Kentucky Wildcats Quickies: NBA ‘Cats Futures Past Edition

Good morning Big Blue Nation. It hasn’t even been a week yet and we are already getting reports from NBA teams about how the franchises that drafted Malik Monk, De’Aaron Fox, and Bam Adebayo are already impressed with the former Kentucky Wildcats.

The Heat not only fell in love with Bam’s future, they fell in love with his past as well. Bam’s journey with his single mom from New Jersey, to North Carolina, to Lexington, and finally to Miami gave the Miami Heat an idea of the hard work that Bam is willing to put in and his perseverance through hard times.

Malik Monk took a tough journey of his own. Growing up in “The Woodz” in rural Arkansas, where playing basketball was more of a rite of passage into manhood than just a game to Monk and his friends. Monk also developed a relationship with his brother than went beyond just being siblings, his older brother was like a father pushing him to always get better.

De’Aaron Fox was introduced as a King yesterday in Sacramento, where they expect him to step into a leadership role. The franchise has been down for quite some time and big reason for that is there hasn’t been a strong leader since the days of Mike Bibi and Vlade Divac. While DeMarcus Cousins was the best player for the Kings, he was never really considered a leader due to his frustrating behavior. Fox is primed to take control.

Tweets of the Day

Congrats to Megan Calipari and her groom! After a week in Colorado Springs for the USA U19 tryouts and a night in New York City for the Draft, John Calipari capped it all off his youngest daughter’s nuptials. I don’t know how he does it.

Why is this funny? Because former Cardinal and current St. Louis Uber drive Andre McGee used to wear #33 for the Cards. I say they should retire his jersey and put it in place of the 2013 championship banner when it get taken down. That’s just me.

Quickies

Five star 2018 point-guard Immanuel Quickley to decide before senior season | KSR- Go ahead and get his uniform ready. The ‘Cats have been in the lead for the elite guard for a while and his time with Cal during the U19 process may have put them in the driver’s seat for good. If he’s not a ‘Cat soon I will be shocked. Quickley made the final cut on the U19 team and will play for Cal in Cairo, Egypt.

Calipari will benefit from coaching U19 team | Yahoo!- In other news, water is wet and the sky is blue. But seriously, how frustrating is it for other college coaches to watch Cal work with coveted recruits? So frustrating that Rick Pitino and Coach K didn’t even make it to Colorado to watch Cal coach Romeo Langford, Cam Reddish, and others. They sent their assistants instead.

Brent Musburger thinks UK is a Dark Horse in SEC East | SEC Country- Brent may be out of the booth but he’s still following SEC football closely. “You can’t consider LSU a dark horse, so you can’t go there. I would go to Kentucky,” Musburger told SEC Country on Thursday. “A little bit of a sleeper. They’re going to win some big games under Mark Stoops.”

Over/Under 7 wins for UK football: Push | CBS- Kentucky has a real shot at getting 8 wins (including the bowl) this season and everyone is taking notice. Consider:

This is the "let's get weird" pick of the offseason, where there's a strange optimism about the upcoming season of Kentucky football. It's not strange to be optimistic, just uncommon to be optimistic about Kentucky football in June. The Wildcats finally broke through with a bowl bid just last year and now the oddsmakers are setting the over/under at 7? The key stretch for Kentucky hitting seven wins starts in late October at Mississippi State in what is sure to be a high-scoring shootout against Nick Fitzgerald and Co. The next two weeks bring Tennessee and Ole Miss to Lexington, and if the Wildcats can get two wins in those three games, I think they get to 7 wins.

Future UK track star shines at U.S. track and field championships | LHL- John Calipari and Mark Stoops have some stars that are getting ready to shine in 2017, but the biggest star may be teenage track sensation Sydney McLaughlin. She is set to join the track team this fall and has an awards list a mile long coming with her.

Cousins’ new physique has him ready for a new role in New Orleans | LHL- DeMarcus Cousins has spent his offseason getting into better shape and is ready to transition from a traditional back-to-the-basket center into a “point center” for the New Orleans Pelicans. Positionless basketball, y’all.

Real Deal boxing a hit in Louisville | Courier-Journal- Evander Holyfield brought boxing back to the home of Muhammad Ali on Saturday night and it was a massive success. But will fans continue to attend?

Cavaliers still pursuing Paul George | ESPN- As the Warriors are set up to dominate for years to come, the Cleveland Cavaliers are trying to keep pace. The Cavs badly want to add another elite player and Paul George is firmly in their crosshairs. There is talk of a three-way trade between the Cavs, the Pacers, and the Nuggets with George going to Cleveland and Kevin Love heading to the Nuggets. The Cavs are also active in trying to secure Carmelo Anthony as well.

Scooter Gennett powers Reds past Nationals | ESPN- Yes, the Reds stink but Scooter Gennett has been nothing short of fantastic. His four hits and home run helped the Reds past the NL East leaders yesterday.

10 best personal seasons that didn’t win MVP | CBS- Having an amazing personal season in the NBA doesn’t always get you the MVP. Winning matters.

Five best college basketball players not drafted | Yahoo!- I’m still shocked Johnathan Motley wasn’t picked because he was getting lottery consideration early in the 2016/2017 season. Isaiah Briscoe didn’t make this list, FYI.

Top 100 Metal Albums of All Time | Rolling Stone- There’s some weird stuff on this list, but I enjoy metal from time to time, especially when cutting the grass or doing yard work. The top 3 albums cannot be disputed.

Latest Transformers opens with a franchise low | Deadline- It’s time to stick a fork in the Michael Bay robots in disguise project. I haven’t watched one of them all the way through since the first one. They get increasingly worse.