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Malaki Branham Makes His NBA Debut

+12 HS
Buckeye Chuck's picture
October 31, 2022 at 3:20pm
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Ex-Buckeye Malaki Branham was ticketed for the Spurs' G League affiliate in Austin after the end of training camp, an effort to give him some playing time in advance of what many felt would be further trades of Spurs veterans (thinking was that the Spurs would be going full tank). 

But thanks in part to some bizarre news out of San Antonio over the weekend (details here), it looks like Branham is going to get a look with the parent club. He made his debut last night against the Minnesota Timberwolves, a team that features Malaki's one-and-done predecessor with the Buckeyes, D'Angelo Russell. He played 19 minutes and scored 5 points in the 107-98 win, making a three and hitting two free throws. He was only 1-7 shooting (1-4 from three), but he did have a +2 in his 19 minutes, so he wasn't harming the overall effort. 

I suspect Malaki is still in line for the G League at some point. The Spurs' biggest need right now is for a backup at point guard, and ball handling isn't really Branham's game. But reviews of him from camp were fairly promising, and if a trade of a veteran guard like Josh Richardson or Romeo Langford comes through, that would probably allow him to stick in the Alamo City. On the other hand, the Spurs are a surprising 5-2 early on, so the tank may be put on hold.

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