Whether he starts or not, Brown is a major upgrade
The Duke Chronicle’s latest player profile is of Syracuse transfer Maliq Brown.
A 6-9 player who mostly stays close to the basket on both ends of the court, Brown is particularly valuable for his defense. With two great shotlbockers likely to start in Cooper Flagg and Khaman Maluach, Brown could certainly start but is likely to come off the bench. Not that it matters much - there won’t be much of a fall off no matter who is on the court.
He gives coach Jon Scheyer a tremendous amount of versatility as he could come in for Flagg, Maluach, perhaps Kon Knueppel or whatever bigs are on the court. He also allows more versatility with the perimeter players since no one has to step up and play out of position (presumably anyway).
And as this article points out, as a junior, he has a ton of experience and should be very helpful to Duke’s six freshmen.
Finally, for anyone who saw Syracuse play in Cameron this past season, Brown made a huge impression. He brings a lot to this team.
