Analyzing Khaman Maluach Against Team USA in a USA Basketball Showcase Game

July 23rd, 2024

By Alan Lu

When USA barely defeated South Sudan by one point in a 101-100 game that was played on July 20th, buzz was abound on social media.  LeBron James scored on the go-ahead game winning drive to the basket, and South Sudan’s Carlik Jones also recorded a triple-double in this game.  7-2, 17-year old South Sudanese center, Khaman Maluach is a draft-eligible prospect that played in this game against other NBA superstars, and more than held his own, as he put forth an impressive performance against them.  He scored 7 points in 12 minutes against a team of NBA stars and superstars, and here are my thoughts on how he fared, as well as how his game may translate to the NBA.  Also, I was able to see this game with thanks to YouTube via dailymotivation, and the box score can be found here, via usab.com.

South Sudan’s 7-2 center, Khaman Maluach will play for Duke for the 2024-25 college basketball season, and he and Cooper Flagg will make Duke a tremendous team once again, and both Flagg and Maluach could be top 3 picks in the 2025 draft. (Photo: Nicholas Muller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images, via SB Nation’s A Sea of Blue)

Khaman Maluach had a strong showing for South Sudan against Team USA in this game, as he excelled at making hustle plays on both ends of the floor, and he also showed off a reliable jump shot. He is a very athletic center that showed that he can score on hustle plays.  He ran the floor to get the ball, which allowed him to score on a thunderous dunk.  He also shot the ball very well from the outside.  He faced up and utilized a quick jab step to make a smooth, long two-pointer over Joel Embiid.  He also started in the post and faded back to the corner, and he then made an open corner three over Anthony Davis.  His only miss was in the fourth quarter, when he ran the floor and used a ball fake, but ended up missing a rushed layup in traffic against Derrick White.

As a playmaker, he looked to be about average.  Maluach was able to get the ball out high and he passed the ball back to an open shooter once.  He also would set fairly solid, on-ball screens to help create driving lanes for his teammates.  However, there was one play where he held the ball pivoted right into Anthony Davis, leading his opponent to poke the ball away from him, and Maluach frantically was able to recover it, only to lose his grip and the ball right back to Davis to commit a turnover, which led his team to give up a pass and fastbreak points the other way.  Another time, he ran in to save a ball to help his team get an offensive rebound, but he ended up throwing the ball right to Davis in a rushed attempt to try to help his team retain possession.

Also, Maluach did a decent job of rebounding the basketball.  He was able to get boards on both ends of the floor.   He would sometimes try to chase down balls and tip them, but it would sometimes wind up going to the opposition.  He also played satisfactory defense in this game.  Maluach was able to recover to get back to a roll man and poke a ball away out of bounds.  He also stayed with Stephen Curry and his dribble moves when defending out on the perimeter, as Maluach showed good footwork to do so, and closed out on a step-back three to force a miss.  He also was able to contest a three to force another miss, and Maluach showed solid footwork to be able to defend out on the perimeter, make switches, and cut off penetration.

On the downside, he would sometimes take bad gambles on the defensive end.  On one play, he tried to hustle back, but couldn’t quite chase down a speeding LeBron James that drove to the hoop, and Maluach ended up fouling him along with James scoring on a dunk on the break.  Maluach also wildly crashed for an offensive rebound attempt another time, but he fell and missed on that chance, which led him to be late to get back, which caused his team to be scrambling and to allow a score in transition.  Maluach also allowed an easy catch and got outmuscled when defending Embiid in the post, which caused a teammate to have to rotate to commit a foul.  Another time, Maluach rotated on a switch, but gave up too much space on a close out, and gave an opponent a clear view to make a three.

Overall, Maluach is a very athletic big man that showed off a very good jump shot as well as versatile scoring skills, and he is a high-motor player that played solid basketball on both ends of the floor.  He has the potential to be a dynamic offensive player, as well as a shutdown defender at the NBA level. 

He played very well in the first three quarters, but his play seemed to slip late in the third quarter, and he didn’t play nearly as well in the fourth, but overall, Maluach played well in this game.  Maluach is a very talented prospect that has the skills to be a top 5 pick in the 2025 draft, and he could end up being a superstar similar to Boston Celtics’ center, Kristaps Porzingis in the NBA.

Other Notes:

Carlik Jones and JT Thor played very well in this game, and both of them should get contracts from NBA teams to play in the NBA for the upcoming 2024-25 season. LeBron James played really well, and at age 39, his strong performance was all the more impressive out here. Anthony Davis brought forth game-changing defensive skills, and the group of big men that team USA has is a tremendous upgrade over the previous group in 2023. Team USA will be favored to win the gold, given the vast amount of talent they have, but they will need better tactics and more focus to do so in the 2024 Paris Olympics. In addition, South Sudan also played well in this game, and it will be interesting to see how well they will fare in the Olympics.

All in all, those are my thoughts on how Maluach played in this game.  Thanks for reading.