ESPN released its latest NBA Draft Big Board rankings on Thursday, with two Kentucky Wildcats included in the top 100.
Jayden Quaintance comes in at #18 in the latest rankings, dropping from #9 in the previous rankings.
ESPN’s Jeremy Woo had this to say about Quaintance:
It’s unclear if he will try to play the rest of the way, and NBA scouts presently have more questions than answers about him as a prospect. The circumstances make him a tricky case ahead of the draft, given the limited amount of minutes
he’ll have on his résumé following ACL surgery in March 2025.
Woo pointed to Quaintance’s defensive upside and ability as a lob threat as factors that could lead to him being drafted in the lottery, but JQ will likely have a lot to prove to NBA scouts with so little film available following the ACL surgery if he doesn’t play again this season.
ESPN has Otega Oweh in the top 100, coming in at #93.
After a slow start, Oweh has turned it on as of late, looking more and more like the Oweh we saw toward the end of last season. Oweh has scored at least 20 points in all but two SEC games (18 points against Texas and 12 against Tennessee in Knoxville).
Noticeably absent from ESPN’s rankings is Malachi Moreno.
SB Nation recently had Moreno ranked as the 23rd overall prospect in the class, and other outlets had him ranked in the top 30.
Moreno’s numbers aren’t eye-popping (8.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.7 blocks), but he’s put up those numbers in just 22 minutes per game and played a major role for Kentucky when many didn’t expect him to at the beginning of the season.
For now, it doesn’t appear Kentucky is in real danger of losing Moreno to the NBA this year, but he’s still got plenty of time to progress in his development and bolster his stock while hopefully guiding Kentucky toward a deep NCAA Tournament run.
You can check out the full ESPN rankings here.
