With the conclusion of the 2024-2025 collegiate basketball season behind us, it’s now time to look ahead to this summer’s NBA Draft, which features plenty of stand-out big men prospects that will make an impact at the professional level.
There are the obvious names, like Derik Queen, Khaman Maluach, and Thomas Sorber (though Sorber has maintained his college eligibility, opening the door for a return).
There are too other bigs like Danny Wolf, Rasheer Fleming, and Asa Newell, though those three are different than typical center prospects. However, there is a strong top two in the previously mentioned Queen and Maluach, who are battling for the top spot at their position. Here is the case for each of them.
Maluach is a 7-foot-2 big man from Duke known specifically for his ability to protect the paint, get on the glass, and defend with a high level of instinct that is innate to him as a player. On the offensive end, he is a play finisher for the most part, though he has shown flashes here and there of the ability to shoot at a low volume, which would give him stretch capabilities. As a player comparison, think Daniel Gafford, a big man that can finish at a high clip and be effective on both ends near the rim.
Maryland’s Derik Queen on the other hand is much more of a skilled big, possessing the ability to score in multiple ways using a combination of face-ups and traditional post play to be a menace inside. He is also very good as a distributor out of the post, drawing Alperen Sengun comparisons. He has great feel on the offensive end, and though he’s not quite the rim protector that Maluach is, he makes up for it with high basketball IQ and the ability to score in versatile ways.
Overall, Maluach likely gets the nod as the defensive anchor teams look for as a high pick. He’s also a higher-floor prospect in that scouts know exactly what they are going to get with him on the defensive end. Queen is still a highly-touted prospect, but he is older than Maluach, and has less potential to be the defensive player that the Duke big man could be. Either way, a team drafting in the top 10 can’t really go wrong with either depending on team fit.
