The 78th NBA Draft is now just one week away. From June 26-27 in New York, a handful of former Kentucky Wildcats will begin their professional dreams. But which city will they start in?
On Wednesday morning, ESPN draft experts Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo updated their latest Mock Draft for all 58 picks in this year’s event. As has been the case for months now, they have a pair of Kentucky freshmen guards (yes, the ones who came off the bench all season) going among the Top 10. Additionally, ESPN expects two more Wildcats to hear their names called sometime in the second round.
- No. 3 | Reed Sheppard –> Houston Rockets (via BKN)
- No. 8 | Rob Dillingham –> San Antonio Spurs
- No. 39 | Justin Edwards –> Memphis Grizzlies (via BKN)
- No. 54 | Antonio Reeves –> Boston Celtics (via DAL)
Starting with Reed Sheppard, the elite-level sharpshooter continues to trend as a Top 5 projected pick with a floor only as low as the 6th overall selection (Charlotte Hornets). The vast majority of mocks now have him firmly within the Top 5, plenty of them agreeing with ESPN that the Houston Rockets at No. 3 is the likely landing spot. A team could always trade up for him too. Sheppard is being labeled one of the best shooting prospects in years.
Rob Dillingham, on the other hand, has seen his stock take a slip in recent weeks, as we noted on Tuesday in our mock draft roundup from seven different popular outlets. On the opposite end of Sheppard, the majority of mocks now have Dillingham outside of the Top 5 and even outside of the Top 10. An untimely ankle injury and some rumored positioning from his agency, Klutch, could be part of the reason why.
But ESPN isn’t exactly confident in its placement of Dillingham to the San Antonio Spurs at No. 8. Woo says that the shifty guard will work out with the Spurs on Wednesday and is also receiving interest from the Detroit Pistons (No. 5), Utah Jazz (No. 10), and Chicago Bulls (No. 11). Despite the slip, ESPN doesn’t believe he’ll drop out of the lottery (Top 14).
Freshman wing Justin Edwards and fifth-year guard Antonio Reeves are the wild cards. Edwards has been hovering around the late first-round, early second-round range. ESPN now has him at No. 39 to the Memphis Grizzlies, a 10-spot drop from its last update in late May. Meanwhile, Reeves’ stock continues to slowly improve. He’s now up to No. 54 (Boston Celtics), a four-spot improvement from the last update.
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