San Antonio Spurs Interested In Top Big Man Prospect to Pair With Wembanyama

With under three weeks left to go until the 2025 NBA Draft, teams are analyzing prospects under a fine-tooth comb. The San Antonio Spurs hold two lottery picks in the upcoming draft, the No. 2 and No. 14 overall selections. It wouldn't be hyperbole to say the Spurs' future rests on this draft.

The Spurs already have a solid core for the future, with Victor Wembanyama, De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, and Devin Vassell headlining the team. 

The current working theory is that the Spurs will select Rutgers guard Dylan Harper with the No. 2 overall pick. Harper is widely seen as the second-best prospect in the class behind Cooper Flagg. As for the Spurs' second selection, it seems to be up in the air.

NBA TV's Krysten Peek reported that the Spurs could show interest in pairing Wembanyama with Duke center Khaman Maluach.

"Another buzzy name tied to the Spurs is Maluach, a 7-foot-2 center out of Duke. The Spurs could essentially be building twin towers with Wembanyama and Maluach, and there is an appeal to drafting another young big that can learn and grow alongside Wembanyama," Peek wrote.

Maluach is seen as a likely lottery pick. If he falls to the Spurs, at 14, it'd be a dream come true. The Spurs may be open to being flexible with their draft positioning, with the potential to move up or down.

"It would be very unlikely that the Spurs would shock everyone and take Maluach with the No. 2 pick but they could be looking to trade down or package the No. 14 pick for a shot at the talented center," Peek wrote.

Maluach is coming off a freshman season at Duke, where he averaged 8.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game in 21.2 minutes per game. Maluach was super efficient, shooting 71.2 percent from the field. Maluach isn't just a run-jump-and-dunk center, though. Maluach has some shooting touch, knocking down 76.6 percent of his free throws. For what it's worth, Maluach also took 16 three-pointers in college, converting on four.

Maluach also has an incredible touch around the rim. His hand-eye coordination is genuinely impressive for someone his size, he can catch lobs and arrant passes from any angle and gently put them off the glass or through the hoop. 

The real standout trade for Maluach is his measurables, though. Listed at 7-foot-2 with a 7-foot-7 wingspan and a whopping 9-foot-8 standing reach - an inch longer than Wembanyama's. 

Maluach has sky-high potential defensively, especially in the pick-and-roll. His arms are constantly moving and disrupting ball handlers and screeners simultaneously. Despite his laboring size, Maluach has really quick feet and has a ton of confidence coming out to defend the level of the screen in pick-and-rolls, and he kept up with most college guards. Even when he couldn't keep up, his combination of speed and length negated a lot of opportunities at the rim.

With how much time Maluach spent defending the perimeter, his defensive rebounding numbers were unimpressive. But his 16.5 percent offensive rebound percentage was the top mark in the ACC and the sixth-best mark in the nation.

Two-big lineups are not particularly common in the NBA, but Maluach and Wembanyama's defensive range and agility could make it a viable option, especially with Wembanyama's ability to space the floor offensively. 

Texas has had a long line of fearsome twin-tower lineups. With Ralph Sampson and Hakeem Olajuwon in the 80s, to the Spurs' own championship-winning duo of Tim Duncan and David Robinson, the Spurs could deploy a modern version with two bigs with insane skill sets and physical traits.