With the fourth pick in the 2025 NBA draft, the Charlotte Hornets select Khaman Maluach, center, Duke. That would probably be the biggest surprise the Hornets could pull this year. After falling short of Cooper Flagg, there are tons of options on the table, including this one. It just wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense.
For starters, the Hornets currently have a bit of a logjam at center with Mark Williams, Jusuf Nurkic, and Moussa Diabate. Four centers would be very hard to navigate, even if one of them gets traded, and it’s generally not a great idea to draft a player because you could trade someone at his position later unless they’re just that good of a prospect. Maluach isn’t.
Furthermore, this would be a stretch. Maluach is a top-10 prospect in this class. Top five? Not so much. The Duke center would be hypothetically going over Kon Knueppel, VJ Edgecombe (or Ace Bailey), Tre Johnson, and a couple of other prospects. It would be a reach to take Maluach.
The Hornets need shooting, perimeter defense, and offensive firepower. There’s no prospect out there that gets them all of those things per se, but Maluach doesn’t have most of the things the Hornets should be looking for.
If they want Maluach, then they should trade Mark Williams and trade back in the draft. Picking Maluach to replace Williams in the range of the eighth pick would be good, but picking him fourth overall would be a bit of a stunner.
If the Hornets are going to pivot from losing Flagg to one of his teammates, Knueppel makes so much more sense. He, Johnson, Bailey, and Edgecombe should all be considered over Maluach at fourth overall, so if this is the name fans hear, it’s going to be quite the shock.
