The NBA season is inching toward completion but for more than 20 teams, it’s already over, which means they have one eye on the draft.
The draft lottery gave remarkable results which will see the Dallas Mavericks probably draft Cooper Flagg and Nico Harrison will be able to save some face.
However, the storylines don’t end there, and the New Orleans Pelicans could draft a prospect “stronger than Rudy Gobert”.
If there was ever a time when being compared to Rudy Gobert was a positive, it’s when the Frenchman is resetting his playoff reputation with dominant performances.
The Pelicans could be in a position to get one of their own to pair with Zion Williamson.
Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty ImagesNBA draft prospect ‘stronger than Rudy Gobert’
The draft lottery wasn’t kind to the Pelicans as they fell four spots from their expected point and will now draft at No. 7.
This draft class doesn’t have as many clear-cut superstars after Cooper Flagg as, for example, the loaded draft class of 2026.
Therefore, the teams are likely to reach for the stars and gamble on high-ceiling, low-floor prospects, which is what ESPN projects the Pelicans will do at No. 7 with Khaman Maluach.
The South Sudanese center, who is Flagg’s teammate at Duke, has been a bona fide success story of the scouting network, which picked him up from South Sudan and he took to college basketball with remarkable ease.
Draft expert Jonathan Givony is remarkably high on the player, saying that teams are “buzzing” about him after seeing him in the NBA draft combine.
He said: “NBA teams were buzzing about Khaman. The rate of improvement that he’s shown in the last year with his body, his mobility, his footwork, and his skill level.
“Just to find the guy who’s seven foot two, similar measurements to Rudy Gobert coming out of the draft, except he’s stronger at the same stage.
“Khaman Maluach has made so much improvement since I first saw him as a 14-year-old playing in Mexico, coming out of South Sudan.
“This is a great story for the NBA. The way that they discovered this kid in a refugee camp in Uganda, took him to their academy in Senegal and came over to Duke. He’s improved so much.
“Khaman Maluach is going to be a top 10 pick. He might go in the top five.”
Khaman Maluach will be a wanted man
The playoffs this season, particularly the elimination of the Los Angeles Lakers, have thrown new light on having conventional bigs, even at the cost of some 3PT shooting.
Maluach offers verticality and raw defensive skills that can be molded into a world-class defensive player who can anchor a whole team.
Those tools will make him a wanted man, as Givony said, he would probably be drafted in the top five as well.
Could the 76ers think that Joel Embiid is no longer reliable, looking to move him on for a more defensive-minded version of the player?
The Charlotte Hornets will be disappointed to have dropped back and could take a swing on a high-upside player like Maluach and figure out the fit later.
Nonetheless, the NBA playoffs have come as a godsend for prospects like Maluach whose skill set was increasingly becoming archaic but has roared back this season.