The NBA draft is now less than a week away, and teams are finalizing their big boards. As it approaches, analysts are also making their final mock drafts and last minute predictions. ESPN’s Jay Bilas had a few thoughts on the draft as it concerns Kentucky basketball.
The Wildcats aren’t expected to have the kind of presence in the draft that they have in recent years. However, they do have a few players who could hear their names called. Bilas thinks that two of them will.
Guard Koby Brea and center Amari Williams are the two most likely former Wildcats to be selected, and Bilas sees them both being taken.
Speaking with Kentucky Sports Radio, he had some thoughts on both players. Of Brea, he said:
I’ve got him as sort of an early second-round pick. I ranked him in the 30s… I thought for a time last year that Koby Brea was the best shooter in the country. I put (Kon) Knueppel and Texas’ Tre Johnson just a little bit higher than that, but we’re splitting hairs a little bit.
On Williams, he said:
Very good passing big guy, he can get the ball at the elbow and hit cutters, and so he’s got a lot of good traits as a big guy. Really good hands, left-handed, but had some excellent games, and he’s a good rebounder and a good offensive rebounder.
Both players are talented and could develop into solid NBA players. On Wednesday, we’ll find out if Bilas was right about them being drafted.