Amari Williams might just sneak his way into being an NBA Draft pick

Ahead of Wednesday night’s withdrawal deadline for college-eligible players to stick in the pool of draftable NBA prospects, we saw some big names announce their return to college.

As Kentucky fans know well by now, Otega Oweh was one of them. The All-SEC guard spurned the NBA Draft hours before the deadline to spend one more season in college. Not only can he improve on his draft stock with the Wildcats in 2025-26 (he was not widely considered as someone expected to get drafted this year), but he can also cash in on some of that sweet, sweet NIL money — money that is considerably greater than whatever contract he’d sign as an undrafted free agent or even as a middle of the pack second-rounder.

Other notable, talented college players did the same as Oweh, such as Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg, Auburn’s Tahaad Pettiford, Alabama’s Labaron Philon, Florida’s Alex Condon, Arkansas’ Karter Knox, Houston’s Milos Uzan, Texas A&M’s Mackenzie Mgbako, and many more. All of them turned down the NBA Draft for another go at the college level.

At least on this specific front, it’s great news for the college basketball landscape — the sport’s biggest teams can retain their top talent.

But looking at the current ecosystem (which could easily change soon with the inevitable revenue-sharing system coming to college athletics) from an NBA lens, we see franchises wondering what the hell they’re going to do with their second-round picks. The 2025 NBA Draft is loaded with top-end talent and plenty of respectable first-round picks, but with so many potential second-rounders coming back to college, that well of prospects has quickly dried up.

There’s some good news to that, though: while it will make sifting through the second-round options for NBA front offices more difficult, it will also increase the likelihood of someone like Kentucky center Amari Williams hearing his name called on draft night.

In Bleacher Report’s latest mock draft from Thursday morning, Jonathan Wasserman has Williams landing with the New York Knicks as the 50th overall pick in next month’s draft. The unique seven-footer hasn’t been listed on any major mock drafts until now. And that’s thanks in large part to so many prospects considered to be ranked ahead of him pulling out of the draft.

Wasserman also has Kentucky guard Koby Brea, widely projected as a second-round pick, going 43rd overall to the Sacramento Kings.

Updated mock draft after withdrawal deadline with final NCAA field set https://t.co/Mc0fpfOmUB

— Jonathan Wasserman (@NBADraftWass) May 29, 2025

Wasserman even shared a similar line of thinking in his write-up on Williams: “With so many prospects returning, there is bound to be interest in a big that can initiate breaks, average 3.2 assists, finish plays and bring defensive activity.”

A lack of an outside shot is always going to be what drags down Williams’ stock in pre-draft talks, but now that so many other options have been removed, his ability to do nearly everything else is now more of a commodity than it was just seven days ago. Williams was an elite rebounder in his one year at Kentucky, the best passing big man in college basketball, and is an absolute tank of a human being. Even without a reliable three-point shot, there is room in the NBA for someone with his talents.

With a little under a month (June 25-26) until the NBA Draft in Brooklyn, don’t be surprised if Williams’ name begins to pop up more and more in popular mock drafts. Someone else to watch out for is Kentucky guard Lamont Butler, who has conducted workouts with a handful of NBA teams over the last several weeks. We might just end up seeing multiple Wildcats get picked up on draft night.