The Phoenix Suns got back their own 2025 first-round pick and used it on Duke center Khaman Maluach. As the players they passed on continue to break out, the decision looks increasingly questionable -- and their regret is growing.
Some teams learn to regret their draft picks right away as they reach for a player who never should have been in consideration at their draft slot. The San Antonio Spurs did that with Josh Primo a few years back; the Brooklyn Nets likely did that this year with BYU point forward Egor Demin. The Suns didn't commit that mistake.
Khaman Maluach was a top prospect throughout the entire draft cycle. He played real minutes for South Sudan as a teenager, helping them to qualify in the 2023 World Cup to play in the Summer Olympics in 2024. He was the starting center on a loaded Duke team that made it to the Final Four. He was hardly a reach when the Suns took him at 10th overall. In fact, many were surprised that he even fell that far.
Perhaps the reason that he fell, however, is that NBA teams began to realize his limitations as a player and just how far off he appeared to be. That has proven itself out this year, as Maluach has been glued to the bench behind three different centers who are currently better than he is.
The Maluach pick could still work out, but right now it appears to be a mistake -- for three primary reasons.
Drafting Maluach looks like a mistake
At the same basic moment that the Suns were drafting their center of the future, they were also trading for...their center of the future. The front office pulled the trigger on another former Duke center, Mark Williams, and it was reported within seconds of their selection of Maluach.
Suddenly the Suns had two big centers, and unsurprisingly Mark Williams has been the much better player thus far. He is starting and playing big minutes for Phoenix, and he has been very successful. He is on track to land a new contract with the team when he hits restricted free agency this summer.
The Suns also have Nick Richards, whom they also traded for from the Charlotte Hornets; and second year big man Oso Igodaro, a skilled big who has leveled up. All three are contributing to the Suns' hot start this season -- and make using the team's only lottery pick for a long time on another center.
There is a second reason that drafting Maluach looks like a mistake: the other options on the board look much better. One pick after the Suns took Maluach, the Memphis Grizzlies traded up to take Cedric Coward. The late riser in the draft cycle has been a monster to start the season, playing 27.3 minutes per game for the Grizzlies and putting up some mammoth stat lines. He looks like a future star.
Derik Queen went 13th and has shown real flashes as a skilled offensive big (more on him in a moment). If the Suns were locked into a big, defensive center, Joan Beringer went 17th and looks the part of a future starter. (Dipping into the second round, Ryan Kalkbrenner is a capable starting center right now). It is very possible that a redraft in a year or two looks back and has Maluach picked much later and the likes of Queen and Beringer picked sooner -- and Coward likely in the Top 5.
Finally, the Suns should regret drafting Maluach because they likely could have traded down with the New Orleans Pelicans, accepting the same trade offer that the Atlanta Hawks ultimately took to trade back from No. 13. The Pelicans sent the best of their first or Milwaukee's first in 2026; right now, the Pelicans have the worst record in the NBA and would be sending the No. 1 pick if the lottery held serve.
Could Maluach become a long-term starting center? Absolutely. Will he end up better than the combination of Kalkbrenner and, say, Darryn Peterson or AJ Dybantsa? Some of this is hindsight, of course, but the Suns' job as a front office is to properly project the future of these players and teams. They did not do a very good job of that in 2025's draft.
As Maluach struggles and other players ascend, the Suns' regret over their selection will only grow.