NBA draft: Here are the centers to watch for, including Khaman Maluach and Derik Queen
Duke's Khaman Maluach anchored the interior for an elite defensive team that reached the Final Four. Maryland's Derik Queen was the offensive focal point for a team that reached the NCAA Tournament's second weekend.
Those freshmen are the headliners among big men in the upcoming NBA draft.
While there's a deep well of high-end guard prospects, the bigs have a smaller list and could produce Maluach and Queen as the lone lottery picks.
Here's a look at the position entering Wednesday's first round.
Strengths: He has the length and size of an elite rim-runner who can impact games as a shot blocker and lob threat. The 7-foot-1, 253-pounder from South Sudan — he joined NBA Academy Africa in 2021 — showed ability to defend on the perimeter in Duke's switch-heavy approach and had the combine's biggest wingspan at 7-6 3/4.
Maluach runs the floor well for transition potential beyond finishing those pick-and-roll chances, where he ranked in the 99th percentile by shooting 89.4% (42 of 47), according to Synergy's analytics rankings. He shot 76.6% from the foul line and made four 3s, indicators that he can develop his touch.
Concerns: Maluach, who turns 19 in September, is a relative newcomer to the game and is still developing a raw offensive skillset. His 71.2% shooting largely came on dunks and putbacks, and he got to the line just twice per game.
Taking away those in-close opportunities can blunt Maluach's impact (for now, anyway). That was on display in Duke's Final Four loss to Houston; he struggled against older and more physical players while managing six points on 1-for-2 shooting with zero rebounds in 21 minutes.
What we heard on Day 2 of the NBA draft combine: Players who might be on the Chicago Bulls' radarStrengths: The 6-9, 248-pound Queen is a skilled big who averaged 16.5 points and 9.0 rebounds while ranking among Division I leaders with 15 double-doubles with his ability to score in postups or off the offensive glass. He was also a solid passer (1.9 assists) and shot 76.6% on free throws while getting to the line 6.1 times per game, indicating his willingness to attack defenders.
The 20-year-old claimed his place in March Madness lore by banking in a buzzer-beating runner to beat Colorado State and reach the NCAA Sweet 16.
Concerns: Queen isn't the biggest of bigs nor an elite defender. There's also uncertainty on how he might fare against a bigger or quicker defenders, while he must improve his range after making just 7 of 35 3-pointers (20%).
He also didn't measure well at the combine; he tied for last among all players in standing vertical leap (23.5 inches) and tied for second-lowest in max vertical (28.0), as well as last or next to last in lane agility, shuttle run and three-quarter court sprint testing.
Strengths: The five-star recruit and first-round prospect helped the Bulldogs return to the NCAAs for the first time in a decade, with the 19-year-old capable of playing as a small-ball center or power forward. His athleticism helped him thrive on the offensive glass (22nd in Division I at 3.33 rebounds per game) and as a rim finisher, along with showing potential as a versatile defender.
Concerns: Newell needs bulk on his 6-9, 224-pound frame to handle physical, stronger opponents. He also needs to enhance his outside shot after shooting 29.2% on 3-pointers (26 of 89).
Strengths: The freshman has the frame to tussle amid bumps in the post (6-9, 263) and in traffic. He averaged 14.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists while shooting 53.2% overall, including 57.1% in post-up chances, according to Synergy.
The first-round prospect has defensive potential with a 7-6 wingspan (tied for second-longest at the combine) that helped him average 2.0 blocks and 1.5 steals.
Concerns: The 19-year-old must improve his 3-point shot (6 of 37, 16.2%). There was a limited sample size of 24 games before a foot injury ended his season, though the Hoyas lost seven of 10 without him to illustrate his value.
Rasheer Fleming: The 6-8, 232-pound junior from Saint Joseph's is a first-round prospect who averaged 14.7 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks last year. He has a better than 7-5 wingspan, and went from shooting 31.3% on 3s in his first two seasons to 39% last year.
Danny Wolf: The 6-11, 252-pound junior thrived in moving from Yale in the Ivy League to the Big Ten's Michigan. The first-round prospect averaged 13.2 points and 9.7 rebounds while also making 38 3s in 37 games to go with 15 double-doubles.
Maxime Raynaud: Stanford's fourth-year senior from France is a skilled 7-footer who averaged 20.2 points and 10.6 rebounds while making 67 3-pointers in 35 games last year. His rangy skillset could land him late in the first round.
Joan Beringer: The 6-11, 230-pound Frenchman turns 19 in November and could be a first-rounder as a mobile threat working in the pick-and-roll and as a lob threat.
Hansen Yang: The 7-1, 249-pound center from China is a potential late first-rounder with intriguing size (9-3 standing reach, nearly 7-3 wingspan, only combine player in top three in both hand length and width) to go with shooting and passing touch. He turns 20 on June 26, the day of the second round.
Ryan Kalkbrenner: The 7-1, 257-pound senior from Creighton averaged 14.5 points and 2.4 blocks while shooting 65.8% over five college seasons. He has good touch in the paint and had 49 points in a game last year (second-most in Division I) as a possible late first-rounder.
Yanic Konan Niederhauser: The 6-11, 243-pound junior from Penn State is a likely second-rounder who ranked 12th in Division I by averaging 2.31 blocks. He had a better than 7-3 wingspan with a 37-inch max vertical leap at the combine.
Johni Broome: The Associated Press All-American from Auburn is a likely second-round prospect. He averaged 10.8 rebounds and 2.1 blocks, but lacks elite athleticism (he tied Queen in max vertical leap) and plays below the rim with a 6-9, 249-pound frame.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
28 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
'Craziest' reversal of fortune puts Mavs on path to Flagg after all the Doncic drama
DALLAS (AP) — Dallas Mavericks CEO Rick Welts wasn't thinking even for a second about Cooper Flagg when he started a staff meeting before the draft lottery by saying the club was entering the most important offseason in franchise history. The longtime NBA executive and relatively new leader on the business side of the Mavs was thinking about the lingering fallout of the widely reviled Luka Doncic trade, not the club turning a 1.8% chance into winning the rights to draft the teenaged star from Duke. Dallas is set to make that pick Wednesday night. 'Never, ever did anybody in our organization ever even say what would happen if we win. That's a waste of time,' Welts told The Associated Press recently. 'Like, it's unbelievable. It was hard to even get your head around.' The self-inflicted wounds were numerous after general manager Nico Harrison's stunning decision to send Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis in early February. Fans were incensed. Season-ticket holders were canceling. Potential new sponsors were telling Welts they'd have to think about it. Just like that, the Mavs had a vision to sell of a potential superstar who could someday be the face of the franchise — as Doncic was, and fellow European superstar Dirk Nowitzki before him. Just like that, despair turned to hope for plenty of people, including those under Welts who had spent weeks dealing with the wrath of a spurned fan base. 'It's got to be the craziest reversal of fortune,' Welts said. 'It would match any in the league's history.' Before the Doncic trade, Welts had already made a decision to raise season-ticket prices. He told the AP he had to back off on the size of the increase as he watched the visceral reaction unfold. Welts has seen plenty in nearly 50 years with the NBA, including time in the league office and stints with Phoenix and Golden State. Magic Johnson's HIV announcement. Accusations of widespread drug use in the early 1980s, when he says there was a widespread belief that the league would fail. That's not to say the Doncic fallout didn't have a profound impact on the 72-year-old Welts, who had come out of retirement to replace Cynt Marshall just a month and a half earlier. It just means he has weathered a few storms. And now the Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer isn't so sure he's ever seen the sun come back out so quickly. 'The thing that I learned through all of this experience was what I knew was like this amazing emotional tie between this team and these fans was even stronger than I think anybody who hadn't lived here and been a part of it could ever imagine,' Welts said. 'Just the outpouring of pure joy and the idea of a generational player that could change our fortunes for the next 15 years would land with us by pure luck.' Harrison's widely panned decision on Doncic was compounded by an injury to Davis in his Dallas debut, followed by Kyrie Irving's season-ending knee injury a month later. The Mavs made the play-in tournament and won at Sacramento before their season — mercifully, perhaps — ended in a loss at Memphis with the No. 8 seed at stake. Part of what made the Doncic deal so hard to believe was unloading a 25-year-old superstar in his prime nine months after leading Dallas to the NBA Finals for the first time in 13 years. The Mavs lost to Boston in five games last June. Harrison's reasoning was prioritizing defense, and his belief that Davis and Irving were a good enough tandem to keep Dallas as a championship contender. Flagg's potential gave that notion a boost. 'I feel like I'm a broken record, but the team that we intended to put on the floor, which you guys saw for 2 1/2 quarters, that's a championship-caliber team,' Harrison said. 'And so you might not like it, but that's the fact, it is.' Welts, who believes the Mavs have work to do to bring their basketball and business sides together, will spend plenty of time during the early days of the Flagg era sharing his vision for a new arena. It's a big reason Welts took the job, after spending seven years with Golden State on an arena plan that moved the Warriors across the bay to San Francisco from Oakland. He says all the talks are focused on keeping the team in Dallas. While the casino-centered Adelson and Dumont families of Las Vegas, in the middle of their second full year as owners of the Mavs, wanted gambling to be part of the formula for a new arena, the political realities in Texas have shifted the focus away from that idea for now. There's a new focus for Welts in what seems certain will be the final stop in an eventful NBA career: building everything around another potentially generational star after the Mavs jettisoned the one they had. 'Don't make this sound like I'm suggesting that everyone is forgiven,' Welts said. 'Luka will always be a big part of what this organization is. But for a large number of fans, it is a pathway — it's not a pathway, it's like a four-lane highway into being able to care about the Mavericks the way they cared about the Mavericks before.'
USA Today
29 minutes ago
- USA Today
The Thunder are so young that popping champagne was their toughest test
The Thunder were the youngest team in the NBA this past season, but that didn't stop them from winning their first championship in Oklahoma City. This roster also became the youngest team to win the NBA Finals since the Portland Trail Blazers in 1977. While that didn't stop them from having the best record in the regular-season or from winning the title, it did slow them down a little bit during their celebration. Oklahoma City beat Indiana (playing without franchise star Tyrese Haliburton due to an Achilles injury) in Game 7. Afterward, it was only natural that the team have a little bit of fun. However, it was a bit more difficult for them to open the champagne than they may have expected. Oklahoma City executive Sam Presti joked that it was because none of them were old enough to drink. No one aside from Alex Caruso (who previously won a championship with the Lakers in 2020) seemed to know how to do it: Thunder big man Isaiah Hartenstein admitted "none of us knew how to do it" when asked why Caruso was asked for help. Back when Hartenstein won a title playing in Lithuania, he said that his team opted for tequila instead.
USA Today
34 minutes ago
- USA Today
Worried new Rockets star Kevin Durant is in decline? ESPN's Mike Greenberg pushes back
ESPN's Mike Greenberg on new Rockets star Kevin Durant: 'He remains what he has always been: a bucket, and maybe the best pure scorer that ever lived.' Newly acquired Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant turns 37 years old in September, but that doesn't mean the All-Star and future Hall of Famer is past his prime. Like his contemporaries, 36-year-old Steph Curry and 40-year-old LeBron James, Durant seems to be aging very gracefully — at least by NBA standards. In a recent segment skewering teams who weren't interested in trading for Durant — most notably, the New York Knicks — longtime ESPN host Mike Greenberg laid out the case for Durant still being near the peak of his powers. It's pretty convincing. From ESPN's Get Up: So, you don't think Kevin Durant is the player that he used to be? Well, guess what? You are dead wrong. To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of KD's demise have been greatly exaggerated. Let's start with this. Durant is the only player ever to put together three straight seasons averaging 25 points on 50/40 shooting (50% overall, 40% on 3-pointers). Take one guess as to when he did that. The answer is he's done it the last three years. That streak is active. In fact, in the five seasons since he tore his Achilles (in the 2019 NBA Finals), KD has averaged 28 points on 53% shooting and 42% on 3s. He remains what he has always been: a bucket, and maybe the best pure scorer that ever lived. But there's so much more to his game. Over the last two seasons, KD has 119 steals and 168 blocks. There are a total of three other players who have amassed as many of both. And Durant has also put the D in KD. There were 209 players last year who were the closest defender on at least 500 shots. KD's field-goal allowance was ninth out of 209. He's literally doing everything on the floor. You're going to say his team was awful: Not when he was playing, it wasn't. In the 62 games he played last year, the Suns were 33-29. They went 3-17 in without him. The point of all of this, in case it isn't clear, is that like his contemporaries — LeBron and Steph — KD has not significantly slowed down. Plus, he's younger than both of them! Six months younger than Curry and almost four years younger than James. I heard there are teams like the Knicks who reportedly think they're better off without this guy. To quote Mark Twain again, get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please. Watch for yourself. As for Durant and the Rockets, he will officially he introduced as a member of the Rockets in early July. Because the trade involves Jalen Green's higher 2025-26 salary, it cannot be processed by the league office until the start of the NBA's new fiscal year in July. Durant, a former Most Valuable Player (MVP) and two-time champion and NBA Finals MVP, will slide into Houston's new-look starting lineup alongside Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson, Alperen Sengun, and Jabari Smith Jr. (likely). The 2025-26 season will begin in October, and the Durant-led Rockets are already among the championship favorites. More: Rockets trade for Kevin Durant in deal involving Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, draft equity
