental curve to go through, as he’s constrained outside of lobs and putbacks as-is. His fleet-footedness hasn’t translated into post moves where solid footwork can help, but developing a baby hook while being able to turn on either shoulder could be an asset for him.

Strength is a must for Maluach to be successful on both ends of the floor. He’ll be dealing with bigger and stronger players at the next level, and we’re not just talking about the bigs in the NBA. Offensively, he’ll need to develop his bag further, whether by improving his moves in the post or setting effective screens for his teammates. I won’t penalize Maluach for his performance against Houston, as it’s his inexperience, lack of strength, and the moment aligning together which resulted in that performance. Wilko made a great breakdown of the game from Maluach’s perspective.

I also have some reservations about his “lift.” Maluach didn’t fare well in the vertical jump part of the combine, measuring subpar at 24 inches standing vertical, along with a 30-inch max vertical jump. This data explains why, despite the dunks and alley-oops, Maluach doesn’t appear to be a jump-out-of-the-gym athlete. His dunks looked like he had enough elevation to dunk the ball with ease, which is largely attributed to his high length, height, and light frame.

In comparison, I reviewed the NBA Draft Combine’s data and examined starter-level bigs with similar vertical jump statistics to those of Maluach. I was able to find less than a handful:

• Rudy Gobert (25”/29”)
• Demarcus Cousins (23.5 “/27.5”)
• Kelly Olynyk (24”/30”)
• Chris Kaman (23.5”/30.5”)

Nikola Jokic didn’t participate in the Draft Combine, but it’s safe to assume that he should be on this list.

I don’t think it’s a red flag — or at least not yet, but it doesn’t look good that he’s on the low end of this data. If anything, this should give teams that draft him the idea that Maluach should be developed as a “skilled big” rather than relegating him to a traditional rim runner, which would elevate his game at the NBA level.

Maluach’s athletic profile reminds me of Raptors 905 legend Makur Maker, who is almost identical in his measurements, including their vertical jumps. Maker was hyped as a modern versatile big that can handle the ball, face up, and hit his perimeter shots, but while he’s displayed a variety of skill sets that would make a scout drool, the only consistent thing that he did is be very inconsistent while showing shades of his talent now and then. Could we be getting a younger and center version of Makur Maker on a blank slate?

Raptors Fit

Jakob Poeltl could be entering the final year of his contract if he doesn’t pick up his player option. He’s currently playing his best basketball these past two seasons, and he’ll be 30 years old before the season starts. The Raptors’ payroll is about to swell starting next season, thanks to the big contracts of Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley, Brandon Ingram, and RJ Barrett. Ulrich Chomche is more of an experiment right now, so the Raptors are thin in the frontcourt.

While having Chomche and Khaman Maluach in the Raptors’ pipeline to potentially succeed Poeltl, both developmental prospects are so raw that they may not be able to see minutes on a team looking to compete for a playoff spot. Sure, Maluach might get some minutes here and there, especially on a back-to-back. Still, his inexperience and level of play make it challenging for a coach to give him consistent 15-20-minute playing time next season. If anything, the Raptors can get a veteran big man this summer to back up Poeltl, and that could mean more frequent trips to Paramount Fine Foods Centre.

That said, drafting Maluach likely won’t help the Raptors should they make it to the playoffs, and they are just one veteran big acquisition away from semi-permanently adding someone like Maluach to the Raptors 905. However, suppose the Raptors remain patient and develop him to get as close as possible to his best-case scenario. In that case, the Raptors could be looking at their starting center for the next decade.