Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard are going to be lottery picks in the NBA Draft. That is, if the analysts who do NBA mock drafts know what they’re talking about.
Nearly every mock draft that comes out has both Dillingham and Sheppard as top ten picks. A new CBS mock draft from Kyle Boone, however, took it a step further, and have both being selected inside the top five.
First up is Dillingham, the lightning quick guard who seemed to be able to take over games at will. Boone has him going second overall to the Washington Wizards and had this to say:
Despite coming off the bench the majority of the season for Kentucky, Dillingham flashed shades of Kyrie Irving with his twitchy ability and brilliant ball-handling skills. He can take over games when he’s hot and has the athletic pop to grow into a potent two-way player.
Just two picks later, Reed Sheppard goes to the Charlotte Hornets with the fourth overall selection. Another Kentucky guard, Sheppard was deadly from three-point range, and proved to be a terrific passer. This was Boone’s thought:
However good you think Sheppard is, just know you’re probably wrong and underrating him. He had an historically great freshman season at Kentucky as arguably the best shooter in college basketball, and he proved to be a legitimate playmaker on offense with the ball in his hands and on defense as a savvy, smart team defender. Has a game that projects perfectly to the NBA level.
Boone didn’t have any other Wildcats going in round one, despite forward Justin Edwards declaring for the NBA Draft this week. He didn’t address round two, where multiple Kentucky players could go.