The strongest C Maluach of this year: South Sudan s modern interior young player and has a dream of three-pointers

Name: Khaman Maluach

Date of birth: September 14, 2006

Position: Center

Team: Duke University

Height: 7 feet 1 (2 meters 16)

Weight: 253 pounds (115 kg)

Wandspan: 7 feet 7 (2 meters 31 )

Player template: Lefley/Mitchell Robinson/Bamba

Statistics:

MaluAchi played 39 games for the team in the 2024-25 season, averaging 21.2 minutes per game, scoring 8.6 points and 6.6 rebounds (2.7 offensive rebounds) and 1.3 blocks, shooting percentage of 71.2%, three-point shooting percentage of 25.0%, and free throw shooting percentage of 76.6%.

Pick Prediction: Lotto

Advantages:

1, Defensive Core. MaluAchi is tall and has outstanding arm-showing. He can protect the basket well and interfere with shooting. His average of 1.3 blocks per game cannot reflect his real frame protection effect. Maluach has a wide defense coverage, always keeps a low center of gravity when defending, and has the ability to switch to the outside. MaluAchi's comprehensive defensive ability makes him the team's defensive backbone.

2. Strong mobility. MaluAchi is flexible in movement, active in defense sweeping, and can quickly complete rotation on the weak side. Maluach can also move quickly during the offense, whether it is a pick-and-roll or an empty cut, you can find defensive gaps near the basket. MaluAchi's offense and defense conversion is active, and he can always easily run from one side to the other.

3. The end of the inside line. Maluach is tall and long arms, and can catch passes from different angles and put them easily into the basket, which makes him very threatening to the basket in the pick-and-roll. Maluach loves dunks, can easily play above the basket and completes dunks in incredible positions. MaluAchi had an extremely high offensive rebounding rate during college, strong ability to take off twice, and actively competed.

Disadvantages:

1. Single offensive means. Although Maluach has had a good offensive performance in the African League, he has not converted these to the NCAA field. Maluach's current offensive mode is limited to eating cakes and tip-offs, and there are no low-post offensive skills. And in the inside area away from the basket, Maluach lacks effective throws and hooks. Maluach dared to take action on the outside, but his shooting movements were stiff and he could only shoot big open three-pointers, making 4 of 16 three-pointers in his freshman season.

2. Lack of systematic training. MaluAchi has been in contact with basketball for a short time, which makes him not doing well enough in many game details. Maluach is sometimes too confident in his defense. He has been beaten up when he actively switches defenses but is hit by the outside line, and has poor decision-making ability. Maluach still needs to be tempered in covering angles, defensive position selection and handling the ball. Maluach is prone to foul trouble and needs further physical exercise, otherwise it will be difficult for him to stay on the court for a long time.

Summary:

Thanks to Ruhr Deng's support and development of basketball in South Sudan, Maluach began to come into contact with basketball at the age of 13 and joined the NBA African Academy at the age of 14, becoming the youngest student in history. In 2022, Maluach began playing professional basketball in the African Basketball League. In August 2023, 16-year-old Maluach was selected for the South Sudan national team, participated in the Men's Basketball World Cup, and made his debut against the Chinese Men's Basketball Team, becoming the third youngest player in World Cup history (second only to George Lars in 1986 and Guo Ailun in 2010). In 2024, Maluach participated in the Olympics with the team, which greatly broke the record for the youngest athlete of the Olympic men's basketball team (Yuke Kawamura in 2021). Out of his love for Zion, Maluach chose to join Duke University. During college, he used his physical advantages to contribute a lot on both offense and defense, filling the vacancies of the team after Lefly joined the NBA. Although MaluAchi has not been involved in basketball for a long time, he has made rapid progress. We have reason to believe that with the accumulation of game experience, he is fully qualified for most blue-collar jobs in the NBA arena. What determines his upper limit is his improvement in shooting. Although Maluach only made 4 of 16 three-pointers in his freshman season, his free throw percentage of more than 75% is still worth looking forward to. MaluAchi may only provide some simple game content in the early stages, but as long as the team selected to stay patient, MaluAchi will become a reliable center with excellent offense and defense.