OKC Thunder: NBA Draft stock up, stock down report 2.0

Kahlil Whitney, Wing, Kentucky

The Kentucky Wildcats, after being crowned the AP number one team in the nation last week, came out in their first game with that fancy number next to their name and lost to…something called Evansville? To add salt to the worn, the Purple Aces (yes, that is their mascot) are lead by head coach Walter McCarty who played at the University of Kentucky and won the Wildcats a national title in 1996.

In this game, the most troubling thing for Kentucky, and obviously the NBA Draft side of things was not the loss. It happened in November, not March. We will not even remember this loss in a few months, and no one expected them to go undefeated. In fact, many did not expect Kentucky to be very good this year.

The most worrisome aspect of this game to me was how terrible Kahlil Whitney played. The five-star freshman, who was looked at as next in a long line of one and down lottery picks in the Wildcats history, did not even show up.

Okay, he literally showed up, but it might’ve been better if he hadn’t. The wing could only pour in six (6) points on three (3!) shots. Whitney played in 23 minutes and just could not make an impact against a vastly inferior opponent.

Whitney came into the season as my 35th best prospect, and with lower second-round players outperforming him by a mile as of now, his stock is plummeting. Whitney’s lone saving grace continues to be his age (18) which organizations have a track record of overvaluing.