Khaman Maluach Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Maluach, 2024 Draft, Abu Dhabi, 40K-Point Club

March 6th, 2024 at 3:57pm CST by Luke Adams

Khaman Maluach, the top big man in the 2024 recruiting class, has committed to Duke, he tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN. Maluach had been playing at the NBA Academy Africa in Senegal.

The 7’2″ center, who is projected by ESPN to be the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft, will join projected No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg as part of a star-studded recruiting class for the Blue Devils. He chose Duke after also visiting Kentucky, Kansas, and UCLA and receiving offers from the G League Ignite and Australia’s NBL Next Stars program, per Givony.

“Duke is home, that’s where I belong.” Maluach said. “This was the hardest decision I’ve ever made. I felt like I could succeed anywhere, but I was most comfortable going to Duke. All the schools that were recruiting me are big-time programs, but in terms of my development and the relationships I built with the coaches, they were the best.”

Maluach became the third-youngest player in World Cup history last summer when – at age 16 – he played for a South Sudan squad that qualified for the Olympics for the first time ever.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo of ESPN (Insider link) have updated their rankings of 2024’s top draft prospects, while Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report has published a new 2024 mock draft. ESPN’s top five now includes two Kentucky prospects – Rob Dillingham at No. 3 and Reed Sheppard at No. 5 – while French forward Zaccharie Risacher still holds the top spot. Another French prospect – Alexandre Sarr – is atop Wasserman’s mock draft, which features two G League Ignite prospects in the top five: Ron Holland at No. 4 and Matas Buzelis at No. 5.
The NBA formally announced on Wednesday that it will be headed back to Abu Dhabi in the fall of 2024, with the Celtics and Nuggets set to play a pair of preseason games on Friday, October 4 and Sunday, Oct. 6 in the United Arab Emirates’ capital city. It will be third consecutive year that the league has played exhibition games in Abu Dhabi.
Will any active NBA player join LeBron James in the 40,000-point club? Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press explores that question, suggesting that the only current players with career scoring averages higher than LeBron’s – Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid, and Luka Doncic – are long shots, given the durability and longevity required.

And-Ones: Officiating, Kabengele, Ignite, Maluach, Topic

December 26th, 2023 at 11:58am CST by Luke Adams

While he didn’t complain specifically about the way that Nikola Jokic was officiated on Monday, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr lodged a more general complaint about the officiating during his postgame media session after the Nuggets center made 18-of-18 free throws in a Denver victory, writes Kendra Andrews of ESPN.

“I have a problem with how we are legislating the defense out of the game,” Kerr said. “We are enabling players to B.S. their way to the foul line. If I were a fan, I wouldn’t have wanted to watch the second half of that game. It was disgusting. It was just baiting refs into calls, but the refs have to make those calls … the players are really smart in this league. For the last decade, they’ve gotten smarter and smarter. We have enabled the players, and they are taking full advantage.

“It’s a parade to the free throw line, and it’s disgusting to watch.”

Prior to Monday’s game, the Nuggets ranked dead last in the NBA in free throw makes per game (14.9). Led by Jokic’s 18 foul shots, Denver converted 26-of-32 attempts from the line in Monday’s win.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Former first-round pick Mfiondu Kabengele is making a midseason move from Greece to Italy. The big man has parted ways with AEK Athens and has formally reached an agreement to join Reyer Venezia, the Italian club announced today in a press release. Kabengele appeared in 55 total NBA games for the Clippers, Cavaliers, and Celtics from 2019-23.
Sharing their impressions from last week’s G League Showcase Cup, Jeremy Woo and Jonathan Givony of ESPN.com (Insider link) note that it hasn’t been a good year for the G League Ignite, whose top prospects Matas Buzelis and Ron Holland did little to help their draft stock. Conversely, the NBA Academy Africa made a strong impression in Orlando, according to Givony, who was particularly impressed by 7’2″ prospect Khaman Maluach. Maluach appears to be giving strong consideration to playing college ball next season, Givony adds, with Duke and Kansas aggressively pursuing him.
Serbian prospect Nikola Topic, a projected top-10 pick, has spent the 2023/24 season so far on loan to Mega Basket, but he’ll be rejoining Crvena Zvezda and playing in the EuroLeague going forward, tweets Givony. The move will give the 18-year-old Topic an opportunity to compete in Europe’s top league for the rest of the season.

And-Ones: McClung, Comanche, Maluach, Draft, Team USA

December 19th, 2023 at 9:09am CST by Luke Adams

Although he’s not currently under contract with an NBA team, Mac McClung has been invited by the NBA to take part in the 2024 Slam Dunk Contest and defend his title, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

McClung remains undecided, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link), though he says many people believe the G League guard will accept the invitation.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

C.C. McCandless of FOX5 in Las Vegas has obtained the arrest report for former Stockton Kings player Chance Comanche and shares several disturbing new details about the alleged plot to kidnap and kill Marayna Rodgers, who police believe was killed on the night of December 5, when the Kings‘ G League team was in town to face the G League Ignite. Comanche – one of two suspects facing an open murder charge – disclosed several details in an interview with investigators, including identifying on a map where Rodgers body was buried, which allowed detectives to locate her remains.
Standout prospect Khaman Maluach, a 7’2″ center from South Sudan, has elected to graduate high school in 2024 and will be eligible for the 2025 draft, according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN. The 17-year-old is still weighing his options for the 2024/25 season, including attending a U.S. college or taking a professional route like the G League Ignite or Australia’s Next Stars program.
In the latest 2024 mock draft from Krysten Peek of Yahoo Sports, Alexandre Sarr is the first player off the board, while USC’s Isaiah Collier – the top prospect on ESPN’s top 100 – drops to No. 8.
USA Basketball has announced its coaching staff for the AmeriCup qualifying team that will begin competing in February. Dave Joerger, previously reported to be the head coach for the U.S. squad, will be joined by veteran assistants Jerome Allen and Melvin Hunt, per a press release.
Australia’s national team is in advanced talks to play exhibition games against the U.S. and Serbia ahead of the 2024 Olympics in Paris, reports Olgun Uluc of ESPN. Team USA already has a pair of exhibition contests against South Sudan and Germany on its July schedule.

World Cup Notes: White, Maluach, Bodganovic, Batum

August 24th, 2023 at 9:02pm CST by Rory Maher

Thunder forward Jack White will be playing for Team Australia during the 2023 FIBA World Cup, which tips off at 3 a.m. CT early tomorrow morning. However, as Tom Hersz writes for NBL.com.au, White was very nearly left off the roster — he was set to be the odd man out, but Rockets center Jock Landale sustained an ankle injury during the team’s final exhibition game in Melbourne last week, creating an opening.

White, who signed a two-year deal with OKC this summer, says he’s excited to represent his home country.

“Excited to try and help this group try to get a gold medal,” White said. “It’s been our goal all camp, it’s been our standard now for the last couple of years, especially after Tokyo. But this is a dream come true for me and [I’m] just excited to do everything I can to help us win.”

Here are a few more notes ahead of the World Cup:

At 16 years old, South Sudan’s Khaman Maluach is the third-youngest participant in World Cup history, according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN. The 7’2″ big man, who plays in the NBA Africa Academy in Senegal, is considered an “elite prospect” for the 2025 draft class, Givony writes. “He has a great feel for the game,” South Sudan basketball federation president Luol Deng told ESPN. “Good court awareness, amazing skill set. He has made a huge improvement. At the same time, he needs to improve on everything. Sharpen every part of his game, as you expect from a 16-year-old. That’s what makes him scary. He still has so much room to grow. But he has a great spirit, is always smiling and is hungry to learn. Everyone loves being around him, and that’s why it’s been so easy to welcome him into the team.”
Hawks swingman Bogdan Bogdanovic is used to being a play-maker, but he’ll have the ball in his hands even more for Serbia in the absences of Nikola Jokic and Vasilije Micic. Still, he says his role won’t be all that different than he’s used to in the NBA, as Eurohoops relays. “I play the same way here and there, now with maybe more minutes,” Bogdanovic said. “In Atlanta, I have a similar role, my teammates look for me, and the defense is more focused and we use that. Here they are a little different and then the game adapts more.”
Two of the tournament’s top contenders will square off on day one, with Canada set to face France in Group H. Clippers forward Nicolas Batum says the French national team is eager for the challenge. “We have a big game ahead of us but that’s why we are here. We can’t wait to start the tournament,” Batum said, per Eurohoops.