Maliq Brown Brings A Lot To Duke

On Sunday, former Syracuse forward/center/big guy Maliq Brown committed to Duke. What does he bring to the program?

Well first and foremost experience. A rising junior, Brown has a lot to offer a very young team. He was an All-ACC defender. Cooper Flagg is expected to be a superb defender, but he is also a freshman and there are things to learn. Brown has already learned most of them.

Additionally, Brown can play center and can either back up Khaman Maluach or, conceivably, start in his place if Maluach isn’t ready or has issues for whatever reason (primarily injuries but possibly other things).

This is even better if it turns out that Patrick Ngongba is still behind this fall due to the foot injury he suffered this past season.

Brown is not wildly gifted offensively but he is efficient, hitting nearly 70 percent of his shots last season. We’ll have to see how this works out, but since he is mostly going to score near the basket, that may free Flagg up to do roam on offense and, to borrow/paraphrase what Shane Battier said Mike Krzyzewski told him to do on defense, Flagg may be able to just ”do things.”

This is also important and should not be underestimated.

Flagg and Maluach are both expected to be excellent defenders but neither one is particularly powerful at this point. Maluach is catching up in many ways. He’ll be a very different player after 12-24 months in the weight room but that won’t happen overnight and certainly not by November. And as promising as Flagg is, he has a 17-year-old’s body.

If all Brown does – and we think he can do more – is to defend and rebound and take on basketball bullies, he’s a great addition.

If you want to find a (very) rough analogue, think of Theo John, who came from Marquette. He was a superb guy to bring in off the bench to spell Mark Williams. Brown will likely be more than that for next year’s Duke team.