Photo by Chet White | Courtesy of UK Athletics
Kevin Knox, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Hamidou Diallo are officially gone and all three will hear their names called during the 2018 NBA Draft. P.J. Washington, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Wenyen Gabriel also have one foot out the door, but there’s not much hope for being selected in the 2018 draft.
This morning, Jonathan Givony updated his Top 100 NBA Draft prospects list and things aren’t looking good for the trio. According to the projections, Washington would be the only one drafted. Givony has him listed at No. 51 overall.
Meanwhile, Vanderbilt is listed at No. 65 and Gabriel didn’t make the list. Keep in mind there are only 60 available picks in the NBA Draft, which would have both going undrafted at this point.
All three have interesting situations to follow leading up to the combine and the draft. Washington wants to go but he wants a first round selection, and No. 51 overall is nowhere near a first round selection. The freshman forward is also putting off having surgery on his left pinky, which he dislocated during the regular season. That surgery will likely come following the combine, which runs May 16-20 in Chicago.
As for Vanderbilt, a leg/ankle injury forced him to miss most of the 2017-2018 season. He made his debut for Kentucky vs. South Carolina in January but played just 14 games before a leg injury forced him to miss the entire postseason.
Gabriel also has an interesting situation. He’s not projected on any NBA Draft boards and he’s so far outside the second round that I’m not sure a third season at Kentucky would improve that. Gabriel’s decision will come down to the feedback he receives at the combine. If they say he can improve his stock by returning to Kentucky, then he likely plays a junior season in Lexington. However, if they say this is high as it will get, he may elect to turn pro, even if that means a career overseas. Also worth noting, he is on pace to graduate and earn his degree next spring, something that could keep him around one more year.
In all, I think Kentucky will return at least two of the three. All three returning or leaving would shock me but we’ve seen crazier things happen.
