'Excited To Put On That Phoenix Jersey That Has My Name': Khaman Maluach Fired Up To Start NBA Journey, Teaming Up With Devin Booker In Phoenix After Draft

Following the draft, Maluach expressed his excitement to play for the Suns and provide what the team demands from him.

“I’m excited to put on the Phoenix jersey that has my name, that has ‘Maluach’ on the back. I’m excited to play for the Suns and step on the floor,” Maluach said during his draft night press conference.

As a young player entering the NBA scene, He’ll get the help he needs from Williams. According to Maluach, he’s looking forward to learn from the former Hornets big man to improve and become a better player in the league.

“Mark has been in the league for a couple years, and I’m going to learn a lot from him. I’m going to learn how to navigate and how to get better and what stuff I need to do to be able to play throughout the whole year and get better.”

With Duke, the big man appeared in 39 games, averaging 8.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks on 71.2 percent shooting from the field.

The Phoenix Suns didn’t have time to host a workout for Khaman Maluach

The Phoenix Suns landing the No. 10 pick wasn’t part of the original plan since they acquired it from the Rockets via the KD trade. Suns’ general manager Brian Gregory explained that they didn’t have enough time to host a pre-draft workout for the big man. However, he trusted what the team scouts said after seeing him a couple of times throughout the collegiate season.

“He did not come in for a draft workout, at the same time, I applaud our scouting group. Last year, at this time we completely revamped our professional and amateur scouting system and the entire group that we had,” Gregory said.

“They did a great job, saw common play. I think the group told me today, over eight times live during the year and were able to be at practices… the connections throughout basketball really helped us in terms of gaining all the information heading into tonight on him.”

Gregory had high praise for Maluach’s offensive game and his ability to be a lob threat in pick-and-roll situations.