ESPN's Jay Bilas is high on Kentucky's Koby Brea, Amari Williams as 2025 NBA Draft picks

We’re less than a week out from the two-day 2025 NBA Draft (June 25-26). Kentucky head coach Mark Pope has never had one of his players drafted, but that could very well change within the next seven days.

Jaxson Robinson is gaining momentum as a potential late second-round pickup, but the primary Wildcats expected to hear their names called are Koby Brea and Amari Williams. Brea has been projected as a second-round pick since the college season came to an end, while Williams’ stock has been on the rise over the last couple of weeks. More and more mock drafts have been slotting them both somewhere in the second round.

“I think they’ll both be drafted,” ESPN’s Jay Bilas told KSR on Wednesday. “And I think it’ll be in the second round.”

Neither Brea nor Williams was even sniffing NBA Draft boards this time last year after wrapping up their senior seasons at Dayton and Drexel, respectively. Playing for mid-majors certainly didn’t help. By making the move to Kentucky, they not only developed and improved their overall games against better competition, but they did it consistently on a national stage.

Bilas is particularly high on Brea as someone who can make it in the NBA as an elite-level marksman. In Brea’s one season at Kentucky, he became more than just a shooter, though. His defense, decision-making, and ball handling all steadily improved as the season went along. Pope’s coaching style and system played a big part in that.

“I think under Mark Pope, he improved at putting the ball on the deck and being able to pull up,” Bilas said of Brea. “And he made some really difficult end-of-shot-clock contested threes this last year. But I think one of the things that he improved upon was working off of dribble handoffs in Mark Pope’s offense and he was, I thought, pretty darn good in pick and roll situations, which I didn’t see as much of from him at Dayton — just the way they played — and he looks to fire in transition.

“But when you have that elite skill of being able to shoot it and you can space the floor, because the NBA is all about space, he’s going to find a place in that league. And what a great kid.”

Footage of Kentucky's Koby Brea from his pro day at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago. Easy to see why he shot a scorching 47% for 3 over the past two seasons, but has some other things to work with as well at 6'7 in shoes with good athletic ability. pic.twitter.com/hrA1HH6TNQ

— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) May 20, 2025

It’s impossible to ignore the shooting aspect of Brea’s game. His gravity and size (6-foot-7) as an outside shooter are something NBA teams crave. Throughout his five-year college career, the New York native shot 317-730 on three-pointers, a 43.4 percent clip on nearly five attempts per outing.

“I think Koby Brea will probably go higher (than Williams),” Bilas said. “I’ve got him as sort of an early second-round pick. I ranked him in the 30s… I thought for a time last year that Koby Brea was the best shooter in the country. I put (Kon) Knueppel and Texas’ Tre Johnson just a little bit higher than that, but we’re splitting hairs a little bit.

“He led the nation in three-point shooting, shooting about 50 percent two years ago, when he was a Dayton, and it’s not like he had a big fall off this last season. What did he shoot, 45 percent from three? Which is remarkable in and of itself, but really good on catch and shoot threes.”

Meanwhile, Williams is far more of a unique prospect compared to Brea. The seven-footer isn’t going to shoot from deep, and there will be some question marks surrounding his motor/conditioning, but everything he brings to the table is tough to replicate. At his size, Williams is an elite rebounder, an excellent passer, and a switchable defender.

With Amari Williams on the court, Kentucky was…

▫️9.2 points better on defense (95th %ile)
▫️5.1 points better on offense (70th %ile)

Additionally, with Amari Williams on the court, opponents…

▫️Got to the rim 6.3% less (97th %ile)
▫️Shot 13.5% worse at the rim (100th %ile) pic.twitter.com/Jbx4exR9GL

— Logan Adams (@LoganPAdams) June 10, 2025

There is absolutely a spot in the NBA for someone with Williams’ skill set. His model for success, Isaiah Hartenstein, is playing in the NBA Finals right now for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Unlike Brea, the system that Williams lands in will be much more critical to his overall success.

“And then Amari Williams, I thought, had a great year,” Bilas said. “You know, he transferred in from Drexel, and I had seen him at Drexel, but I didn’t think he would be what he became at Kentucky. And just did an excellent job, I thought, of anchoring both the offense and defense.

“Very good passing big guy, he can get the ball at the elbow and hit cutters, and so he’s got a lot of good traits as a big guy. Really good hands, left-handed, but had some excellent games, and he’s a good rebounder and a good offensive rebounder.”

As we inch closer to draft day, it certainly feels like Pope’s streak of not having a drafted player is about to end.