Transfer portal star searches for ‘backup option’ to NBA. Could it be Kentucky?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Allen Graves said his priority is making the NBA now.
- Graves named LSU and Duke as his top two schools.
- Kentucky appears a long shot as other schools and NBA interest grew.
Even before his name hit the transfer portal last month, Allen Graves was a player of interest for many Kentucky basketball fans who were keeping a close eye on the process.
Graves — a 6-foot-9 forward from Ponchatoula, Louisiana — burst onto the scene during his first year on the court with the Santa Clara Broncos, averaging 11.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game as a redshirt freshman before his season ended with a loss to UK in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Those aren’t gaudy numbers, especially for the “mid-major” level, but the style with which Graves plays — high IQ, exceptional vision as a passer, a perimeter-oriented game (41.3% on 3-pointers) and an ability to finish creatively at the rim — seemed perfectly suited for Mark Pope’s approach.
Graves’ skill set, coupled with the loss of Mouhamed Dioubate, Andrija Jelavic and Brandon Garrison to the transfer portal, opened up a natural fit at Kentucky, and the Herald-Leader was told as soon as Graves became available that the Cats were indeed interested in his services.
But UK was far from alone in that interest. Other major colleges clearly coveted him, too. So did NBA scouts. And as this process has progressed, Pope’s program has seemingly been pushed to the side.
Graves, who doesn’t turn 20 years old until July, met with reporters at the NBA Combine on Wednesday, and he made it perfectly clear there that, under the best of scenarios, he won’t be playing college basketball at all next season.
“Obviously, you know, with NIL and everything, there’s still some decisions to make,” he said. “But definitely, at this point, I want to be in the NBA this year.”
That route is certainly open to him.
Several new mock drafts were posted following last weekend’s NBA lottery draw, and just about all the most prominent sites have Graves pegged as a first-round pick. When asked what range he needed to be in to keep his name in this year’s draft, Graves quickly replied with “first round,” before qualifying that a bit.
“If I had the option, 10-20,” he added. “But, if not, then we’ll weigh the options later on and come to a decision real soon. Because the deadline is coming up.”
That deadline to withdraw from the draft and maintain NCAA eligibility is May 27, so the clock is ticking on Graves, who made it clear in Chicago that his focus is primarily on this draft process and working his way into that 10-20 range.
Yahoo Sports already has him at No. 16 on its board, with The Ringer ranking him 20th, while CBS Sports (No. 21) and ESPN (No. 22) project Graves just outside of his preferred range.
A return to college basketball could be even more lucrative. In the short term, at least. The salary scale for the No. 20 pick in last year’s NBA draft was set at around $3.65 million for Year 1 and $3.85 million for Year 2, with a four-year estimated salary of nearly $18 million (though only the first two years are guaranteed for a first-round pick).
If Graves comes back to college, he’d almost certainly be in a spot to make more than the projected rookie salary for the No. 20 pick while also giving himself a chance to show what he can do at the high-major level in hopes of boosting his stock even more ahead of the 2027 draft.
Graves acknowledged that he and his agents were still actively looking at the college route.
“We’ve been talking to certain schools, but I’m still in the process of deciding who I want to be that backup option,” he said.
The two programs he mentioned most prominently in Chicago were the same two that have been viewed as the frontrunners for the past few weeks. Asked if he wanted to share the names of any of the schools he’s been talking to, Graves mentioned LSU and Duke.
“That was really my top two,” he said.
What about Kentucky?
“I know they’ve reached out to the agents,” Graves told the Herald-Leader. “But really it’s just been LSU and Duke.”
His tone suggested that UK is on the outside looking in, perhaps even completely out of the race already, should he decide on a return to college basketball for the 2026-27 season. Graves did not elaborate on any interest in Kentucky, implying that he’s let his representatives handle communication with the Cats while he concentrates on the NBA process and engages in talks with the top two schools on his list.
So Graves to Lexington sounds to be an unlikely scenario at this juncture.
Pope has added a couple of power forwards this spring, bringing in high-upside international player Ousmane N’Diaye, who most recently played in the top pro league in Italy, along with James Madison’s Justin McBride, who averaged 15.3 points and 5.6 rebounds last season.
Both are intriguing additions, but N’Diaye will be a wild card as he transitions to college basketball, and McBride might be better suited as a depth piece for a program with Final Four aspirations.
Graves had been viewed as more of a sure thing to produce at a high level, as well as a particularly good fit for Pope’s playing style, but the Cats must now be seen as a long shot, at best, for his commitment. Of the transfer portal players who attended the Combine, it appears Iowa State forward Milan Momcilovic is now Kentucky’s best shot to reel in a big name.
If that’s the case, it would be better off for UK to see Graves keep his name in the draft. The alternative would likely mean a commitment to LSU or Duke. He’s clearly interested in both options.
LSU’s Will Wade coached Graves’ older brother for three seasons in his first stint in Baton Rogue, which is less than an hour drive from Ponchatoula, where Graves and his wife — they were married last summer — grew up.
“Coach Wade coached my brother. That was a big part of it,” he said. “And then just knowing him and his system — going back to LSU, being home. And then Duke — obviously, it’s Duke. Coach (Jon) Scheyer and them are great people, just being able to talk to them. And, you know, the exposure that they can bring.”
Wade, who coached LSU from 2017 to 2022 and returned this spring for his second stint in charge of the Tigers, is still in the process of building his 2026-27 roster. He has several open spots remaining, with millions in NIL resources at his disposal and a track record of winning basketball on his résumé. (LSU won the SEC with a 16-2 league record in 2019.)
Graves said the coach also welcomed him to attend practices and be around the team while his brother played there, an experience that clearly had a lasting effect.
“Naz Reid, Tremont Waters, Skylar Mays, all of them — just being around them, being able to talk to them and interact with them, sometimes even shoot around with them, was great for me,” Graves said. “And I credit that to why I’m here today. …
“It would definitely be a big thing, coming back home. Coming up, raised in Ponchatoula — 35-40 minutes from LSU’s campus. But a lot goes into the decision, not just home. … But my priority right now is making the NBA.”
