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Kentucky basketball players ranked by NBA potential

By Cody Williams

LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY - NOVEMBER 25: Brandon Boston Jr #3 of the Kentucky Wildcats shoots the ball during the game against the Morehead State Eagles at Rupp Arena on November 25, 2020 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY - NOVEMBER 25: Brandon Boston Jr #3 of the Kentucky Wildcats shoots the ball during the game against the Morehead State Eagles at Rupp Arena on November 25, 2020 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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Kentucky basketball has been a factory for NBA talent but which players on the 2020-2021 roster have the highest potential at the next level?

John Calipari has fully embraced the one-and-done era at the helm of Kentucky basketball and the result has been an enormous number of NBA Draft prospects coming out of the Wildcats program over the last decade. In fact, the 2020 draft was the first time since Calipari took over in Lexington that he didn’t have a player selected in the lottery.

But that shouldn’t discount the run that Calipari has been on in terms of bringing top-tier prospects in to play for Kentucky basketball. Since the 2010 NBA Draft, the Wildcats have produced 20 lottery picks and have had three No. 1 overall picks come from the program as well (John Wall, 2010; Anthony Davis, 2012; Karl-Anthony Towns, 2015).

So it shouldn’t be a surprise that the Wildcats are once again loaded with talent as the 2020-2021 season gets underway, boasting a roster that is sure to start another streak of players being taken in the lottery. However, the question now becomes who the best NBA Draft prospects on the roster are.

That’s the focus today as we look at the Kentucky basketball roster for this season and identify the players with the highest NBA potential when they make the jump to the next level.

Kentucky basketball NBA Draft prospect No. 5: Olivier Sarr, F/C

Given the reliance on freshmen in Lexington, it might be a bit of a surprise to see Olivier Sarr make the cut here as one of the five players with the highest NBA potential. And to be sure, he doesn’t possess the same ceiling as the other players on this list. That being said, the 7-footer from France who is also a graduate transfer from Wake Forest has a real possibility to be heard from at the next level.

While at Wake, Sarr showed incredibly positive development over his career, going from averaging just 3.2 points and 3.0 rebounds per game in 2017-2018 to putting up 13.7 points, 9 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per night for the Demon Deacons last season.

Sarr isn’t otherworldly gifted but he’s a skilled player on the interior with obvious size and solid strength on his frame. He’s certainly not going to be a lottery pick and may not even be drafted. But my money would be on Sarr finding his way to an NBA roster and contributing down the line.