Suns' drafting of Khaman Maluach continues an offseason theme that's hard to miss

New York Times

3 days ago

PHOENIX — Hours before the NBA Draft, Phoenix Suns general manager Brian Gregory discussed draft strategy with owner Mat Ishbia. He told his boss he didn't think Duke center Khaman Maluach would be available when the Suns selected at No. 10. Then, as the draft started to get closer, Gregory realized maybe he was wrong.
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That's the beauty of this event. It doesn't always go as planned. Wednesday night, this was to the Suns' benefit.
Phoenix is an organization in transition. Four days earlier, the Suns had agreed in principle on a trade that would send superstar Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets for guard Jalen Green, league menace Dillon Brooks, the 10th pick in the draft and five second-round picks. The 10th pick was a big deal for the Suns because it allowed them to not only sweeten the deal but also acquire young talent.
Maluach fits perfectly.
As it turns out, when Phoenix hired new coach Jordan Ott, everyone focused on the wrong part of his background — the Michigan State roots he shared with Ishbia and Gregory, the former a former Michigan State guard, the latter a former Michigan State assistant coach. A better place to examine was the time Ott spent last season in Cleveland as an assistant coach on Kenny Atkinson's staff.
There, Ott helped mold a Cavs team that finished with the league's eighth-best defensive rating — a team that featured twin towers in the frontcourt with Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.
It would be hard for the Suns to duplicate this level of talent — Mobley and Allen are former All-Stars and among the league's better interior defenders — but the blueprint is there. Last season, the Suns experienced stretches when they struggled to stop anybody, particularly inside. They ranked 27th in defensive rating and were among the league's worst teams in rim protection. They desperately needed a defensive anchor. On Wednesday, they got two.
Not long after acquiring Maluach, the Suns agreed in principle on a trade with the Charlotte Hornets, sending their other first-round pick, No. 29, and a 2029 first-round selection for 7-foot center Mark Williams. ESPN first reported the trade, which The Athletic confirmed.
After the draft, Gregory couldn't comment on the Durant and Williams deals because the NBA had yet to finalize them, but he was free to discuss Maluach. He said the Suns did not have the 7-foot-1 center in for a workout, but they had scouted him in person more than eight times. He called Maluach a great defensive presence, someone who could not only protect the rim but also defend on the perimeter.
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At the draft in Brooklyn, N.Y., Maluach, who turns 19 in September, told reporters this was a day he would never forget. Born in South Sudan and raised in Uganda, he had not started playing basketball until 2019, doing so only because someone had suggested it because of his height.
At Duke, Maluach was a force around the rim, a constant lob threat on offense and a big part of Duke's journey to the Final Four, where it lost to Houston. He averaged 8.6 points and 6.6 rebounds in 21.3 minutes. He shot 71.2 percent from the field. Seventy-seven of his 136 field goals — 56.6 percent — came on dunks.
'Obviously, that's a big part of the NBA game, being able to put pressure on the rim offensively,' Gregory said. 'How do you do that? You do that by paint touches off of drives and cuts, and you do that by being able to throw the ball to various guys at the rim. He is tremendous in that. He's a great on-ball screener. Rolls extremely well. Has great hands. Can catch the ball. He's going to be a threat for us at the rim.'
After missing the playoffs last season, Ishbia promised change. Over the previous two seasons, the Suns relied on the scoring touch of Durant, Booker and Bradley Beal. Ishbia wanted a more defensive-minded team, one that won with grit and toughness. How that will look is still unknown. The Phoenix makeover is incomplete.
Once the Durant deal goes final, the Suns will have an overflow of guards and wings with Booker, Green, Brooks, Beal, Royce O'Neale and Grayson Allen. They also will have three centers: Maluach, Williams and Nick Richards. Williams, 23, last season was dealt to the Los Angeles Lakers at the trade deadline, but the move was rescinded after he failed a physical examination. In 44 games with Charlotte, he averaged 15.3 points and 10.2 rebounds. Richards, who joined the Suns at the trade deadline, averaged 9.5 points and 8.6 rebounds in 36 games.
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'Mark has been in the league for a couple years, and I'm going to learn a lot from him,' Maluach said in Brooklyn. 'I'm going to learn how to navigate and how to get better and what I need to do to be able to play throughout the whole year.'
He might need time to develop, but the Suns are confident Maluach provides what they need. It's become an offseason theme.
'When it comes to the pure toughness, all you got to do is watch one game,' Gregory said. 'You see the fact that he's not afraid to lay bodies on guys. We were not a very good rebounding team, offensively or defensively. There's got to be a physical aspect of that to be successful, and he definitely brings it.'