Lexington-The Kentucky basketball combination formed six current, former or future players who participated in two NBA events in early May: G League Elite Camp and a draft combined.
The six players included a quartet that didn’t have further college qualifications (backs Koby Brea and Lamont Butler, forwards Andrew Carr and Center Amari Williams), an upcoming transfer (former Pittsburgh defender Jaland Lowe) and a claiming his choice (Guard Guard Gaudga Oweh, Britain’s leading score last season).
The unfortunate news for the six players: their performance in two NBA events was not moving, at least according to NBA draft experts, their performance wasn't enough to significantly enhance their draft stocks.
Brea and Oweh are the Wildcats headlines because they are the only two people who have received the invitation draft.
Everyone has their own moments in a 5-on-5 melee, which is part of the event. However, none of them have been upgraded to the level of securing a seat in the first round of the NBA draft, scheduled to be held on June 25.
Brea enters the predicted combine to hear his name calling in the second round of the draft. ESPN, Yahoo! The Bombine Mock draft, Sports Illustrated and Bleacher report still lists Brea as a second-round pick. Yahoo! Brea is most optimistic, projecting him to the 34th pick (Charlotte Hornets). Next comes Bleacher's report, bringing him to the 43rd pick Utah jazz. ESPN (No. 54) and Sports Illustrated (No. 55) both selected Brea in the final six draft picks of the draft.
Oweh is considered a border choice for the second round before the combine. That's what he left behind, and these are the four mock drafts after the comprehensive. Only Sports Illustrated predicts that he will be selected: No. 58 overall, better than the final choice of this year's draft. ESPN, Yahoo! Bleacher reports that Oweh’s name is not listed in its 59 selected mock drafts. It has been assumed that when testing the Waters draft, Irving will rejoin coach Mark Pope in Lexington, where he has more name, image and similar protocols than he has as a second-round draft pick (or playing in the G League).
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It's another different story for the other four, all of whom went to the G League Elite Camp.
It can be said that Lowe performed the best of the four. In his first 5-on-5 game, Lowe scored nine points on 50% of his field goal percentage (4-4). He contributed five assists, and scored two steals and a block. Although he didn't start, he also took the pace of all players with the Plus/Minus rating (plus 15). Speaking of the beginning, that's what he expects to play for Kentucky next season. Lowe's time at the G League camp is more about receiving feedback from NBA talent assessment staff than trying to put his name in the draft pool.
Butler, Carl and Williams have different performances.
Butler scored 12 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists in the team's first game. But he did not participate in the second outing and was listed as the "decision not to play the coach" on the official statistics table.
Carr also stood out from the bench, scoring eight points, three rebounds, one assist and two steals in his first game. He scored only three points in Game 2 but led all players with two blocks.
Williams played on the same team as Carr at G League Camp, where he scored a top eight rebounds in his first game and scored four points on 2 of 5 shots. His second game was more of a fight: Williams made seven turnovers, which was most of any player in four 5-on-5 games held during the camp.
Needless to say, Butler, Carl and Williams will sweat on draft night when each draft pick is announced.
At this juncture, only one month before the draft, they need to keep the options open and once it is over, they have to sign an undrafted free agency contract.
Contact Ryan Black, a Kentucky men’s basketball and soccer reporter at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on @ryanablack.
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This article was originally published in Louisville Express Magazine: 2025 NBA Draft: How the United Nations Influences the drafters of British basketball?