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Duke Basketball Star Declares for 2025 NBA Draft

Potential Philadelphia 76ers prospect out of Duke is officially entering the 2025 NBA Draft.

Justin Grasso

Apr 4, 2025; San Antonio, TX, USA; Duke Blue Devils center Khaman Maluach (9) during a practice session for the Final Four of the 2025 NCAA tournament at Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
Apr 4, 2025; San Antonio, TX, USA; Duke Blue Devils center Khaman Maluach (9) during a practice session for the Final Four of the 2025 NCAA tournament at Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
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As the early entry deadline for the 2025 NBA Draft approached, Duke Basketball star Khaman Maluach made his decision to declare for the draft. He becomes a potential Philadelphia 76ers prospect as there is a chance the team could be in the range to pick him up this season.

via @DukeMBB: NBA next. Duke forever. Thank you @khaman_maluach!! 💙💙👿

The 18-year-old from South Sudan is a product of the NBA’s Academy Africa. One year ago, Maluach chose Duke over many top schools in the nation.

With the Blue Devils, Maluach started 39 games during the 2024-2025 NCAA season. Seeing the court for 21 minutes per game, the center produced nine points on average, making 71 percent of his field goals.

Along with his scoring, Maluach came down with seven rebounds per game, and averaged one block on the defensive end.

Maluach is one of three Duke prospects placed in the top 10 of many mock draft projections. He joins the consensus No. 1 pick, Cooper Flagg, and the standout sharpshooter, Kon Knueppel.

The Sixers are hoping to land their pick within the top six through the lottery, or else they’ll have to fork over the pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Philly’s President of Basketball Operations, Daryl Morey, made it clear that going with the best player available no matter where they land will be the strategy they take. Therefore, the presence of Joel Embiid, Andre Drummond, and the recently-selected Adem Bona wouldn’t shy the Sixers away from Khaman Maluach if they believed he was the best player on their board.

Just last year, the Sixers selected Duke prospect Jared McCain right outside of the lottery. They selected Bona out of UCLA in the second round.

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Justin Grasso
JUSTIN GRASSO

Justin Grasso is a credentialed writer and publisher covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation. Grasso got his start in sports media in 2016 with FantasyPros, working the news desk, providing game-by-game player analysis and updates on the Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors. By 2017, he joined FanSided’s Philadelphia Eagles site as a staff writer. After spending one season covering the Eagles as a staff writer, Grasso was promoted to become the site’s Co-Editor. For the next two NFL seasons, he covered the Eagles closely before broadening his NFL coverage. For a brief stint, Grasso covered the NFL on a national basis after joining Heavy.com as an NFL news desk writer. In 2019, Grasso joined the 76ers' beat on a part-time basis, stepping into a role with South Jersey’s 97.3 ESPN. Ahead of the 2019-2020 NBA season, he concluded a three-year stint covering the Eagles and joined the Sixers beat full-time. Grasso has covered the 76ers exclusively since then for Sports Illustrated. He is a member of the Pro Basketball Writer’s Association. Twitter: @JGrasso_ Instagram: @JGrassoNBA

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