Khaman Maluach’s NBA Draft Decision Is Nothing Like Those His Teammates Have Made.
There are a lot of things that Duke Basketball does very well, which is what you’d expect from a program that has been elite for several decades running.
One of them is managing transitions. That probably made you think of Jon Scheyer replacing Mike Krzyzewski, but in this case, we’re thinking more of transitioning from Duke to the NBA or, in recent times, transferring.
Nearly every year, Duke players line up like jets on an aircraft carrier and, in a very controlled way, announce their departure.
This year, we’ve seen Kon Knueppel, Tyrese Proctor and Cooper Flagg declare for the NBA Draft and Stanley Borden opt for the transfer portal.
Typically, these announcements come a few days apart, which begs the next question: what’s up with Khaman Maluach.Presumably, he’s here on some sort of student visa. If he moves to the NBA, his status will obviously change and we have no idea how that works or what sort of a visa he would try for, or if he would be best served with a green card. Having grown up here, immigration intricacies are not something we know well.
And here’s another question: if he’s advised not to leave the country, what would Maluach do if he were drafted by the Toronto Raptors? Could he still travel freely to play U.S. teams? If not, Toronto would be pissed at the wasted draft pick. And if that were the case, then presumably, he wouldn’t be able to visit the team as a player either.
Given all of that, it might be easier, and smarter, to stay on the visa you already have.
However, unlike most everyone else who will be drafted, Maluach has family who have had to flee their homeland after war broke out out and consequently, as someone who is going to be quite wealthy, we’re certain he will want to provide for his family members.
And this is another area we’re not clear on, but we think NIL is different for international players, so he may not be able to help nearly as much if he stays in school, although the House Settlement may be an easier solution.
To sum it up, there are a lot of moving parts for Maluach, who seems like as likable a kid to come through Duke as anyone since Chris Carrawell. We have no idea what is best for him, but hope that everything works out in the best possible way.In a normal year, we would probably have heard his decision by now, but we don’t know: is he leaving for the NBA? Staying at Duke?
We wouldn’t necessarily rule out staying, but it seems less likely. So why hasn’t Maluach made his intentions clear?
Well, first, he may be uncertain about his prospects. He’s almost certainly going to be a first-round pick, but will he be a lottery pick? Or will he slide? That’s one factor to consider.
Another is more capricious: his visa status, and that may scare off some NBA teams as well.
As you will recall, the government revoked visas for South Sudanese in the U.S. during the NCAA tournament. For one, that makes it very difficult for him to travel because he probably won’t get back in the country if he leaves. For another, there are different sorts of visas…and this is where our knowledge runs thin.
