Final 2017 NBA Draft Preview and where Kentucky Wildcats could land

The day is finally here. The day that everyone has been waiting for since the end of the college basketball season way back in April.

John Calipari looks to send multiple Kentucky Wildcats to the league, again, with Cal having at least one lottery pick in every season he has coached at Kentucky. Three Wildcats will be in the Green Room in Brooklyn on Thursday; De’Aaron Fox, Malik Monk, and Bam Adebayo.

Point Guard De’Aaron Fox looks to be the first Wildcat taken off the board, and his draft status has been a roller coaster over the past weeks. While Markelle Fultz will almost certainly be trusting the process as Philly selects him with the first pick, Fox originally rivaled UCLA Point Guard Lonzo Ball for the second pick to the Los Angeles Lakers, and rightfully so, as Fox outplayed Ball in two head-to-head match-ups this past season.

Fox has been slipping down the draft board due to the blockbuster trade between the Celtics and the Sixers. Fox is currently projected to go fifth to the Kings, securing their point guard to build around for the future and pairing him with two former Wildcats in Willie Cauley-Stein and Skal Labissiere.

Malik Monk is certainly built for the way the NBA is played nowadays. A freak athlete who can score at will and get hot off of just one make. Monk was, at one point, being thought of as a potential third pick for the Sixers, when they still had the third pick, but has seen his stock fall over recent weeks.

While Monk seems to be the best shooting guard in the draft class, his lack of defense seems to be a potential scare for teams looking to pull the trigger on him.

As of last weeks mock draft, Monk seemed to be anywhere from the eighth pick to the Knicks, to the ninth pick to the Mavericks. But as of Wednesday’s most recent mock drafts, Monk has fallen to the eleventh slot to the Hornets, which would be a fantastic spot for Monk to showcase his talents.

He’d be paired with an all-star point guard in Kemba Walker, a former Wildcat in Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and a newly acquired Dwight Howard. Some even have Monk landing with the Kings.

Bam Adebayo has had a wild ride on his way to draft night. Pre-season projections slated him as a potential top ten pick, but a somewhat underwhelming season caused him to fall and fall hard on most draft boards.

But Bam has been turning heads in summer workouts leading up to the draft, playing his way back up to where he should be projected. The most recent mock drafts have Bam being selected with the 20th pick, teaming up with Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum in Portland, which could almost certainly free up the post for Adebayo to dominate down low.

Here is a final roundup of where all the major mock drafts have the Cats landing:

Of course, mock drafts are just pure speculation and rumors as we’ll all have to tune in to the draft to see where our former ‘Cats end up going. The draft will begin at 7 PM on ESPN and WatchESPN.