:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63880624/DSC_7911_result.0.jpg)
With the NBA Draft Combine officially over, we are starting to get a clearer picture of where certain players are going to fall.
NBC Sports just dropped an NBA Draft Big Board with the top 50 players.
We see some very familiar faces at the top such as Zion Williamson at number one, Ja Morant at number 2, and RJ Barrett at number 3. These three players have remained consistent throughout this process.
As for the the Kentucky guys on this list, we see a similar ranking for all of them:
15. PJ Washington
20. Keldon Johnson
22. Tyler Herro
PJ is right on the edge of the lottery. Hopefully he can continue to impress teams through workouts and interviews to try and sneak in.
As for Keldon and Tyler, it would take a near miracle for them to get in the lottery. However, a first-round spot looks to be secured for both.
Two names that we don’t see on the board are Nick Richards and EJ Montgomery. As we know, both of them have declared for the draft with the option of returning still on the table. However, they only have a week left as they must decide whether they’re staying in or coming back to school by May 29th.
Since the combine is over, it looks like neither of these players odds at getting drafted are very high. Now, this doesn’t guarantee a comeback as just a couple years ago we saw Wenyen Gabriel stay in the draft despite not showing up on any Big Board or Mock Draft.
With that being said, it looks like the best option for both Richards and Montgomery is to come back to school and try to improve their draft stock during another season.
This would be great for Kentucky considering how well John Calipari has done with the 2019 class, along with adding another grad transfer and a few returning players to the mix. If Richards and Montgomery come back, Kentucky would be stacked with talent for the 2019-2020 season.
In addition, Virginia Tech grad transfer Kerry Blackshear Jr. was not in this big board, as it continues to look like he’ll go undrafted if he keeps his name in the draft. He’s still expected to do so and either play in the G-League or overseas next season, but if he returns to school, Kentucky getting him would be a massive game-changer for next season.