Kentucky basketball star Oscar Tshiebwe is moving up the NBA Draft boards
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The latest 2022 NBA mock draft from ESPN was posted Wednesday morning, and the list of prospects still features two Kentucky Wildcats in the lottery range and another on the move.
ESPN projects UK freshmen Shaedon Sharpe and TyTy Washington as the No. 8 and No. 10 overall picks, respectively, putting those two players pretty much in line with where other mock drafts have them.
Washington will almost certainly be off to the NBA after this season. Many analysts are projecting Sharpe will also go — it’s incredibly rare, nearly unheard of, for a prospect to turn down a guaranteed spot in the lottery to return to college — but John Calipari and Sharpe’s inner circle have maintained that he will be back in Lexington to play for the Wildcats next season. Everyone will have to wait and see on that.
The most interesting part of the new ESPN mock draft is the inclusion of UK big man Oscar Tshiebwe at No. 43 overall, putting him in the middle of the second round.
“While unconventional, and perhaps not as modern a big man as NBA teams tend to prefer recently, Tshiebwe has done a great job of changing the narrative around his pro prospects by sheer will, productivity, and most importantly, impacting winning,” ESPN’s Jonathan Givony said of Tshiebwe in a write-up accompanying the mock draft.
Tshiebwe, who is a national player of the year candidate this season, was not included in ESPN’s mock draft last month. Still, it’s been expected that — even if he wasn’t going to be drafted — Tshiebwe would be leaving Kentucky to begin his professional career after this season.
Part of the reasoning for those predictions was the fact that Tshiebwe was not permitted to make any considerable amount of money through name, image and likeness due to the strict rules of his international student visa.
Over the weekend, however, Tshiebwe announced that he is now able to engage in such lucrative NIL activities. And a report from The Athletic on Monday indicated that Tshiebwe could make in the seven figures if he returns to Kentucky next season, a scenario that is now gaining steam as a real possibility.
Obviously, a possible Tshiebwe return would be huge for UK, which has no post players in its 2022 recruiting class and no realistic options to add any before next season. If Tshiebwe were to leave, the Cats would look to the transfer portal for a replacement, but it seems highly unlikely they could land a player that would impact the team as much as Tshiebwe has this season.
Additional reasoning for Tshiebwe to go pro now was the thought earlier in the season that he had basically maxed out his potential to grow considerably as a college player. That has proved untrue over the course of the season, with Tshiebwe showing off his improved jump-shooting skills and showcasing quick and anticipatory reflexes as a defender. (He’s on pace to be top five on UK’s single-season steals chart, if the Cats make a good run in the postseason).
Top UK assistant coach Orlando Antigua, who has worked closely with Tshiebwe this season, said Tuesday that Kentucky could still add more to his game during a possible senior year.
“If we’re fortunate to get him back, there’s a lot. There’s a lot to add to him,” he said. “There’s a lot to his ball-handling, there’s a lot to his passing, and obviously (he) can continue to extend his range to his shooting. But that’s something that we’ll be able to address if we’re fortunate enough to get him back in the future.”
It will be interesting to see how Tshiebwe weighs that decision after the season, especially if he continues to rise up NBA Draft charts. The latest mock draft from The Athletic last week also had him in the middle of the second round, at No. 46 overall.
Kentucky fans were already going to be on NBA Draft watch with Sharpe following this season. It’s becoming clear that Tshiebwe will also be one to keep an eye on for a possible return.
This story was originally published February 23, 2022 at 12:00 PM.
