What do people think of Malaki Branham?
I think he has more star upside than some of the other shooters in the class, like AJ Griffin and Mathurin. He is in that class as a shooter. He has a mature 3 level scoring which is rare in a player who is so young. He is one of those guys who can get past his defender frequently and it's hard to figure out how he does it---I think he plays with awesome leverage and drives very close to the ground, which is part of it. He can create really good shots in the midrange and gets layups and dunks more than most really good shooters.
Two things I don't like: 1. He isn't as much of a gunner from 3 as you would ideally want, his off-the-dribble shooting is mostly from 2, and he doesn't launch really deep 3s.
2. He doesn't do much in terms of nonscoring parts of his game and is disinterested at best as a defender.
I think out of the guards in this draft, he is up there with Sharpe and Ivy in terms of potential upside. Less physical upside than those guys, but he could be the best shooter in the draft and the handle and athleticism is good enough to weaponize that.