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Antonio Reeves, Jaxson Robinson on the outside looking in as NBA Draft hopefuls

Zack Geogheganby:Zack Geoghegan05/24/24

ZGeogheganKSR

The Draft Combine has officially wrapped up, but the pre-draft process is only just beginning. With a little over a month until the 2024 NBA Draft in Brooklyn, there is still plenty of time left for draft hopefuls to make a case to all 30 franchises. A couple of players with Kentucky connections still have some room to improve if they intend to hear their names called on Draft Night.

On Friday morning, ESPN draft experts Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo unveiled an updated Top 100 rankings list for all players currently going through the draft process.

As has been the case for several months now, a pair of Kentucky freshmen guards cracked the Top 10. Reed Sheppard jumped three spots from the previous update to No. 4 (and is viewed as a likely Top 5 pick, per Givony) while Rob Dillingham fell three spots to No. 7. Both continue to trend as lottery picks. Additionally, freshman wing Justin Edwards is listed at No. 28 as his stock keeps steadily rising.

But what about the players on the edge? There are only 58 picks this year. Even in a weak draft, NBA front offices will be selective. Going off ESPN’s rankings, that means All-American guard Antonio Reeves is considered a borderline draft pick going into June. The worldwide leader ranks him at No. 63 overall.

In that same vein, BYU’s Jaxson Robinson isn’t far behind, clocking in at No. 66 overall. But unlike Reeves, Robinson is still considering a return to college. He has until May 29 to either pull his name entirely or remain in the draft pool. If Robinson ultimately returns for another season of college hoops, the expectation is he’ll follow his former head coach Mark Pope to Kentucky. But for now, he remains in the draft process.

Looking at some of the updated mock drafts since the Combine came to a close, Reeves and Robinson didn’t make ESPN’s latest two-round mock. Robinson was actually dropped entirely from ESPN’s mock following the Combine. However, Robinson went No. 49 and Reeves No. 53 in Bleacher Report’s latest mock. The next few days will be significant for someone like Robinson.

Notable players on ESPN’s Top 100 Big Board

  • No. 4 | Reed Sheppard
  • No. 7 | Rob Dillingham
  • No. 28 | Justin Edwards
  • No. 63 | Antonio Reeves
  • No. 66 | Jaxson Robinson
  • No. 68 | Ugonna Onyenso
  • No. 99 | Tre Mitchell

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2024-06-16