Kentucky Players Taken Last Night in the Draft

[Joneslab]

Kentucky had three players taken last night in the 2020 NBA Draft:

Tyrese Maxey went 21st to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Immanuel Quickley went 25th and was ultimately traded to the New York Knicks.

Nick Richards went 42nd and was ultimately traded to the Charlotte Hornets.

Ashton Hagans was picked up as a free agent by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

E.J. Montgomery went undrafted.

https://www.blazersedge.com/2020/11/18/21574235/2020-nba-draft-order-picks-portland-trail-blazers

[Joneslab]

No UK player was taken in the lottery for the first time in the John Calipari era.

[Joneslab]

Nate Sestina signed a one-year "Exhibit 10" contract with the Brooklyn Nets.

These are one-year, minimum-salary deals. Still an awesome chance for Sestina, one of my favorites of the Cal era.

[Joneslab]

Tremendous short video of Cal calling Richards about being drafted.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1329299615682846723

[Joneslab]

E.J. Montgomery signed in two-way deal by the Milwaukee Bucks.

[Catsrock]

No UK player was taken in the lottery for the first time in the John Calipari era.

Perhaps that was bound to happen eventually. But to happen in a year when last year's team left us with ONE scholarship holdover for this year is baffling.

Does Cal consider yesterday the darkest day in UK basketball history? 😱 Sorry, that was uncalled for. And hopefully we now have some top teir players in the mix for this year and next.

[Joneslab]

I actually think last year was maybe Cal's best coaching job.

It was pretty clear to me very early on we didn't have a lot of top-shelf talent. We had some real surprises: Quickley and Richards being the obvious two. But you could kind of look at the roster and see that it was very uneven and wasn't going to have a lot of pros.

After the Evansville disaster Kentucky had a really surprising season. I think Cal did a great job with that team.

But to cut nets and be a real contender you almost have to have one or two of those top-shelf players. Think we have more of them this year but the team is more inexperienced on the whole.

[justford]

Whitney really got some bad info from his people.

[lilproUK98]

I actually think last year was maybe Cal's best coaching job.

It was pretty clear to me very early on we didn't have a lot of top-shelf talent. We had some real surprises: Quickley and Richards being the obvious two. But you could kind of look at the roster and see that it was very uneven and wasn't going to have a lot of pros.

After the Evansville disaster Kentucky had a really surprising season. I think Cal did a great job with that team.

But to cut nets and be a real contender you almost have to have one or two of those top-shelf players. Think we have more of them this year but the team is more inexperienced on the whole.

There was lots of soul searching after that debacle in Vegas.

[TrueblueCATfan]

I really like Nick and PJ together again...Congrats to all our guys

[Blue Heaven]

I personally don't care if we have lottery picks or not. I love my guys when they are here. When they leave I could care less if they get drafted or not. Just do what you supposed to do here then good luck with the rest of your career.

[DA#23]

^ UK definitely has to have players capable of being or becoming lottery picks, though, and I think first round level talent is necessary for us to win at the level we want. That means winning a ton of games during the season, winning the SEC (yes, Cal, I take pride in whipping the conference) , and going to FF’s with a chance to win.

When we don’t have the prerequisite talent, we stink and are the underdogs far than I like . I don’t like approaching basketball games hoping to have a chance...I want us to expect to win.

Where I differ from what you mention above is that I do “typically” care about the UK guys once they are finished here. Cousins’ injuries stink and feel bad for him. Same for MKG, I wish he at least was a darn good role player for a quality organization. I hope Malik Monk straightens up. It’s great to see Rondo still playing at a high level...he’s a year older than me.

[Joneslab]

I like watching them in the NBA but obviously don't follow them as maniacally as I do when they're at UK.

The underdog stories are the best. What Herro did with the Heat in the playoffs was awesome.

But as Matt says while I'm not as emotionally invested, it is true that to win titles in this sport you really need very good players. If you run a one-and-done factory like Cal does, you're obviously not going to have experience so you almost have to have those lottery picks.

[Matt Dillon]

I saw where Whitney signed an Exhibit-10 contract with the Hornets.

[Jload]

I think it’s the first time I can remember in over a decade that no UK or Duke player was a lottery pick.