Here's their take on all 10 prospects, ranked in order of likely draft position, followed by prospect notes on UCLA, Ohio State and North Carolina.
1. Karl-Anthony Towns | F/C | Fr. | Draft range: 1-5
Towns is the consensus No. 1 UK player on the board despite the fact he hasn't necessarily had a breakout season offensively. Against UCLA he posted 10 rebounds and two blocks in 20 minutes of play. However, he scored just four points on 2-for-5 shooting. Towns is a more skilled offensive player than he's shown at Kentucky. He's been especially quiet lately on offense, scoring just two points against North Carolina and six points versus Columbia.
Some of that is on the Harrison twins, Andrew and Aaron. They both tend to dominate the ball and Towns doesn't get nearly as many touches as he deserves. And some of it is on Towns not being as aggressive as he could be when he does get the ball. Defensively, he's been great as both a rebounder and a shot-blocker. While most NBA scouts and GMs prefer Duke's Jahlil Okafor over Towns right now for the top pick, there are some who believe Towns has bigger upside and could end up surpassing Okafor on draft night.
"You put Towns on any other team in college basketball, maybe with the exception of Duke, and everyone is talking about him as a legitimate Player of the Year candidate," said one GM. "His stats, or lack thereof, aren't an issue of talent, it's an issue of so much talent on the floor that he can take a back seat."
2. Willie Cauley-Stein | C | Jr. | Draft range: 5-10
Cauley-Stein's draft stock has made a huge jump over the past few weeks. We've always known he's a freaky athlete and a defensive monster. When he and Towns are on the floor together, it's almost impossible for teams to score in the paint. But this season Cauley-Stein has shown more aggressiveness offensively and overall he's played with more fire. His ability to run the floor for a player his size is elite. Against UCLA on Saturday he had eight points, five rebounds, four blocks and two steals. A few scouts believe he could end up going as high as No. 5 in the draft. The majority, however, think that his lack of offensive polish, his age and his unusual personality may cause him to land in the 8-10 range. Either way, it's looking like he's a top-10 pick.
"He has the potential to be an elite NBA defender," said an NBA scout. "I don't think we're expecting a lot of offense from him, but I could see him having a career like Tyson Chandler. I actually think he's a better shot-blocker than Tyson. He's not a gym rat and that's going to turn off some NBA guys because they'll wonder if he'll put in the work. But there's so much to work with there. I love him."
3. Trey Lyles | F | Fr. | Draft range: 15-25
Lyles isn't a dynamic athlete like Towns or Cauley-Stein, nor does he have elite length. But he's the most offensively skilled big man on Kentucky. He has a high basketball IQ, can shoot and post up. He rarely makes a bad play. Lyles had nine points, four rebounds and two assists versus UCLA. His lack of incredible athleticism means his stock is a little lower than that of Towns or Cauley-Stein. Some scouts have him ranked just outside the lottery. Others have him ranked as a late first-rounder. One scout who was particularly high on Lyles compared him to a young Juwan Howard.
"When you see him on the floor with Towns and Cauley-Stein playing small forward, you forget that he's 6-foot-9 or 6-foot-10. He looks like a wing out there running around," one GM chuckled. "He'll be a power forward in the NBA and I think that will help his draft stock. As long as he doesn't have to guard NBA wings, I think he'll be very good."
4. Dakari Johnson | C | So. | Draft range: 20-30
Johnson also had a strong game against UCLA. While he only scored four points, he tallied five rebounds, six assists and four blocks. He's not quite the defender that Cauley-Stein or Towns are, so four blocks was a surprise. He has power and knows how to carve out space in the paint. While pro teams don't think he's a star, many of them see him as an ideal backup center in the NBA.
"He plays hard, he competes, he can score a little and he can rebound," one GM said. "I'm not sure there's any one thing he does great, but he doesn't have a lot of weaknesses either. I know we could use him right now. He'd get 20 minutes a night on my team. You can't have enough bigs."
5. Devin Booker | SG | Fr. | Draft range: 25-35
Booker is the best shooter on the Wildcats and, when he's on, he's the guy who makes their offense sizzle. He was on fire against UCLA. He led all scorers with 19 points and went 5-for-6 from beyond the arc. Booker is shooting 46 percent from behind the arc this season. While Booker is neither a high-flying athlete nor a lock-down defender, his ability to shoot the basketball has scouts very interested.
"When you look around at the draft, there just aren't any wings who can really shoot the ball," one NBA scout said. "You've got R.J. Hunter and who else really? Booker isn't just a good shooter, he's a great one and there's always room on a NBA team for a great shooter. I'd be shocked if someone didn't snag him in the 20s."
6. Tyler Ulis | PG | Fr. | Draft range: 30-45
Ulis doesn't look the part of a NBA prospect. He's just 5-9, severely undersized for an NBA point guard. But that doesn't stop NBA scouts and GMs from loving him. Ulis is a pass-first PG with expert court vision. He can also shoot the ball from deep and is a pesky defender. Every single scout and GM I spoke with believed that if John Calipari handed over the full-time PG role to Ulis, the Wildcats would be even better. Against UCLA Ulis had seven points, seven rebounds, six assists and just one turnover.
"He might be my favorite point guard in the country," one GM said. "I'd love to see him on the floor with Cauley-Stein and Towns more often. I just think Kentucky's offense runs so much better when he's out there. As scary as they are right now, how much scarier would they be if Ulis was playing 30 or 35 minutes? Few guards see and play the game the way he does. I know he's little and that does limit what he can do in the NBA, but once the second round hit, I'd grab early. I just think he brings everything else that you look for in a point guard to the table."
7. Marcus Lee | PF | So. | Draft range: 30-45
Lee is a crazy athlete but he's clearly a step behind the rest when it comes to production (he had five points and six rebounds against UCLA). Regardless, scouts love his length and explosive leaping ability. He's a work-in-progress player who probably needs to stay in school another year to develop more of an offensive game. But he has the raw tools to play in the NBA someday.
"Every time he's on the floor my eyes go directly to him," said a scout. "He makes more mistakes than the rest of the group and, developmentally, I think he's the weakest player in their 10. But he's got some physical tools and energy that you can't teach and I think that makes him a NBA player, maybe even a first-rounder if he's willing to wait another year."
8. Andrew Harrison | G | So. | Draft range: 45 to undrafted
Harrison had a team-high eight assists on Saturday and hit a couple of big 3s. He's been steady and good at times. Also, he's cut down on his turnovers this season, which is a major plus. But it's clear that scouts and GMs continue to question whether either Andrew or his brother Aaron have a place in the NBA. Many scouts are skeptical that Andrew has the speed, quickness or unselfishness to play point guard in the pros. While Andrew dished out eight assists against the Bruins, there were times when he clearly missed open teammates and tried too hard to look for his own shot. Scouts also point to his hideous 29 percent shooting from behind the arc and 38 percent overall field-goal mark, and wonder why he's shooting at all.
"Look at the way he looks off guys who are open," one NBA GM said during one sequence in the second half. "I'd love to see how long that would last in a (NBA) summer league game. He hasn't proven he should ever be the guy on this team taking the shot."
9. Aaron Harrison | SG | So. | Draft range: 45 to undrafted
Aaron was the second-leading scorer on Saturday with 15 points. He was 3-for-8 from beyond the arc and got the team rolling coming out of the gate. When Harrison is hitting 3s, he looks like a potential first-round pick or second-rounder. When he isn't, there's very little else that he brings, from a NBA standpoint, to the table. So far this season, he's shooting just 27 percent from behind the arc, and, like his brother, just 38 percent overall. Those are awful numbers for a player whose main calling card is supposed to be shooting.
"If he was a more consistent shooter, I could see it," one NBA scout said. "But he's not. He's streaky and he doesn't have anything else to his game that really screams NBA to me. I think both of the twins are still living off an inflated reputation coming out of high school and a few good games in the NCAA tournament last year. Neither one is on our Big Board right now. I think they claw to get on a summer league team as undrafted rookies."
10. Alex Poythress | F | Jr. | Draft range: 45 to undrafted
Poythress tore his ACL on Dec. 12 and is out for the season. He graduates in April, which puts him in a very interesting position: Does he go to the NBA right now, when his draft stock is at an all-time low, or does he return for his senior season at Kentucky and try to prove to scouts that he's more than just a versatile, athletic defender?
"I feel awful for the kid," one scout said. "He's as good of an athlete as you'll ever see and Cal has gotten him to play so hard. He still can't create his own shot and that's what concerns everyone. I don't think he's ready for the NBA, but I'd understand if he came out. He could continue to develop in the D-League."
Other Notes from Saturday
UCLA's prospects
Scouts love seeing top prospects go against Kentucky. Rockets GM Daryl Morey tweeted during Saturday's game that "One nice thing when U R watching Kentucky, U get 2see how players on the other team would do against an NBA team #UKvsUCLA."
The main attraction on the other side of the court on Saturday was UCLA freshman forward Kevon Looney. Looney is ranked No. 5 on our BigBoard and has the type of length, athleticism and motor to hang with the Kentucky players. It was a pretty rough outing for Looney. He struggled mightily to finish inside against Cauley-Stein and Towns, and while he's normally a beast on the offensive boards, he wasn't quite as dominant as he normally is. He finished the game with nine points, nine rebounds and two blocks but shot just 4-for-14 from the floor. Nevertheless, it wasn't all bad for Looney. He was the one player on UCLA who didn't seem to back down from Kentucky. He kept attacking the entire game, made some athletic plays on the defensive end and showed NBA scouts why they loved him in the first place.
"I think we saw a couple of things," one NBA scout said after the game. "One, we saw he's going to struggle coming out of the gate playing in the NBA. Kentucky took away a lot of things he likes to do. Like most rookies, it's going to be a big adjustment. Second, I think you saw the talent and the character he has. He fought the whole game. He kept coming at the them and he missed a few shots that really just rimmed out. If he was 7-for-14 from the floor with 15 points and nine boards, we'd be saying he actually played well versus UK. I think he's going very, very high."
The rest of UCLA's squad was awful. Norman Powell, a senior, was just 1-for-13 from the field and looked completely lost. Big man Tony Parker was completely overwhelmed by the UK front line and went just 1-for-10 from the field. Redshirt Freshman Isaac Hamilton had 14 points on 6-for-14 shooting but took too many bad shots in the first half. All of UCLA's players looked completely outmatched against Kentucky. That could be especially devastating for Powell, as coming into the game some scouts saw him as a potential first-rounder.
Prospects from Ohio State-North Carolina
Ohio State freshman D'Angelo Russell had one of his toughest outings on Saturday against North Carolina. Russell's jump shot wasn't falling and he didn't really take over the game the way scouts expect him to. He ended with just 11 points on 4-for-17 shooting, though he did have eight rebounds, five assists and three steals. Still, there seemed to be consensus in the gym that he's a lottery pick. Not everyone sees him as a point guard, but about 75 percent of scouts I spoke with think that's the position he'll ultimately play in the pros.
"He's so smooth," one NBA scout said. "He's got the chance to be a special player. You love big point guards who can shoot it, get to the rim, see the floor and know how to balance all of that. I wish he was a little quicker or more explosive. He might have some issues defensively. But offensively he could be really good in our league."
North Carolina got its best win of the season on Saturday. The team doesn't have any lottery prospects right now despite being loaded with former McDonald's All-Americans. Freshman wing Justin Jackson draws the most interest. He had 11 points on Saturday to go along with four rebounds and five assists. He needs to add strength and show scouts he can shoot from 3, but his mid-range game is special.
Brice Johnson had the best game of the group for North Carolina, going 8-for-10 from the field and grabbing nine rebounds. However, scouts still see him as a bubble first-rounder.
Scouts seem to be cooling dramatically on Marcus Paige, openly questioning whether the team runs better when Joel Berry is running the point. J.P. Tokoto intrigued a number of scouts with athleticism and ability to see the floor. "He's the best passer on North Carolina," one GM said. "I just wish he had a jump shot or a handle. He's got an unusual game. Great athlete, great passer, not much else. Not sure where he fits."
