John Calipari talks NBA Draft decisions, both past and present

Kentucky Basketball never really stops. Even before the dust settles on the NCAA Tournament, chatter begins about which Wildcats will stay for another season and which will go to the NBA Draft. Some decisions, like John Wall’s in 2010, are easy. Projected No. 1 overall pick? You better pack your bags and get out of Lexington. Lottery or first-round? John Calipari will still walk you to the door. From there, it gets a little fuzzy.

During his appearance on John Wall’s new podcast “Point Game,” Calipari opened up on NBA Draft decisions both past and present. When Wall asked if there was a player who he thought should have stayed at Kentucky another year, Calipari mentioned a member of his first team, Daniel Orton.

“One guy that wanted to go and I wasn’t sure, yeah, Daniel needed to stay. I think if he stayed, it would have helped him with his career and it would have helped our team.

“I’ve had other guys that I’ve talked to parents and I don’t want to mention names, but I talked to parents and I’ve said, ‘Are you sure?’ and they came back with, ‘Well, they’re all leaving, he feels he has to.’ Now, that young man didn’t have the career you guys had. Like, he needed another year.”

What about this year’s team? Just this morning, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony included seven Kentucky underclassmen in his 2024 NBA Draft player rankings. Rob Dillingham (No. 3) and Reed Sheppard (No. 5) are in the top five. DJ Wagner (No. 34), Justin Edwards (No. 43), and Ugonna Onyenso (No. 51) are in the second-round range, while Zvonimir Ivisic (No. 60) is just outside (this year’s draft has only 58 picks). Aaron Bradshaw, once considered a first-round pick, is No. 72.

Calipari told Wall he’s already anticipating a few players from this year’s team to go pro that might not be ready.

“I’ve got a couple of guys on this year’s team that probably could use another year but you know I’m going to support whatever their decision is. But I’ll tell them, ‘Are you sure?’ Because there are two things you have to be. NBA: No Boys Allowed. N-B-A: No Boys Allowed. Are you mentally ready and are you physically ready?”

Calipari said that with Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL), there’s more incentive for guys who are on the fence to stay — although NIL also complicates things.

“If you’re not mentally or physically ready, you shouldn’t leave. Now with NIL, it’s all ego. Sometimes it can be family ego. Sometimes — ‘Well, I’m mad because he played–‘ He should have played more, he was better than your son. But your son is fine. It may take him a little more time.

“That’s the thing that I worry about, that some kids may leave when now there is no reason to. No reason to if you want to stay and you need to stay.”

Calipari used Willie Cauley-Stein and Patrick Patterson as examples of players who elected to stay for specific reasons, Willie because he didn’t think he was mentally ready for the pros and Patterson because he wanted to work on his three-point shot and graduate in three years. That prompted Wall to bring up another great Kentucky Basketball “What If?”.

“I’m glad you let him come back,” Wall said of Patterson. “We needed him. That was great for us. I wish Jodie would have come back too. That would have been special if Jodie had stayed.”

“Oh my gosh, we wouldn’t have lost that game where we went 1 for 22 because I would have let him shoot it stepping over halfcourt.”

Don’t remind us. Enjoy more of Wall and Cal’s conversation below on YouTube. The audio-only version is available wherever you get your podcasts.

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