BREAKING: Phoenix Suns Select Khaman Maluach 10th Overall | ELITE Big for Suns?

BREAKING: Phoenix Suns Select Khaman Maluach 10th Overall | ELITE Big for Suns?

the pick is in the Phoenix Suns have made a selection in the 2025 NBA draft i’m Doug Branson joined now by Benjamin Garcia host of Locked on Suns and the Phoenix Suns have selected Duke Center Kaman Malawatch with the 10th pick uh Benjamin we’ve got a lot to talk about because we have a breaking trade news as well we’ll get to that in a moment jake Fischer of the Stein Line called the Malawatch pick a dream scenario for the Phoenix Suns do you agree what does that sound like Doug what does that sound like
it sounds like you agree it sounds like I agree b Listen I don’t like to be this fanboy that gets excited about a bunch of different things i like to try to keep things like levelheaded but do you know what I’ve been through do you know what I’ve been through over the past couple years we just traded Kevin Durant for scraps malawak falls mark Williams trade to the Suns start playing the damn parade plan the damn parade so I’m feeling good about it man well and there was a lot of reporting around that Kevin Durant deal that the Phoenix Suns were in search of a center uh because they wanted to keep the competition level going alongside Devin Booker do you think that they’ll be able to do that uh with Malawatch what have you seen in his game uh what do you know about him is the fit there yeah what I love about this guy and this is the guy that me and my co-host Brendan we broke down our top three guys we’d want to see the Suns get at number 10 this guy was far and away number one on my board and I believe he would have been number one on my co-host’s board but he didn’t think he’d be there but it’s kind of reading the tea leaves man it felt like you just needed one dumb team to make a mistake and it feels like one of them did and I wasn’t talking about one like the Mavericks the Spurs those are good organizations but organizations that continue to make the wrong decisions um and the Suns I think benefited here a guy who Deon Booker I don’t think has ever really had an a center this athletic a lob threat that legitimately throw the ball anywhere around the rim he’s coming down with it and the Suns were one of the worst rebounding teams in the NBA last year especially offensively this guy is seven foot with a 76 wingspan ball’s up in the air with him and another guy he’s going to get it and then defensively God man you talk about a team now with Ryan Dunn Dylan Brooks and Malawak or Malawak it’s a team where you’re like defensively maybe they’re not a complete negative yet because you still have some other holes you need to fill but overall man I couldn’t I’m over the moon with this colin Murray Boils I felt like didn’t really fit the Suns enough i wanted to see them commit to the big man role and I you know Noah Essinger wasn’t huge on him i really think the Suns got lucky here and made the right selection he is a very big man he is 72 he has a 7 foot six nearly 6 and 1/2 maybe a little bit more than a six and a half wings span 6.8 block percentage 16.5 offensive rebounding percentages the numbers are gaudy and you know he was getting a lot of comps to Charlotte Hornets center Mark Williams who also played at Duke and guess what Shams Shirani of ESPN reporting that the Suns are acquiring Mark Williams from the Charlotte Hornets for the 29th pick in this year’s draft and a 2029 first round pick uh swap it’s a little bit of a complicated swap your reaction to the trade to not only get one center but get two centers yeah my reaction at first was “Oh no what the hell did they send?” The 2029 first round pick that was a that is going to be the least favorable of like three different teams i believe it’s the Cavs the Jazz and someone else it’s likely not going to be a very favorable pick to put it in perspective one of those picks that the Suns swapped out for the 2031 pick earlier this year was in this draft they got three of those picks the 29th overall pick this year they moved that as well for Mark Williams and you look at what Mark Williams went for before with the Lakers unprotected first round pick Dalton Connect it feels like the Suns kind of came away with a positive at least intake here with Mark Williams again someone Malawatch is someone who is very very raw i want to see him on the court immediately but I understand bringing in someone who’s a little bit more in terms of seasoned and a player that I think it was you know in a bad situation still performed well and with the Suns can do the same thing and the Suns have continued to talk about wanting to get better defensively and they keep on using this phrase of when you play the Phoenix Suns you’re going to know you played them every time that comes to mind you’re talking about like the Pittsburgh Steelers defense the San Antonio Spurs passing ability or the suffocating defense of some of these teams i think the Suns are trying to build that here so now Mark Williams being able to mentor Malawatch and the the ability to potentially play them both i know Brian Gregory loves the ability to have two big centers kind of or two big players on the floor that’s kind of coming back into the NBA i love it man i love it and I don’t think they gave up m much and this is coming from a Suns fan who’s been very critical very critical of this front office it seems like they got a plus with both these guys man
it’s a lot of wingspan they could just hold hands and just stretch across the entire uh entire width
i think if I held Malawatch’s hand and you held Mark Williams hand we’d connect that’s how far away we are but we would still connect man
all right for more Thank you very much Benjamin Garcia for your expertise for more on come on Malawatch here’s JJ Jackson of Locked on Blue Devils
come on Malawatch is a terrifying big man with paint menace labeled all over him i’m JJ Jackson of Locked on Blue Devils here to tell you why Kaman Malawatch is worth a lottery selection in the upcoming NBA draft the first thing about Kaman is obviously his size at 7 foot2 he’s literally one of the biggest players in the entire draft process and will be one of the biggest players in the entire NBA this size does not make him lumbering however he moves with enough pace to outmaneuver his competitors down low making him primed to be a great defensive player in the NBA while his shot blocking numbers were not through the roof at Duke expect him to continually improve on the art of the block and be a multiple blocks a game type player in the league offensively Kaman is still learning different aspects but it’s a great sign when he’s able to shoot 77% from the foul line given his size as he grows more confident and aware of his size he’ll begin stuffing smaller players in the rim with potential to find some mid-range jumpers at some point in his career as well kaman Malawatch can be a menace in the paint and his potential is there to match his incredible size for more Duke basketball news and notes make sure you check out Locked on Blue Devils and for continued coverage of Come on Malawatch make sure you’re checking out Locked on Suns on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast part of the Locked on Podcast Network your team every

With the No. 10 Pick in the NBA Draft, the Phoenix Suns select Khaman Maluach. Doug Branson and Locked On Suns host Benjamin Garcia break down the selection. #khamanmaluach #phoenixsuns #nbadraft

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