Duke’s Khaman Maluach taken No. 10 in NBA Draft. Will join Phoenix via trade
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- Houston selected Khaman Maluach 10th overall, then traded him to Phoenix.
- Maluach averaged 8.6 points and 6.6 rebounds in Duke’s Final Four season.
- Durant moved to Houston in the trade that sent Phoenix the No. 10 draft pick.
Another Duke Blue Devil joins the NBA ranks, as the Houston Rockets selected Khaman Maluach in the first round with the No. 10 overall pick on Wednesday night at the 2025 NBA Draft.
Wiping tears from his eyes, Maluach placed a red-billed Rockets hat on his head as he walked up to the draft stage, but he will begin his career with the Phoenix Suns, who acquired the pick via trade with the Houston Rockets in a deal that saw Kevin Durant head to Houston. That trade will become official when the league’s new year begins next month.
“The moment met my expectations,” Maluach said. “I didn’t think I was going to cry, but sometimes I let the emotions out. I was so happy. Everything was just going through my head, my whole journey, my people and the continent I represent, the continent of Africa.”
The Blue Devils have produced 60 first-round draft picks, including at least one first-rounder in 16 of the last 17 drafts.
Entering draft night, Maluach was projected to land either with the Brooklyn Nets as the No. 8 overall pick, the New Orleans Pelicans at No. 7 or the Washington Wizards at No. 6. Competing with fellow Blue Devil Kon Knueppel and Oklahoma’s Jeremiah Fears, Maluach ultimately slipped to 10th overall.
As a 7-foot-2 true center, he averaged 8.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game in his freshman season at Duke, shooting 71 percent from the field — the second highest by a Duke freshman and third highest in the program’s single-season history.
The Rumbek, South Sudan native also helped lead the Blue Devils to their first Final Four appearance under head coach Jon Scheyer, alongside No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg.
“I’m here representing the whole [African] continent,” Maluach told ESPN. “I had the whole continent on my back. I hope to inspire young kids and the next generation of African basketball.”
The eventual Blue Devil rim protector started playing basketball at age 13, later joining the NBA Academy Africa in Saly, Senegal, and committing to Duke as the third-best prospect at the time by ESPN in the 2025 NBA draft.
“It’s nothing much because when I started my basketball journey I believed in myself,” Maluach said. “That’s what I told myself the whole time: Believe in yourself and let God work on everything else. As I said, I was delusional about my dreams, and I believed in myself before anybody else did.”
This story was originally published June 25, 2025 at 9:27 PM with the headline "Duke’s Khaman Maluach taken No. 10 in NBA Draft. Will join Phoenix via trade."