CBS Sports has taken their shot at ranking Kentucky Basketball players as NBA prospects.
Here are the top 2:
1. Karl-Anthony Towns, 6-foot-11, 7-3 wingspan, Power Forward/Center: Towns is one of three players in the top tier of my draft board, along with Duke’s Jahlil Okafor and former SMU prospect Emmanuel Mudiay, now playing in China. Towns is a skilled, fluid athlete for his size that can both attack from the midrange and step out and hit a collegiate three-pointer. He’s the ideal modern NBA big man. Not only can he step out and space the floor so attacking guards don’t have to go up against the trees in the paint, but he can also protect the rim on the other end of the floor and make it difficult to finish over him. He’s not an Anthony Davis-level athlete (who is?), but at 250 pounds he’s much better equipped to play the center position in the NBA. It wouldn’t surprise me if Towns is the runaway number one pick by the end of the season. His potential is that vast. But for now, he settles in as the number two overall prospect behind Okafor.
2. Willie Cauley-Stein, 7-foot-0, 7-2 wingspan, Center: Cauley-Stein is a top prospect mostly because of his physical profile at this stage. While he has vastly improved as a finisher and roll-man in the pick-and-roll, Cauley-Stein is still a project offensively. He doesn’t shoot particularly well outside of seven feet or so at this stage, and isn’t much of a post-up threat. However, because of his incredible athleticism as a seven-footer, his defensive potential is nearly limitless. Already a shot-blocking terror around the rim, Cauley-Stein also moves well on the perimeter for a center and should be able to defend pick-and-rolls well. The most apt comparison stylistically is probably a Tyson Chandler-like player. But to reach his full potential on offense, it would be best to pair him with a good point guard that can play in the pick-and-roll and let him simply catch easy finishes on dives to the basket.
You can check out the rest of the rankings by clicking here.
