As Kentucky Basketball fans eagerly await NBA Draft decisions from Malachi Moreno and Milan Momcilovic, a bit of good news is coming out of the NBA Combine.
On Wednesday, CBS Sports’ Isaac Trotter released an article in which he made predictions on who stays in the draft and who withdraws from it. You probably noticed this week how Trotter is in Chicago at the combine and has interviewed both Moreno and Momcilovic, so what he has to say is definitely worth paying attention to.
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When it came to Moreno, Trotter predicted that the Georgetown native would ultimately return to Kentucky for his sophomore season.
As for Momcilovic, Trotter predicts that the Iowa State transfer will return to school but is not ready to say which school gets the likely preseason All-American. If Momcilovic pulls out of the draft, Trotter lists Kentucky, Louisville, St. John’s, and UCLA as potential suitors.
The Athletic’s Brendan Marks is also predicting that Momcilovic will return to school, though that came prior to this week’s combine.
Elsewhere, NBA.com reporter Krysten Peek told Larry Vaught she believes Moreno will ultimately return to Kentucky. Peek also offered an interesting note on why Moreno skipped the five-on-five scrimmages this week, which some took as a sign that Moreno was set to keep his name in the draft.
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Peek actually thinks UK may have encouraged Moreno not to take part in the scrimmages, and it actually makes a lot of sense.
Peek did not read a lot into Moreno choosing not to participate in the five-on-five workouts at the combine. She speculated UK might have encouraged him to attend the combine, get feedback and then skip the five-on-five to avoid injury. She said most players that scrimmage are seniors or players certain they will stay in the draft and “their fighting for their lives” at the combine.
That certainly paints a more optimistic picture than the one UK fans saw on Monday when reports emerged that Moreno was skipping scrimmages and was likely to be a first-round pick if he stays in the draft.
Even so, don’t expect a final decision to be made until the NCAA withdrawal deadline on May 27.
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