Thursday Headlines: NBA Draft Decision Watch Edition

We’re starting to see how the NBA Draft process will take shape

By Zac Oakes@ZacOakes Apr 7, 2022, 6:40am EDT

NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament First Round-Saint Peters vs Kentucky

It’s April and that means it’s time to figure out which Kentucky Wildcats will be headed to evaluate their NBA Draft stock.

Yesterday, TyTy Washington announced that he will enter the NBA Draft and hire an agent, foregoing any college eligibility. He’s the first Wildcat to enter the draft without the possibility of returning.

Oscar Tshiebwe and Keion Brooks have entered their names in order to gain feedback, but are leaving the option of returning to school.

Of course, Oscar is the big one here and the one the eyes of all Kentucky fans are glued to. There have been many reports that Oscar wants to come back to school, but the NIL situation continues to present problems.

So as of now, Oscar remains in the draft to gather feedback and see where he is projected. Most mock drafts project Oscar as an early-mid 2nd round pick. The 2nd round is kind of a wildcard for potential draftees. It’s filled with international prospects that teams can stash, and only a select few come away with guaranteed contracts.

But if the NIL issue with Oscar can’t be resolved, it seems like he’ll go.

Keion is a different story. He’s not being projected to be drafted in a lot of mock drafts, and there are some rumors he could enter the transfer portal if he comes back to college. As of now, that has been confirmed.

Will any other Wildcats enter the draft?

Shaedon Sharpe is the other big one. Sharpe is projected in the top 10 of a number of mock drafts, which is hard to pass up, but teams could get cold feet on draft night drafting a guy that many haven’t seen play against high-level competition.

The narrative from Sharpe’s family and Calipari is that Sharpe has intended to come back, but will evaluate his options.

The national people seem to think it’s a no-brainer Sharpe goes. Some people around Lexington think it’s closer than what many think and Sharpe really could come back.

These NBA Draft decisions will play a massive role in Kentucky’s ceiling next season.