Atlanta Hawks 2025 NBA Draft Profile- Duke Center Khaman Maluach

The Atlanta Hawks exceeded many people's expectations this season. Let's take a look at what ESPN predicted for the Hawks for the 2024-25 season:

"With Murray gone, All-Star guard Trae Young can go back to running the show on his own, which comes more naturally for the 26-year-old floor general. He never evolved into someone who moved all that well off the ball, so allowing Young to do more of what he does best -- returning to a usage rate closer to 35% -- is a safer bet in some ways and could lift the offense. With Jalen Johnson back healthy, and players such as Dyson Daniels and Larry Nance Jr. in the fold, Atlanta should take a much-needed step forward defensively this year. But even if players such as No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher help on that end -- the 6-9 forward French forward should, given his length and wingspan -- the Hawks are still likely to finish in the bottom half of the league on defense, if not in the bottom 10 once again. -- Chris Herring"

ESPN projected the Hawks' win total for the 2024-25 season at 36, with a 34.1% chance of making the playoffs this past season. The Hawks finished as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference and made the Play-In Tournament with 40 wins. Atlanta accomplished these things with their bigs missing a chunk of the season, and adding Khaman Maluach could improve things.

One of the best prospects in the entire draft is Duke center Khaman Maluach. Maluach is a big presence in the paint with his defensive ability and seems like he could be a perfect fit with Atlanta and give them a different look behind Onyeka Okongwu. Will he be there at 13 though?

Let's take a look at what strengths and weaknesses that Maluach has:

Strengths:

Maluach brings a high level of rim protection and gets up and down the court at a nice rate for his size, at 7-feet-2 inches tall. To go along with his seven-foot frame, Maluach has a wingspan of 7-foot-5 and a standing reach of 9'8, which helped him play a role in anchoring the Duke Blue Devils ' defense to the point that some of his abilities were not fully shown in the boxscore. Some of these abilities are slowing teams down inside the paint and affecting how teams run their offense, and he doesn't bite defensively or find himself in foul trouble compared to some of the NBA's prominent defensive players. Offensively, he is very efficient around the rim, scoring on 71% of his field goals and most of these baskets came from alley-oops off pick-and-rolls he has shown the ability to somewhat, not at a high clip, shoot the basketball from three-point range. Depending on the position of his selection, this could be a high risk, high-reward situation but he has good maturity and has a fast learner mentality which can make for a good draft pick in the future.

Weaknesses:

With Maluach's size, there are still some concerns about his overall game abilities in the NBA, and for starters, he can't get much involved in the offense besides being a lob threat. Like big men such as Clint Capela and Rudy Gobert, Maluach is very limited offensively. He isn't a scoring threat for defenses to worry about in late-game situations outside of the pick and roll. Maluach doesn't handle the ball well to have the ball in his hands, and he has issues when it comes to stamina, which is normal for players his size. He averaged 21 minutes a game as a freshman but likely needs to play more minutes as an NBA player to be useful. With his lack of foot speed, he can be a bit of a liability when guarding on the perimeter and is perceived as more of a long-term project. This will likely see him getting picked mid to late first round, potentially by the Hawks, as he does have some use for the style of play that the team plays.

Overall:

If the Atlanta Hawks were to decide to draft Maluach, it could be a good pick-up in the long run. They likely wouldn't have to move up much to get him, and he fits right into the system that they like to run with Trae Young in the pick-and-roll as a potential lob threat similar to Clint Capela. Based on his very young age of just 18 years old, he would be 19 by the start of the season, which fits the timeline with this young team, and can build enough into a potential solid center for the Hawks. The Hawks might be looking to move off of veteran center Clint Capela this offseason, and this could be a fresh start opportunity for them. Maluach averaged eight points, six rebounds, and one block a game while at Duke, and if the Hawks decided to bring Capela back, he could play a good mentor to Maluach. The potential downside of drafting Maluach is the lack of offensive talent and motor, which could be fixed with time and the proper training needed in the NBA. His ability to be a fast learner with a high work ethic will be something to keep high hopes about.

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