Another day, another mock draft…
We’re now under a week away from the start of the 2024 NBA Draft (June 26-27) in New York. On Wednesday, we saw the folks at ESPN drop their latest projections. This time around, The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie has updated his two-round mock, where he has four former Kentucky Wildcats projected to hear their names called on draft night(s).
Similar to ESPN, Vecenie is high on Reed Sheppard, hesitant about Rob Dillingham, intrigued by Antonio Reeves, and souring on Justin Edwards. Here is where he has all four ‘Cats landing.
- No. 3 | Reed Sheppard –> Houston Rockets (via BKN)
- No. 13 | Rob Dillingham –> Sacramento Kings
- No. 53 | Antonio Reeves –> Detroit Pistons (via NYK)
- No. 56 | Justin Edwards –> Denver Nuggets (via MIN)
At this point, the clear consensus among draft experts is that Reed Sheppard will land with the Houston Rockets at No. 3. The bulk of major outlets have him going to the Lone Star State, where he’d join an interesting backcourt of Fred VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, and Jalen Green. You could even add last year’s No. 4 pick Amen Thompson into that mix. All four are locked in through the upcoming 2024-25 season. Adding Sheppard could give the front office more flexibility to trade one of them. Vecenie adds in his write-up that Houston is also exploring trading this pick entirely.
As for Rob Dillingham, he’s once again seeing his stock slip. As we’ve mentioned multiple times this week, a poorly-timed ankle injury mixed with rumors of Klutch’s influence could be the reason why. That being said, most mocks still have the shifty guard as a lottery (Top 14) selection. Landing in Sacramento would team him up with a trio of former Kentucky players: De’Aaron Fox, Malik Monk, and Trey Lyles. However, there is a high possibility that Monk leaves in free agency in search of a larger, long-term deal. In that case, picking Dillingham (if he falls that far) could be the way to go.
Turning our attention to Antonio Reeves, he’s the most interesting prospect of the four Wildcats. We know that Sheppard and Dillingham are expected lottery picks — Reeves went into the draft process on the outside looking in. But after performing well at the Combine, his stock has continued to rise ever since. Both ESPN (No. 54) and The Athletic now have Reeves going in the late second round. Bleacher Report’s last update from June 13 also has Reeves going in the 50s.
Then there’s Justin Edwards, who appears to be sliding at the wrong time. Could this be posturing from Klutch? ESPN dropped Edwards 10 spots in its latest mock and The Athletic took it a step further, slotting him as a borderline undrafted prospect at No. 56. Remember, there are only 58 picks in this year’s draft. Plenty of mocks still have Edwards as a late first-round pick, but there’s no denying his stock is trending in the wrong direction going into next week’s draft.
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