7 Wildcats among ESPN's Top 50-11 NBA players for 2023-24 season

On Tuesday, ESPN named a pair of former Kentucky players as two of the NBA’s Top 100-51 ranked players for the 2023-24 season. A day later, the worldwide leader in sports included seven one-time Wildcats among the publication’s Top 50-11 players for the upcoming NBA season — or 17.5 percent of the total players listed.

This is the 13th annual edition of ESPN’s NBArank, which draws data from a reputable panel that consists of “nearly 150 reporters, editors, producers and analysts,” who “were asked to rank players based on their predicted contributions — quality and quantity — for the 2023-24 season only.”

Considering a total of 30 former ‘Cats made NBA training camp rosters earlier this month, it’s no shock to see so many familiar names on this rundown. You can check out where every Kentucky player among the Top 50-11 landed below. Five of the seven saw increases in their ranking from the previous season. Only Devin Booker (down one spot) and Karl-Anthony Towns (down seven spots) saw a decrease in their previous ranking.

• No. 45 | Julius Randle (New York Knicks) Previously: No. 71
• No. 42 | Tyrese Maxey (Philadelphia 76ers) Previously: No. 44
• No. 23 | De’Aaron Fox (Sacramento Kings) Previously: No. 54
• No. 20 | Karl-Anthony Towns (Minnesota Timberwolves) Previously: No. 13
• No. 17 | Jamal Murray (Denver Nuggets) Previously: No. 50
• No. 16 | Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat) Previously: No. 23
• No. 11 | Devin Booker (Phoenix Suns) Previously: No. 10

NBArank continues 👀

The full list of rankings 11-50 ➡️ https://t.co/yCIvya3s5i pic.twitter.com/SUnSGLS95V

— ESPN (@espn) October 11, 2023

Even 15 years into John Calipari’s tenure as head coach at Kentucky men’s basketball, his influence in the NBA continues to be put on full display. New York Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley (No. 92) and Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro (No. 79) were among the Top 100-51 ranked players from Tuesday. Notably, Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis and Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander have not been listed among the Top 100-11 so far, meaning they’ll likely crack the Top 10 once that is released later this week.

If that ends up being the case as expected, then 11 of the Top 100 NBA players going into this season (according to ESPN, at least) will have played college basketball at Kentucky — not too shabby.

Looking at those who cracked the Top 50-11, none of the rankings seem too high or too low. Julius Randle has seen his stock rise and fall significantly over the last few seasons due to inconsistency, but he’s back on the right side of history with a 26-spot leap after making his second All-Star Game appearance in three seasons. Coming in at No. 45 is more than fair for Randle. He’s just a few spots below Tyrese Maxey at No. 42, who was somehow ranked 10 spots above De’Aaron Fox during last season’s NBArank. Maxey will be a strong contender for Most Improved Player this season.

Speaking of Fox, he’s now properly ranked at No. 23, a 331-spot jump for the first-time All-Star. Another significant riser was Jamal Murray, who was the second-best player on the Denver Nuggets’ path to an NBA Finals victory back in June. Expectations are going to be higher than ever for Murray this season, who moved up 33 spots in this year’s NBArank. As for Bam Adebayo, who made his second All-Star Game in four seasons this past year, the big man moved up seven spots to No. 16.

The two former ‘Cats that dipped in the rankings didn’t fall far. Karl-Anthony Towns missed the majority of last season with a strained calf, which explains his seven-spot drop to No. 20. Devin Booker moved down just one spot to No. 11, which ESPN justified by pointing to the addition of Bradley Beal to the Phoenix Suns, which will likely take away some of Booker’s touches with Kevin Durant also in the fold.

Regardless of where they’re ranked, that’s a lot of blue and white spread across the world’s top basketball league. NBA preseason action is already underway. The 2023-24 regular season begins on Tuesday, Oct. 24.