Running just behind the Cooper Flagg hype train on Platform B, and just ahead of the Kon Knueppel Express which is picking up speed fast is the Khaman Maluach special.

Maluach, as you probably know, is in Paris for the Olympics with the South Sudan Bright Stars. This article about players likely to be be drafted next year quotes an NBA executive who makes an interesting comparison between Maluach and Myles Turner of the Indiana Pacers:

“Maluach can stretch the floor and protect the rim in that same mold of Myles Turner but he’s a little more mobile. I want to see him playing with Cooper Flagg in the frontcourt and how he defends in space and moves his feet. I think those things are going to be important. He’s got to get more strength in his legs and his base to guard some of the bigger NBA guys. If you play him in a drop, it’ll be hard to score on him.”

There is also a considerable profile of Flagg here (#1), along with takes on Isaiah Evans (#20), Kon Knueppel (#24) and Tyrese Proctor (#30).

As we said about Flagg today, you can’t buy the hype uncritically, but in the case of Knueppel, you can’t ignore the buzz that’s coming out of practice either. Clearly he’s exceeding expectations. We don’t expect HoopsHype to be close enough to the ground to perceive that buzz, but it’s definitely there. In his appearance on The Brotherhood Podcast, Flagg said that Knueppel’s athleticism has surprised him. Sounds like that might happen to a lot of people.