The Phoenix Suns selected three players during the NBA design of 2025, with Kaman Maluach center their only lottery picking. The South Sudanese big man was taken 10th overall by the Houston Rockets, before they were part of the package that eventually Kevin Durant ended up. He is also 18 years old, and that was painfully clear in Summer League.
That does not mean that there was nothing to be found in the glimpse we got to see from the big man, and defensively that huge frame will immediately be useful. He will also have a teammate in Dillon Brooks who will start the defense every night, which will be a huge help for the young person when he learns the ropes and is told where he should go and when.
It will take years before Maluach regularly contributes.
Veania alone was back with his always excellent Game theory podcast next Bryce Simon After he had the chance to digest Summer League, and he certainly had some thoughts about Maluach. All honest criticism too, and Vecenie perhaps put it best when he said that “it will take time … For him to become the automatic playing finisher who want people to be.”
It is also clear why the Suns took him in the first place – and after they had had some bad luck in the middle position, even before they gave Deandre Ayton – both lyrical about the enormous size of the player. That alone is a reason to believe that one day he can anchor a defense at a borderline-elite level, while taking four 3-Pointers per game was also encouraging.
But where fans should be patient, there is the intersection between the inability of Maluach to finish playing in the short term, in combination with the constant Point Guard-sexual of the Suns. Chris Paul no longer walks through that door – even if Devin Booker hoped he would do that – and we know how brilliant a few could have been. Paul once showed Bismack Biyombo as a Hall of Fame -big man there is.
Instead, it is Jalen Green who might just run the show, and that sounds like a problem. A 23-year-old shoot first two-guard and an 18-year-old center is not exactly a recipe for success in the brutal Western Conference. Who also take away a year from Booker’s Prime from him without fighting.
It is also clear that Maluach does not have the softest hands or touch around the edge, and even the shots that fell for him in the summer competition came from awkward movements and frayed plays. The Front Office, however, clearly believes in him, and that is tested when he takes his first steps in the competition.
The last part of the puzzle here is the addition of Mark Williams of the Charlotte Hornets. A great way if he can stay healthy, but someone who has never managed more than 43 games in a season. With Nick Richards who are currently available, Maluach can be put into action rather than he would like if Williams perish for some time. It will be a bumpy ride.
#Suns #fans #patient #Kaman #Maluach #years