Branham also starred for nearby St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron.
Today, sources confirmed that former Ohio State Buckeyes star guard Malaki Branham will be hosted by the Cleveland Cavaliers at Cleveland Clinic Courts on Wednesday for a pre-draft workout. The news was first reported by cleveland.com.
Branham is an interesting prospect who is getting some consideration by teams towards the end of the top ten in the 2022 NBA Draft but could be on Cleveland’s radar. The 6-foot-5 swingman averaged 13.7 points on 49.8% shooting and 41.6% from 3-point range to go with 3.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 29.6 minutes for the Buckeyes last year. Sources say Branham will be the first lottery prospect to work out for the Cavs during the pre-draft process. Cleveland started hosting workouts last week but, those were for mostly prospects that have second-round grades at this time.
Branham’s teammate E.J. Liddell is also an option at 14 Cleveland as are the likes of LSU’s Tari Eason, Kansas swingman Ochai Agbaji, Baylor’s Jeremy Sochan and so many others. Unlike last year, the Cavs have to do more than their due diligence on a myriad of prospects due to how wide-open the field is where they’re picking. It’s just going to require a lot of logistical legwork between now and then in order to fit everyone in prior to the 2022 NBA Draft at the end of the month.