2025 NBA Draft (The PG-13 version) & No Spoilers

[Ronin]

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[GatorAZ]

The guy is 18 years old. Any 18 year old is a project in the NBA.

He would’ve still been in high school by US age/class standards. So really he should be entering his Fr year in college instead of the NBA.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

The guy is 18 years old. Any 18 year old is a project in the NBA.

You're not wrong, but he isn't exactly built like an 18 year old. I am not expecting much his rookie year, but I could see him playing some productive minutes.

 

[Yuma]

You're not wrong, but he isn't exactly built like an 18 year old. I am not expecting much his rookie year, but I could see him playing some productive minutes.

He is physically gifted. It's the mental part on and off the court. You have a kid hanging around grown men, and sometimes that's not the best environment. I hope the suns devote one of the coaches to help this kid. Plus he still has to learn the NBA game which is more wide open than the college game.

 

[JCSunsfan]

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Man. That guy is hard to listen to.

 

[Folster]

Man. That guy is hard to listen to.

McDonough was bad too, especially when he started, but Gregory is much older and has been a D1 head coach. You'd think he'd be a bit more polished.

 

[Yuma]

Man. That guy is hard to listen to.

It was one of the worst press conferences ever. He sounds better on the draft night pressers.

 

[Folster]

6'5" combo guard who is 25 years old after 6 years in college. Wow! He's a 35% 3 point shooter his last 3 seasons, but had a season where he shot a blistering 49% on 6 attempts per game back in 21-22.

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[Mainstreet]

Jeremy Woo's (ESPN) favorite pick of the entire draft was Khaman Maluach.


Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo Jun 28, 2025, 08:00 AM ET, ESPN:

Woo: Khaman Maluach to the Phoenix Suns at No. 10. I can't tell you whether the Suns will be any good next season. But I can say they did a good job of addressing some of last season's problems, particularly by drafting Maluach, who is the exact type of jumbo paint protector Phoenix was sorely missing.


I don't think it's an exaggeration to say the Suns had zero defensive identity last season, and Maluach (in tandem with new addition Mark Williams) should help change that tone. He should be able to thrive complementing the Suns' ball dominant perimeter group.

The best, worst and most surprising of the NBA draft: Favorite picks, classes and rookie-year predictions

Who was the steal of the draft? Which teams made risky moves? Our experts share their postdraft superlatives.

www.espn.com

 

[Yuma]

Jeremy Woo's (ESPN) favorite pick of the entire draft was Khaman Maluach.


Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo Jun 28, 2025, 08:00 AM ET, ESPN:

Woo: Khaman Maluach to the Phoenix Suns at No. 10. I can't tell you whether the Suns will be any good next season. But I can say they did a good job of addressing some of last season's problems, particularly by drafting Maluach, who is the exact type of jumbo paint protector Phoenix was sorely missing.


I don't think it's an exaggeration to say the Suns had zero defensive identity last season, and Maluach (in tandem with new addition Mark Williams) should help change that tone. He should be able to thrive complementing the Suns' ball dominant perimeter group.

The best, worst and most surprising of the NBA draft: Favorite picks, classes and rookie-year predictions

Who was the steal of the draft? Which teams made risky moves? Our experts share their postdraft superlatives.

www.espn.com

When Ayton played with a motor, which got to be rarely at the end of his time here, he really was a top center. This kid may not have the physical gifts of Ayton, but reading and listening to all the draft info on Maluach, one of his pluses is the motor he has. I think that will make up for a lot. We just have to see if he has the basketball IQ to adapt to the NBA game. He played on the African team that played Team USA and had decent numbers. Hoping that's an indicator of things to come.

 

[Yuma]

6'5" combo guard who is 25 years old after 6 years in college. Wow! He's a 35% 3 point shooter his last 3 seasons, but had a season where he shot a blistering 49% on 6 attempts per game back in 21-22.

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Looks like a combo guard. Can this guy play point at all? I am not seeing any bios mentioning point guard.

 

[Mainstreet]

When Ayton played with a motor, which got to be rarely at the end of his time here, he really was a top center. This kid may not have the physical gifts of Ayton, but reading and listening to all the draft info on Maluach, one of his pluses is the motor he has. I think that will make up for a lot. We just have to see if he has the basketball IQ to adapt to the NBA game. He played on the African team that played Team USA and had decent numbers. Hoping that's an indicator of things to come.

How many times I wished Ayton would have simply stuffed the basketball. I think this kid will.

It's interesting that Duke had Maluach setting screens outside, yet he was able to recover to play inside and get offensive rebounds.

 

[Mainstreet]

Looks like a combo guard. Can this guy play point at all? I am not seeing any bios mentioning point guard.

I wish they would have told us what kind of deal, summer league, two-way…

 

[Yuma]

How many times I wished Ayton would have simply stuffed the basketball. I think this kid will.

It's interesting that Duke had Maluach setting screens outside, yet he was able to recover to play inside and get offensive rebounds.

Watching Maluach's and William's highlights there's a lot of dunks. One of the articles I read, mentioned both these guys dunk a lot. They say that's why their at the rim scoring percentage is so high for both players.

 

[Hoop Head]

I wish they would have told us what kind of deal, summer league, two-way…

Summer League

MSN

 

[Mainstreet]

Watching Maluach's and William's highlights there's a lot of dunks. One of the articles I read, mentioned both these guys dunk a lot. They say that's why their at the rim scoring percentage is so high for both players.

Yeah, Ayton became too content to play away from the basket. At least these players know where they are supposed to play.

 

[BirdGangThing]

Watching Maluach's and William's highlights there's a lot of dunks. One of the articles I read, mentioned both these guys dunk a lot. They say that's why their at the rim scoring percentage is so high for both players.

when your team dunks consistently defenses have to respect it - prioritizing rim protection over defending the 3

 

[Yuma]

when your team dunks consistently defenses have to respect it - prioritizing rim protection over defending the 3

Good teams know how to switch back and forth between threes and dunks.

 

[BirdGangThing]

contenders know how to switch back and forth between threes and dunks.

 

[Mainstreet]

when your team dunks consistently defenses have to respect it - prioritizing rim protection over defending the 3

Good teams know how to switch back and forth between threes and dunks.

The Suns couldn't protect the basket so the three point shot was always open or vice versa.

 

[Yuma]

The Suns couldn't protect the basket so the three point shot was always open or vice versa.

One of the things we also got hammered on was teams getting offensive rebounds. They didn't even worry about getting back on us for defense. I know these Duke guys can dunk, but can they grab rebounds. Maluach seemingly gets more offensive boards than defensive ones.

 

[Mainstreet]

One of the things we also got hammered on was teams getting offensive rebounds. They didn't even worry about getting back on us for defense. I know these Dike guys can dunk, but can they grab rebounds. Maluach seemingly gets more offensive boards than defensive ones.

Duke had Maluach playing everywhere. If the Suns want defensive rebounds, I think he will be more than effective.

 

[Yuma]

Duke had Maluach playing everywhere. If the Suns want defensive rebounds, I think he will be more than effective.

I really hope so. One of the videos posted here said he was really good on open rebounds. Like the kind you get off threes that bounce out long. The video breakdown they weren't sure he was that good boxing out for boards yet. Maybe when he puts on an NBA 20 or 30 pounds he will get better at it.

 

[Mainstreet]

I really hope so. One of the videos posted here said he was really good on open rebounds. Like the kind you get off threes that bounce out long. The video breakdown they weren't sure he was that good boxing out for boards yet. Maybe when he puts on an NBA 20 or 30 pounds he will get better at it.

If Maluach can set screens on offense, he should be just as effective blocking out for rebounds.

However, I think with his size, he hasn't had to learn to do this.

If he gets playing time, it's hard to imagine him not grabbing his share of rebounds. Ayton could grab 10 rebounds a game without much effort.

 

[JCSunsfan]

If Maluach can set screens on offense, he should be just as effective blocking out for rebounds.

However, I think with his size, he hasn't had to learn to do this.

If he gets playing time, it's hard to imagine him not grabbing his share of rebounds. Ayton could grab 10 rebounds a game without much effort.

Setting screens was one of his strengths at Duke.