UK Fans of the Day want a Mock Draft Roundup

Look at all of these fans at a Kentucky Basketball game. Remember basketball games? This picture is making me anxious. Someone hop in a time machine and tell them to spread out and put on masks.

Now, I bet all of these fans would love to know where Kentucky’s draft prospects stand in the latest mock drafts and big boards. Let’s roll.

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A few highlights from the most recent mocks and rankings:

Sports Illustrated‘s Jeremy Woo on Ashton Hagans (No. 55; Last rank: No. 32)

Hagans’ stock slipped as his play turned down over the back part of the year at Kentucky, and his individual struggles to score the ball became more pronounced. Winning intangibles and strong defensive instincts helped Hagans get on the radar, but there’s still a degree of hesitance surrounding his jump shot, and questions about what caliber of passer he really is. He’s tenacious and disruptive on the ball and in the passing lanes, and has the size and toughness that make his weaknesses more palatable. The fact he’s a strong free throw shooter helps leave room for optimism that his jumper eventually comes along. But he’ll likely need seasoning in the G League in the short-term to refine his decision-making.

Sam Vecenie on Immanuel Quickley (No. 43 to Sacramento)

Quickley makes his first mock draft appearance after deciding to declare for the draft fully in recent weeks. The SEC Player of the Year in 2020, Quickley is an absolutely elite level shooter. He hit about 43 percent of his 3-point attempts this past season for Kentucky despite being at the top of scouting reports throughout the final two-thirds of the SEC season, and made 92.3 percent of his free throws. And a lot of those shots came on the move, either off the bounce or coming off of screens. He’s also capable of defending up the lineup despite being 6-foot-3, although I wouldn’t say he’s overly switchable and trustworthy there. The issue, however, is that he’s not a point guard. He’s purely an off-guard that can knock down shots, and might not be able to really do much else at an NBA level. Given the importance of shooting in today’s NBA, that might be enough to get the job done. But it’s not a surefire translation, and scouts are mixed on if his future is in the NBA or overseas.

Gary Parrish on Tyrese Maxey (No. 15 to Minnesota)

Maxey got 26 points in the season-opening win over Michigan State while showing all of the things that made most assume he’d be UK’s leading scorer. But, for much of the season, the 6-3 freshman was inconsistent while making just 29.2 percent of his 3-point attempts. So his one year in college was a little disappointing relative to preseason expectations. Regardless, Maxey still mostly projects as a lottery pick because he measures well, presumably can be a better shooter than he showed this season, and is really good at scoring inside the arc in creative ways.