What Rich Paul promised ahead of Khaman Maluach being drafted by the Phoenix Suns

His performance in college led to many teams expressing their interest in adding him to their roster.

The Brooklyn Nets, Toronto Raptors and Charlotte Hornets were all expected to pick him up, but he fell to tenth and that could be because of Rich Paul.

The owner of Klutch Sports and LeBron James’ best friend is one of the best agents in the game.

Maluach was one of his clients and prior to his draft process, Paul spoke to the Suns.

Paul told Phoenix Suns he would get Maluach to the team

The Suns’ 10th pick was just retained days before the draft when they traded Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets as part of a blockbuster deal.

They had big plans for the pick, but Rich Paul had to play a big part in it.

As an agent of Maluach, Paul told the Suns of his client’s interest in being with the team.

Owner Mat Ishbia instantly said: “A lot, that’d be my first choice,” when asked by Paul about Maluach.

The agent then proceeded to confirm Maluach’s interest in the Suns and told Ishbia that he would make a call back after speaking to a few others to get the deal.

Things worked out well as no team between 1-9 picked the South Sudanese player, which gave the Suns a chance to do so.

Maluach will be great for the Suns

The departure of KD has raised a lot of questions around the Suns’ roster as they will now be led by the star duo of Jalen Green and Devin Booker, who are both not that special defensively.

While they are gifted offensively, the Suns finished 27th defensively last season and need to do a lot to improve there.

This is why drafting Maluach was a great move for them, as they did not have to give up any assets to bring in a talented defender.

His ability to block shots near the rim and make things difficult for players to score will instantly make him an important player for the Suns.

As currently constructed, the team still has a lot of holes to fill as they are not loaded in the frontcourt aside from Maluach.

They have the likes of Green, Booker and Beal, but with KD gone, there is no one else on whom they can rely to play as a small or power forward.

A lot of reports have stated that the team might have a big decision to make around Beal, which could see him leave the franchise and give them a lot of money to sign a new player.

They could use that to bring in a new player and build the roster properly instead of just overloading talent like they have done in the past.