Suns' Devin Booker recalls conversation that led to ongoing trust with Khaman Maluach

Suns' Devin Booker recalls conversation that led to ongoing trust with Khaman Maluach appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

PHOENIX— Khaman Maluach has made the impact everyone thought, but not in the way everyone would anticipate, except for Devin Booker.

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And how it solidified was in one conversation.

“Can we get some work in together?” Booker recalled Maluach texting him one night during the offseason, during media day. “I think that guard-and-big relationship is super important. He’s way ahead of the curve, just to be going into his second year.

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“He’s asking a lot of questions, but you can tell he’s asking them when he already knows the answer, and he knows what to do. It’s been a pleasure to watch him grow. I’d say he’s taken the biggest leap out of anybody that I’ve seen this summer.”

The potential was there from the beginning, as evidenced by their No. 10 draft selection in the 2025 NBA Draft. They knew the expectation. They knew the potential and ambition to be that star center in the league.

But slowly but surely, Maluach got his time in the G League, and even stints during the back end of the season proved that the gamble could pay off.

Khaman Maluach emerged in front of Suns fans’ eyes

Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Even getting in the playoffs, he made a lasting impression. So once Summer League came around, a breakout was expected, and boy did Phoenix get one.

In Las Vegas, Maluach and the Suns’ young group caught the league in a frenzy. The dominance was on display.

Although the talent was coming to fruition, it’s the process that everyone is starstruck by. He knows what will work, how to navigate his screens, and how to position himself in a pick-and-roll scenario.

Maluach still asks the questions, even when knowing the answers. His rise immediately caught the attention of fellow teammates like Luke Kennard and Pat Spencer, who all echoed a familiar statement during media: he is the guy on the breakout watch.

Khaman Maluach’s desire matches his talent

Talent can take a player only so far. But what impresses most is this jovial, childlike energy that Maluach brings to the gym. Behind that energy is the confidence and swagger, mixed with striving to be better; it’s cliché, but it’s that way for a reason.

And striving to be better comes with taking advice from the franchise’s best player, and one of the league’s top guards is certainly worth paying attention to.

Not to mention, with just about every player talking about the physical, mental, and on-court leap they’ve seen, much of it comes back to his time with Booker.

“He’s done this for a long time, and he has a lot of tools that I can learn from him as a center,” Maluach explained during media day. “Just being able to go to him and just ask what I should do in this situation because he’s that type of player in the NBA that will see different coverages every day.

“He’s kind of like a coach himself, and I get to learn a lot from him. A lot of stuff that the coaches don’t see that he sees as a player when he gets blitzed. Just being able to reach out to him and learn that and have more knowledge.”

Second-year guys get hyped up, but not like this. Safe to say that it’s full steam ahead for Maluach and his much-needed ascension, given the center depth taking a hit.

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