Atlanta Hawks 2025 NBA Draft trade-up candidates: Khaman Maluach, Derik Queen, and Kon Knueppel

Atlanta Hawks 2025 NBA Draft trade-up candidates: Khaman Maluach, Derik Queen, and Kon Knueppel

On today’s show, I am joined by Will Rucker to talk about three of the more intriguing players in the tradeup range for the Hawks. It’s common Malawak, Derek Queen, Conppel, and it’s coming to you right now. You are Locked on Hawks, your daily Atlanta Hawks podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Hello friends, welcome to episode 1980 of the LTO and Hawks podcast. I am your host Brad Rolling coming to you on a Wednesday evening into Thursday and I want to encourage you at the top of the podcast as I always do to make it your first listen each and every day on Hawks. Check us out and subscribe to the show anywhere you find your podcast that includes Apple, Spotify, YouTube, etc. Be sure to tell your friends about the podcast as well. And today’s show is brought to you by the folks at FanDuel Sportsbook right now. If you’re a new customer, get $200 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins at FanDuel. I’ll be joined in a moment by Will Rucker, a first-time guest of this podcast talking about the NBA draft through a very specific lens. I’ve been asked a lot already. I’m sure I will be even more in the coming weeks about the Hawks trading up. If you missed it, I did a show on Tuesday evening that was kind of mailbag driven and end of that podcast talking about some trade up thoughts of my own. But I said on that show, I talked to Will about this kind of range. And on this particular edition of the podcast, we dive into three players that are in the Hawks tradeup range. Theoretically, two of them are big men, Maryland’s Derek Queen and Duke’s Kamalawatch. And then we’ll end the show today with Duke’s Khan Canppel, the first perimeter player that we’ll talk about later on this week. If all goes according to plan, I’ll be talking about more of these guys. That includes Trey Johnson, Ace Bailey, BJ Edgecom, and Casper Jaconis. But today again, Derek Queen, Common Malawak, and of course, Khan Canppel. We’ll get into more of what’s going on elsewhere with the Hawks if there’s any news later on in the week. But in the meantime, today’s show, me, Will Rucker, talking about three guys who are very intriguing trade topics for the Hawks in this draft. And here we go with myself and Will. I’m joined now by a first time guest of this podcast. Will Rucker, how are you, my friend? I’m doing good. Thanks for having me. It is my pleasure. Uh, I said this a little bit before I brought you in, but uh, I’ve really been enjoying all of your uh, your writeups and most of it has been Sixers centric that I’ve been reading, but also it’s the same general uh, I would say area of this class that Hawks fans are interested in. Um, I’m doing this a little bit earlier than I might because I have said and I don’t know if you agree with me or not. I’m actually going to ask you that in a second. Like I’m not the biggest proponent of trading up in this draft on where the Hawks are, but it’s a very popular idea. I’m sure you won’t be surprised. The Hawks have two first round picks and immediately everybody’s like, “What can we trade the first round picks to go to go get?” That’s just a very natural fan thing to do. But, um, before I ask about some players, how do you kind of look at this class like tearing it up? I I know you’ve been covering that range, you know, under, you know, kind of below the flag Harper tier, but how do you kind of see the uh the lottery breaking down in your mind? Um, I think that my board breaks off quite a bit from consensus, uh, compared to what more mainstream looks like. But I think that Ace Bailey, VJ Edgecom will be gone in the first five picks. Um, I think that shortly after that, you’ll see Trey Johnson, Canple, Malawatch, Queen in some order after that. Um, but I personally uh prefer uh Malawatch Queen and uh Kppo over some of those other guys. It’s actually interesting because you know there’s this debate and you don’t need to wait into it um unless you want to at Hawks and on Hawks Land because Anyak Kongwu is not seven feet tall. That’s my kind of joking framing of why that comes up. But there’s a whole uh segment of fans that just like don’t take that he could be the full-time center mostly because of size. And a lot of people want the Hawks to draft a center and trade up for a center. And you mentioned Malawak. He’s a popular target for the Hawks. Queen a little bit differently. Like I like Queen a lot too, but obviously not the not the seven foot, you know, traditional center that some might be. Um I guess we can probably let’s just start there. Um what do you how do you compare those two guys? I’m going to ask you about both of them, but Malok versus Queen like how do you come? They’re about as different as you could possibly be while playing almost the same position in some respects. Yeah, for sure. Uh, extremely different prospects. Queen to me is uh I think they both have extremely high upside, but I think Queen’s upside’s a little higher due to his capabilities on the ball and with the ball as a playmaker at 610. Um there’s not a lot of guys that are that size that are that fluid that uh have that type of playmaking and passing ability that uh can grab and go in transition and uh find shooters and stuff. And I think that and I’ve touched on this in one of my pieces I did on Queen recently. I think that his passing is much better than the num the raw numbers would indicate. Um, if you go back even watch his uh film at Mont Verde and even before that, he’s always been a really advanced passer. Left-handed skip passes, right-handed skip passes, uh, passing out of the post, passing off drives, uh, stuff like that. And then we we’ve seen other guys uh, that we could consider maybe a little more undersized centers like Alprrenon, for example, have success uh, kind of in that mold. Um, Queen’s monster as a driver. um his finishing numbers and his uh touch on the basket, footwork. Uh he’s got a ton of moves in his arsenal. Um I’m super high on him. Uh obviously the shot is the number one concern when it comes to him. Uh he only hit I think seven of 35 from three on the season, but he did hit five of those in the last four games. He went five for 11 in their last four games of the season. So maybe a little optimism there. Um also was not good at pull up twos or anything like that. So definitely the biggest area of concern as far as his offensive game goes. Uh defensively, uh definitely probably where most people have their concerns with him being an undersized center. Um not having s not having great length either for a guy that’s 6’10, only about a 7 foot wingspan. And um I do think he moves his feet better on the perimeter than he gets credit for. I think that there’s times where throughout his uh tape and throughout the season, you can see he moves his feet really well on guard, some guards on some switches. um uh against some wings and fours he’s got switched on to been able to sty styy them and force tough shots. Um obviously there’s been times where guys have beat him off the dribble quicker guys and stuff like that but I think that that’s definitely an underrated area of his game defensively. Um he actually has good hands and uh he has good timing as a shot blocker too, but again with the limited size there are times where bigger guys are will get into his body not he won’t be able to anchor down as well and they’ll uh be able to score over top of him and stuff like that. But I think overall I think the offensive ceiling when it comes to Queen is skyhigh. I’m super big believer in his upside uh as a guy that could be a hub offensively, a guy that you could run your offense through. And um yeah, I think he’s got all-star upside if he really hits on all those areas. I mean, even even without the shooting, if he if he’s able to uh up his playmaking volume at the next level, like I believe he’s able to do and continue to be that kind of efficient driver, scorer, and uh things like that. I think that he has upside as a all-star um even with that stuff but aside from the shooting but if he if he starts to shoot then it’s a whole new ball game he becomes even more of a dynamic offensive player and um defensively I think I’ve kind of went back and forth on how I think he’ll start whether it be at a center or power forward um right off the right out the gate I think um if he’s at the four next to a guy that can uh protect the rim and stretch the four a little bit and kind of a more versatile big I think that’s the perfect uh scenario for him early on. I think later on he might be able to transition more to being uh the traditional five on defense uh given how his development goes there. But uh yeah, super high on him. Uh as for Malawatch, like we said, completely different kind of player. Um absolute monster play finisher. Uh 99th percentile across the board and every everything for a college basketball player historically and throughout this season. Just uh great in pick and roll, great at catching lobs. uh very coordinated for a guy that measured 72 with a 77 wingspan. Just monster measurables. Um I know a lot of people are intrigued by uh the clips and stuff that come out of him shooting and stuff like that. Uh he does have really natural touch. He’s a guy that shots about 77% from the free throw line. He showed uh at times in international play with Suda uh South Sudan that he can step out, knock down some jumpers. Um, I’m not sure if that’s going to be a thing that he does right away in the NBA as far as being a consistent part of his game immediately, but I think that definitely there’s uh some room for some optimism there and reason for that with that stuff. But even without that, uh, his ability as a play finisher defensively, uh, his mobility at his size is outstanding. Um, there’s I I’ll have a piece coming out on him uh at the end of this week or next week that’ll show some of that stuff. Uh, just the way he can move his feet. There’s a possession. And I wish I can remember what they played a game at home uh Duke the home game where he switched on to about three, four or five different guys and just stifled everything and ended up in a shot clock violation and it’s just like the quintessential come on Malawatch play where guys that are that big aren’t supposed to be able to move that well, aren’t supposed to be that fluid and that’s where that’s why what gets everybody so excited about him and he’s a guy that just started playing basketball four years ago. So show even chosen more to if he’s already grown this much in that amount of time you can only imagine uh if he continues to grow on the same progression that what he could be um I think he can be a defensive anchor all definitely all defensive uh upside with him uh there are some concerns with him uh rebounding I know everything stands out the Houston game stands out to a lot to everybody with zero rebounds but um so that there’s a little bit of concerns there but I don’t think it’s as bad as people make it out to be. I think that game and kind of some of the issues you have within the tournament kind of magnified it to people more than what it really is. Um I actually think uh he’s pretty good on the offensive glass especially too. Uh helps to have some things to iron out on the defensive glass, but I don’t think it’ll be an issue for a guy of his size, his IQ, um his feel for the game and things like that. I think that it’ll be something that he’ll figure out. 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Um, I guess we’ll start with Queen just because that’s a great um kind of synopsis of what he is. And I I totally see the appeal. I I’ve really liked him. I’m actually I know he’s not traditional center size, but he actually measured okay. I wasn’t sure how he was going to measure and he measured probably like on the higher side of what I thought which isn’t anything terribly impressive but you know he has the same standing reach as Thomas Sorber for example even though Serber has much longer wingspan like I think there’s obviously he’s not this monster guy and it’s a little bit interesting with him and a Kongwoo potentially in Atlanta if the Hawks were to go up and get him but uh the offensive package is obviously really really appealing you mentioned the shooting like how much do you think obviously it’s all an exact science but how good can his offensive arsenal be as the potential hub creator etc. if he doesn’t shoot, if that makes sense, like you know, Sigu is not a great shooter. That’s that’s a good example of that. Like what what is what does this look like on offense if he does not become a plus shooter? I think that he can still get to that Alfred Singon level. Um, and a lot of people might not agree with that. I’m a big Queen believer. Uh, but just the like touch on again, just his ability to pass, the way he moves at that size, there’s a lot I feel like it’s a big misconception that he’s not athletic. Like people always say he’s not athletic and he didn’t test great at the combine. But uh for a guy to move the way he moves at that size with the ball in his hands pops more in a game than would at a combine or doing any kind of agility testing or sprints and stuff like that. Um not known as a great vertical athlete but still had I believe I can’t remember exactly the number but 30 something high 30s dunks on the season and a lot of those were self-created dunks. So, it’s uh definitely something I think is a little over bonus as far as his athleticism. I think that uh he has maybe some issues uh anchoring down defensively, guarding bigger guys, but on offense he is when he on his drives, he dislodges guys with his strength and stuff like that. And his footwork and his touch on the basket, I think that it is borderline special with the stuff that he can do. Uh the gamewinner, the gamewinner against Colorado State in the tournament to put him in the Sweet 16. I mean, just awkward angle, contorts his body, uh, kisses it off the glass. Just that’s that’s the type of stuff, the rare traits and the rare type of shot making that you’d look at and be like, “Wow, this guy, if he can really hone that stuff in, that’s a star qualities that he has.” Um, and again, I just think the passing is outstanding. I think that it’s going to pop very soon early in his career. Um, uh, especially and I think I think the Hawks would be a good fit for him personally. I mean, they’ve got guys that can shoot it on the wing. uh good wing defenders that will help kind of insulate some of those maybe some of those defensive issues that he might have early on. Um a Congoo there as well ne if he’s there next to him or uh backing him up or whatever. I think that that would be a very good team context for him to go into and start uh with um the Wizards or another team I think that would be a good start with him next to Alex Sar and things like that. But I think even without the shot, I think his with his combination of his feel, his IQ, his touch, his passing ability, his footwork around the basket, just his ability to put the ball in the hoop, I think uh he’s still starside even if the shot doesn’t come around. But like I said, if the shot starts to come around, even at a NBA average clip, I just opens up a whole new ball game with him as a driver, as a face up guy and things like that. Yeah, it’s interesting actually. You know, the word athleticism or athletes always this like people think of like twitchy guys, you know, I think more than anything it’s and there’s there’s much more to it than that. I agree with you on Queen. He’s he’s more of a smooth like obviously he doesn’t look like he’s a super great athlete. He’s kind of a thicker guy and all that, but like he’s he’s really smooth and the way he moves is different. Like he’s not a sevenfooter, but I think he can get past that without much of a concern, particularly on offense. and his skill level certainly pops off the screen when you watch him. Uh, one more thing on Queen. The defense is obviously a question too on offense. You mentioned at the shots kind of the only question for the most part. Defensively, it’s like what position can he guard? Is he ever going to be able to anchor at the five? All these like kind of hypothetical questions that may lead you to like like you mentioned already like how do you start him versus what when what he becomes in three years like what’s his going to be primary role? What do you think is a reasonable projection for Derrick Queen’s defense? I’ll I’ll keep it broad. You can go wherever you want to go. I think that I think it’s a reasonable expectation to think that it’ll be he can be a neutral defender in the NBA. I don’t think it’s out of their own possibility that he becomes even a positive defender with uh like I said, the way he can move on the perimeter and things like that. if he uh can add more strength. And if you go back and look at him from when he was 16, 17, 18 up to now, he’s made a ton of improvements on his body. And uh as he’s talked about in some interviews and stuff, that’s stuff that he’s still continuing to look on, working on, and adding to that. And uh as the years have gone on, you could you’ve been able to tell that the athletic improvements and the strength improvements and stuff he’s made over time. I think that um it could get to a point where he becomes a positive defender, but I think at worst with a guy with his IQ, his feel, um he’s got good hands, uh good timing, stuff like that. I think that he’ll be a neutral defender. I think right away it could maybe be an issue depending on the team context that he goes into. Like I touched on earlier, I think if he’s going goes to a team with a solid rim protector next to him, especially maybe more of a stretch five would help him insulate him and fit him on both offense and defensive end. Um, I think that it won’t be something that is a major issue. Um, but obviously, of course, the number one concern still would be that, but I’m just somebody that’s not super concerned about it. I think that he’s going to figure that stuff out just like he will on offense. And I’m think that uh in the right situation with the right team with the right opportunity to really be lean into as that playmaking hub and stuff on offense, I think he’s got the upside to be an all-star. Yeah, I really like him too. That’ll be interesting to see if the Hawks are even interested enough to go try to go up and get I don’t think he’s going to be available at 13. I’ve seen some mocks where it gets all the way to the Hawks. I’d be surprised if that happened by the end of the process. Um but we’re all guessing. It’s still relatively early at this point. Um, back to Malawak. It’s interesting. I feel like there’s a pretty big split on him in just general like there’s a lot of people that like really that are really in on him. Like have him in the top five kind of see it what what they want to see and there’s a that’s like really kind of out on him. Maybe it is and this is it’d be very si silly for it to be as simple as not getting a rebound in the Houston game. Like that that that’s very overblown I think at this point in time. But he also wasn’t like a great defensive rebounder. He was an awesome offensive rebounder at the college level. Like great great numbers there. But um I find him to be really interesting because also you already touched on it a little bit, but like there’s this like real buzz about the shooting and like to me, yeah, it’d be great if he could shoot, but I don’t really care. Like I I don’t mean that in a negative way, but like that’s not what I’m hing my evaluation on. The touch is decent. Free throw shooting is pretty good. All that like for let’s say for a second he doesn’t that he doesn’t shoot threes. He might take them, but whatever. Offensively, what is he gonna what’s it going to be? Is he just gonna be a law, you know, long catcher, play finish? Because I mean the numbers like the efficiency numbers are crazy. He’s shot 70 plus percent from the field and yeah, a lot of those were around the rim, but like he he’s gonna live around the rim. He’s he’s a massive human being. Like is he going to be a plus offensive player? Like what’s the I don’t I’m not saying give me a comp, but like what’s it what’s it look like? I think NBA if he doesn’t shoot. Uh I think he’s definitely a plus offensive player. Like you said, 99 percentile in all those uh finishing out of pick and rolls, alley, stuff like that. Um, and I think there’s a ton of value in that stuff. Even if he doesn’t shoot, a guy that can anchor your defense as a rim protector, um, uh, be a great pick and roll defender and then be an elite play finisher on the other end. We’ve seen guys go on to have all-star careers by just doing stuff like that. I also think that he is a very underrated passer. I think that there’s times where he flash stuff out of short roll or uh, out of the post where he can uh, make those passes to cutters or make a quick decision out of the short roll. I think that that is another really intriguing part of his game, especially for a guy that just started playing, like we said, four years ago. Um, those flashes and stuff like that are intriguing. Um, I think that that his touch is good. Um, even on non-dunks around the basket, he’s got pretty good touch. There’s times where he kind of has a little baby deer while he’ll get knocked off balance and stuff like that. He’ll kind of throw up a ugly one. But that’s with being a 18-year-old guy that just started playing, you’re going to have a little bit of that stuff. But again, 99 percentiles, 99th percentile, he’s finishing those things more times than not. And I think that um I think he’s going to be outstanding offensive player as well. Um I mean, Rudy Goar is a comp that a lot of people give him. Yeah, I see a lot of that stuff. Um and I think Malawatch uh has more as far as some little passing things that uh if that if that stuff progresses and pops, I think he’s got a little more there than Rudy. Uh the shot already projects better than anything that Rudy’s ever done. And we’ve seen Rudy be an outstanding center in this league for a long time. Obviously, all those defensive player of the years and stuff like that. I think Malawatch has that type of ceiling on defense where he can win multiple defensive player of the years, be all defensive team, uh things like that. And uh offensively, like we said, I just think it’s I think he projects pretty clean as far as the basic center things. I think he projects cleanly in that area, and I think anything added on top of that will just be icing on the cake. and uh hisity with his athleticism, the way he can contort his body in the air for different globs and catches. He’s got great hands. Uh another trait of a lot of those other good bigs uh in that in that type of role. So, I think he’s a lot of people think he’s a boomer bust type of guy. I really don’t see that. I think I see him as a pretty safe projection to the next level. I think a lot of people are kind of uh I’ve seen him draw some comparisons to Mo Bamba. I don’t really see other than the size and the length and stuff like that. That’s the only comparisons I can see there. I don’t really see uh comparisons in their game if you really watched both those guys as prospects outside of that stuff, but agree. Yeah, I think he’d be I think he’d be I think he’d be outstanding pick. I have him top five on my board, so I think that he’s a guy that’s definitely uh got a all-star ceiling. Yeah, I don’t see the Bombay thing either. I mean, there was the whole that was a legendary pre-draft run by Moaba and his agent, some of the videos, and it’s kind of hilarious like the the buzz he was getting and some of the stuff he never really ever showed in an actual game that they were really playing up on the maybe it’s maybe that’s kind of the equivalent of Malawak shooting, which we don’t which we may we may never see. But I definitely I trust Malawak’s uh baseline stuff like as a big much more than I did Bombas. I didn’t I was never really in on Bomba as a prospect. That worked out okay for me. But um no, it’s interesting because I agree with you on the field stuff with Malaw. There’s a couple of nice passing things. He also you could if you watch him enough, you could maybe see some of the inexperience like he came to the he came to the game late. You kind of see that sometimes. He’s not the most confident. He mentioned, you know, the he kind of flails every once in a while, but he he does move well for a guy his size generally speaking. You know, even defensively, like he had good block numbers, but maybe not like crazy block numbers for someone his size at the college level. like you kind of see what you want to see. But I do buy I hesitate. I almost said I almost said Go’s name earlier. It’s kind of funny that you did. I don’t like comparing guys to Rudy for one reason and I totally get why you did. It’s it’s a very logical comparison. Rudy’s motor is so crazy and outlier that like I don’t think anybody can get maybe somebody people can do it but like it’s hard to project that because that’s the one thing about Rudy that was always even now he could just go and go and go and go and go and he’s so fast cover so much ground. I don’t think Malwa could do that necessarily, but he does move well. So, like I I can see I think I’m probably a little bit lower than him than than you are based on this conversation, but also if you just kind of put him in the I don’t want to put him in a box in a negative way, but if you kind of just like all right, this do the center stuff for us common like protect the rim, finish on defense, finish around the rim on the other end of the floor, there’s really a lot to like there and you can’t you can’t teach this. So, I’m I’m kind of with you on the floor. I don’t really see him failing. I just don’t really I don’t know how high the upside is unless it’s defensively. I’m a little bit more worried up with the offense I think than you are, but not in a way that’s like gonna be awful. I just don’t know if he’s gonna be a huge value add on offense. Definitely fair. I mean, I I can see I can see I can see the arguments for both sides. I obviously lean on a little higher side, but I can see the areas for concern. I want to go to non-enters now. Um, and look, there’s we could talk we could probably talk all day long on on Queen and Malawak and they’re really the only trade up guys. I mean, there’s guys that could be gone and I I’ll preface this probably at a different time. Yeah, there’s a chance that some of these other bigs could be gone. Thomas Orber, etc., but they might be available for the Hawks more realistically if they stick at 13. But there’s this group of perimeter players. Uh, this is not going to be in order, but you got Conpple, you got you got Trey Johnson, Ace Bailey, BJ Edgecom. Those four guys I think are pretty safely not going to be available at 13 if the Hawks just stick at 13 unless something crazy happens. I don’t think and even like I’ve seen people taking Casper Shakashon in the top eight. So maybe he won’t be there either. I want to kind of ask about all these guys. We would have to go super long on any of them because especially I think VJ and Ace the Hawks would have to go really really far up the board from what I can tell and that’s not necessarily super likely. Um, I’ve read some of your stuff about all these guys, so I don’t want to spoil it for anybody that uh I’ll let you share. But do you have a favorite of this group as far as like maybe even if you want to include Harper? I don’t I don’t I don’t actually don’t know how you think about Harper off the top of your head because I think he’s like a consensus number two, but if you don’t feel that way, too, feel free to add that in. Uh, yeah, Harper’s my consensus number two, too. I put out a piece on him a couple weeks ago. I think he’s going to be phenomenal, and I think he’s a no-brainer for the Spurs. So, I’ve I was got there was a time when the picks came out, I was hoping maybe the Spurs would maybe fall in love with the Ace, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. I think Harper and maybe maybe they maybe the Spurs I think the pathway still is it’s not a Spurs podcast, but I still don’t know if they’re going to want to have Fox Harper and Castle. It’s just a little bit of it’s a little bit it’s a little bit clunky. Not that Not that you can’t do that. It’s just a little bit interesting to see, but I think if they draft the best player, it’s it’s Harper for sure. Yeah, I agree. I agree. Um, as for the rest, uh, Conan was my favorite one out of all those guys. Uh, I feel like I’ve talked about him at Nauseium, uh, on Twitter on, but that’s that’s that’s good because look, I can tell you, uh, I don’t think a lot of people No, okay, I shouldn’t say that. A lot of people agree with you, but a lot of people do not agree with you, which makes it interesting, especially I think if you go go like by the end of this process, the consensus board, whichever one you want to pull in, he’s not going to be three, I don’t think. So, why why Conppel? Sell me. I like him too, by the way. I just think uh he’s an excellent basketball player. I feel like sometimes we overanalyze and try to look, oh, how how high does this guy jump? How fast does he run? And that stuff matters. Definitely to be play in the NBA, you got to be one of the top notchotch athletes or be an outlier. And I think that I think that Khan is athletic enough. I think he’s more a little more athletic than he gets credit for. Not a huge vertical leaper. He only had, I think, one dunk on the whole season, but uh he’s strong, got good contact balance, uh moves his feet really well for a guy his body type. Um was a good defender at the college level. Obviously, there’s some questions about the translation as far as him. He had some issues with some smaller guards at times, and there’s other times where he was really well on smaller guards. So, um defensively, I think that and he’s an excellent team defender, outstanding, always in the right spot, active hands, um all that stuff. Uh, I think he’ll be I don’t think he’s going to be a guy that’s in the NBA that gets targeted. Like a lot of people say, “Oh, he’s going to be targeted in the playoffs or and stuff like that.” I do not think he’s going to be that type of guy. I think that he will uh hold his own on the defensive end. Uh, as for his offense, I mean, I think he’s just I think there is a lot more there than a lot of people give him credit for. Uh, I posted some stuff about him uh the other day and all the comments were JJ Reddic, Cory Kissert, even got even got a Jason Capono reference thrown in there like, “Of of course.” all the like those guys are he’s he’s nothing like any of those guys. It’s besides the fact that he is white and he could shoot. Those are the those are where the comparisons begin and end with a lot of those guys. Um I think that he has the ability to scale up or scale down obviously phenomenal shooter. Uh over 40% from three almost 50 40 90 splits in his one season at Duke. Uh if you look at his numbers with Cougar Flag off the court when they put him gave him more usage his efficiency actually went up even higher um in that sample size. I just think he’s a guy that and I’ve been a con I’ve been high on Conan even before he got to Duke. I thought that he was a guy that would a lottery pick and when some people had doubts if he would even crack the rotation at Duke and things like that. Um he’s extremely good at playing at getting to his spots. Uh has a lot of those old older like veteran new more nuanced things where he’ll play off two feet in the lane. Um bump guys uh draw just a little enough of space to get off a little fade away. Is really good at posting smaller guards. Uh if you go back and watch the UNCC games, UNCC obviously had the smaller guards with Kadau, RJ Davis, and those guys, and he just time and time again just posted him up and either scored or made the right pass out of it. Um he plays the game at a super fast pace. Uh his feet his I’ve said this, his feet don’t move super fast or he doesn’t look like he’s moving super fast, but the way he processes the game is elite. Um probably one of the better processors of the game that I’ve evaluated in the last decade of doing this. I think that he processes the game at an extremely fast pace. Um, a great lob passer. Uh, great, uh, drawing drawing two and makes the quick decision. Uh, great off DHOs and St and things like that. Just I think he I think he has a lot more upside than he gets credit for. The floor is obviously everybody talks about he’s he’s a safe pick. I think everybody would agree with that, but I think people question the upside and I think there’s a whole lot more upside there than he gets credit for. I think that he has the ability to be a guy that you give the ball to in higher usage and he’s going to make the right play 99% of the time playing out of ball screens, uh, stuff like that. I think that he I’m just super high on him. I think he’s an all-star guy. I like him more than a lot of the other guys mentioned in that range, and I could go on and on about him for days. Um, no, I like him, too. I’m a fan for sure. I think people people should watch if they didn’t already. I don’t want to overweight this, but when Cooper went out in the ACC tournament and Khan was like the guy for three games, I think he averaged like 21, six and five, was very comfortable in that role. Yeah. You know, you want to overweight that because, you know, there was also times over the season like you mentioned where Cooper’s just on the bench as regular. They’re kind of having Khan be the primary. He’s not averse to that. I think there’s a lot more juice than people are assuming. You you referenced the all the all every comparison I’ve ever heard about Khan in a mainstream, it’s always a white guy who could who could shoot. Luke Canard’s another one that’s recently has been very prominent about Khan. Um, look, I I get why, but I I recommend watching watching him more than just the highlight stuff. Like, I I really like Canelo. I mean, the look, the the athletic limitations is a real I think it’s a real question. Like I I don’t think there’s any way he’s like a bad player, but some of the upside stuff could be limited. There is a world some guys, look, this does happen. Some guys are limited enough where they some of their upside is capped by their lack of burst athletically, but he does move well. He’s really strong. Like I think he’s really strong if you watch him. Like guys bounce off of him. He kind of creates space. But I mean he’s still measured like pretty modestly like an 85 standing reach, something like that. Like he’s he’s shooting guard size and not in a terrible way, but like you combine that with a lack of like traditional burst and I do get it. But man, the dribble pass shoot stuff, the way he feels the game. Like I I really like him. I don’t know if he’s, you know, this is a trade-up discussion. I don’t know if he’s like going to be a tradeup guy. The fit in Atlanta would be interesting. I don’t think it’s bad, just interesting. They had nice Daniels. That definitely helps. Um, but yeah, I mean, I don’t have to sell him anymore to you. Uh, you’ve obviously you’re I think you’re even higher than I am, which is impressive. But I’m usually the high person on K, but not not this not in this conversation, which I appreciate. Um, I do want to ask you just to be fair, how doesn’t it work? Like what what’s the what’s the worry if you have one? I’m sure you’ve d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d dug into something that you’re concerned about. What’s the what’s the what’s the pathway for it not to work? Like you said, the athleticism stuff uh I believe that he meets the athletic threshold uh to be forth will be fine. But uh there is a potential outcome where maybe that stuff doesn’t maybe uh the NBA link bothers him a little more than we kind of project it to do. So, um, uh, offensively, the one concern I’ve seen some people have is, uh, what if he isn’t a great pull-up shooter and his pull-up shooting numbers were not good at Duke? Um, but it was super low sample size. I believe he was like 4 for 20 on pull-up threes and three for 21 on pull-up twos or vice versa, something like that. Super so super low sample size. And if you go back and watch his stuff from when he was playing with uh, Phenom United and stuff like that in AAOU, uh, it was a lot better. Uh, he was shooting a lot of pull-ups stuff. he actually led the EBL in scoring, which I’ve touched on that before, like you’re not leading the EYL in scoring unless you have a lot to your game. A spot-up shooter is not going to lead the EIBL on scoring. But, uh, yeah, I think that, uh, if the pull-up shooting stuff, uh, actually becomes a real issue, um, if the some of those two- foot finishes and stuff like that don’t translate as well as we might want to due to, uh, the lack of length and explosiveness and that the efficiency goes down there, I think that there is outcome where he is just maybe that safe floor guy where he’s going to be knocked down off catch and shoot, going to be a great secondary playmaker, and uh, stuff like that. I think that that’s a potential outcome, but I think that that outcome is obviously based off how I’ve been talking about in the last 10 minutes, I think that that outcome is a lot less likely than the other outcomes uh when it comes to him. Yeah. No, I’m I’m on your side and I also think uh I think you mentioned it briefly, but like the way he operates ball screens, like he’s not a standstill shooter like specialist guy. I think he gets framed that way. you’ve covered that at Nause, but I I was imp I’ve been impressed what he’s been able to operate in ball screens like just kind of this the way he navigates the way he there’s some real craft there like he’s not uncomfortable at all with that. Um obviously he’s a great he’s also a great spot shooter and that’s worth noting like he if all else fails he can be a spot shooter like he’s going to be really good at that if he needs to be but it’s just interesting to me. Yeah, I think the his passes there’s so many times and I’ve I’ve seen some people some different people that have uh I’ve obviously watched a lot of the stuff myself and I’ve seen some different people uh Ben Feifer a great follow on Twitter another guy uh like his stuff a lot. Um he charted a bunch of like uh he’s doing like a big big passing metric thing and Con rates out highly in that and that the tape shows that too. It’s so so the passes are always on target on time. Uh he doesn’t miss a beat. There’s little wasted movement, little wasted motion. Um, him and Malawatch developed a great chemistry in that in some of that ball screen stuff that they did. Um, and it helps that Malawatch has great hands. Khan’s a great passer. It what is what it’s what made him the best team in college basketball this year regardless if they didn’t win the title, of course. But, um, yeah, I just think I think he’s a phenomenal player. I think he’s going to be able to scale up. I think he’s going to be able to scale down. And I think whatever you ask uh if you you can put him more responsibility on him, less responsibility on him, I think he’s going to thrive and maximize whatever role you put him in. All right, that will do it for today’s episode of the podcast. Later on this week, as a reminder, I’ll be back with Will, at least that’s the plan, to talk about a couple more guys in the trade-up range for the Hawks. But in the meantime, please subscribe to the show anywhere you find your podcast, Apple, Spotify, YouTube, etc. Follow Will’s work as well, and we’ll see everybody next time.

Brad Rowland (@BTRowland) hosts Episode 1980 of the Locked on Hawks podcast, and he is joined by Will Rucker (@Will_Rucker3_AD, Liberty Ballers). The discussion focuses on potential trade-up candidates for the Atlanta Hawks in the 2025 NBA Draft, including Duke center Khaman Maluach, Maryland big man Derik Queen, and Duke guard Kon Knueppel.

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