Now that the Sixers have locked in the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, it is time to get up to speed on all of the best non-Cooper Flagg prospects in this year's class.
Today's prospect: Khaman Maluach, the massive center from Duke who will play his entire NBA rookie season at 19 years old. Many evaluators have Maluach graded as the best big prospect in this year's class after a strong year alongside Flagg and Kon Knueppel with the Blue Devils. Can he become Joel Embiid's successor, either at No. 3 or after a trade down?
Here to help educate us: Logan Adams, an excellent social media follow for all things draft-related who has excellent writing on his website, Prospects & Concepts.Let's dive in…
Adam Aaronson: Just as I mentioned at the beginning of our Derik Queen Q&A — if the Sixers consider drafting a big early in the draft, the first thing they will evaluate is whether or not that player can coexist in lineups with Joel Embiid in the short- or long-term. Maluach has Queen beat in many areas, but not necessarily in terms of offensive skill. Do you think Maluach and Embiid could play together, soon or down the line, or is that not a compatible pairing?
Logan Adams: I think the simple answer is that they’d rarely or never share the court together. In the Embiid era, he’s played essentially 100 percent of his minutes at center and very, very few of those have been played alongside the multitude of backup bigs Philly has employed – like, 10 or less in a season with everybody not named Al Horford. So, the question of if or will they play together is a tricky one, because the Sixers have been through three coaches with Embiid, and none have really tried to go double-big. Maluach would probably be the best backup big they’ve had in that time and would bring a different skill set to the court, but I don’t think he would spend much time, if any, with Embiid.
AA: What do you view as Maluach’s reasonable offensive ceiling? He barely took any threes at Duke but showed decent shooting mechanics and was very good at the free throw line. Does he have upside as anything resembling a stretch big? Where do you see his offensive value stemming from in his best NBA years other than screening and rolling?
LA: There’s a lot of theory-crafting any time you get a big who shot a lot pre-college but didn’t shoot once in college. Dereck Lively is the freshest example, as a guy who took a ton of spot-up threes in circuits. Maluach differs a little because there was an extra pinch of creation on turnarounds and size-up middies.
Khaman Maluach pulling face-up middies + spin-fades at 17 y/o hmmm pic.twitter.com/XbHxCYGYhO
— Hooper. (@heisnotahooper) May 17, 2025
Ultimately, I don’t think it’s something his offensive ceiling hinges on, and if it does, we’re looking at a different problem. The biggest swing skill, for me, is the passing and ability to put the ball on the floor, especially in the short roll. His bread and butter is lobs and dump-offs for dunks, and he’ll continue to be extremely valuable there, but finding the creases to create – without necessarily being a creator – is where his ceiling lies for me.
MORE: Could Sixers trade Paul George + No. 3 for Kevin Durant?
AA: It is not hard to dream about Maluach’s upside as a defender when watching him play, or even reading his measurements — 7-foot-2 with a 7-foot-6.75 wingspan and 9-foot-6 standing reach! — even though he did not record tons of blocks at Duke. Is Maluach going to be a quality NBA rim protector on his first day? How much more growth does he need to experience on that end of the floor, and which specific areas would you highlight as ones with room for improvement?
LA: Starting with concerns, as you said, Maluach’s shot-blocking numbers weren’t exactly mind-blowing. A large reason for that is he struggles as a vertical athlete, and high hips/a high center of gravity make him easier to dislodge around the rim than someone like Rudy Gobert. His feet move a little slower than you might expect in tighter spaces too, but that doesn’t change the fact that he was extremely impactful as a rim protector. Teams shot about nine percent worse around the rim with him nearby and it’s clear to see why he deters so many good shots. Additionally, he became more versatile throughout the year on his screen coverage, going from a guy who’s either dropping or switching to someone who can hedge and recover, show and retreat, and play a ton of drop variations. He’ll be good. I don’t know if the athletic traits will ever allow him to be an All-Defensive guy, but I don’t doubt he’ll add value at the next level.
ASKING NBA DRAFT EXPERTS ABOUT SIXERS' POSSIBLE CHOICES AT NO. 3
Ace Bailey | V.J. Edgecombe | Kon Knueppel | Derik Queen | Tre Johnson
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