John Fanta of Fox Sports has a list of eleven players who have difficult NBA Draft decisions to make as we creep towards the deadline (11:59 p.m. ET TONIGHT).
Fanta predicts that Oscar Tshiebwe will stay in the NBA Draft, although he admits he doesn’t have a great feel for what Oscar is thinking.
Here is an excerpt:
Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky
If the 23-year-old Tshiebwe does elect to go pro, the best pathway would be overseas because that’s where he could make the most money. Much like Edey, Tshiebwe has dominated the college game, but he doesn’t have a perimeter skill set that can translate to the NBA. Between that and the age factor, he has not landed on big boards for the upcoming draft.
For a Kentucky team that does have the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class coming in with 7-footer Aaron Bradshaw among four five-star prospects, the Wildcats will have plenty of talent and could be a top-15 team. But bringing back Tshiebwe would give this team a proven talent who averaged 16.5 points and 13.7 rebounds per game this past season. Tshiebwe’s brand and NIL opportunities are better at Kentucky than anywhere in the pro ranks would be.
That said, it would be some kind of story if he could help accelerate the growth of a loaded freshman class and finally get to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. One interesting thing: Calipari wants to play differently in the upcoming season, something he alluded to in a recent Q&A that I conducted with him. Tshiebwe’s presence would limit that change because he does need touches. I don’t have a great feel for this one, but my prediction is that he’s gone.
The other player that Big Blue Nation is monitoring is sharpshooter Antonio Reeves, who could supply much-needed perimeter shooting for the Wildcats after going 40% from beyond the arc last season. For a Wildcats team that is down to seven players or so, what these two guys do will be important to monitor and would give them much-needed assets to the roster.
