Lamont Butler withdraws from 2024 NBA Draft, will play at Kentucky in 2024-25

A transfer from San Diego State, Lamont Butler was officially announced as a member of the upcoming Kentucky men’s basketball season all the way back on April 27. That being said, his status as a future Wildcat technically remained up in the air. That changed this week though.

On Tuesday afternoon, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports reported that Butler has officially withdrawn his name from the 2024 NBA Draft pool, paving the way for him to join Kentucky this summer and play in the 2024-25 season.

Butler is the second Kentucky commit from earlier in the offseason to withdraw his name from the draft on Tuesday. Drexel transfer forward Amari Williams also did the same, according to Rothstein.

Source: Lamont Butler has withdrawn from the 2024 NBA Draft and will play for Kentucky next season.

Transfer from San Diego State.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) May 28, 2024

After spending the last four seasons at San Diego State (including a national championship appearance in 2023), Butler was one of the first significant additions for Kentucky’s new head coach Mark Pope. The 6-foot-2 guard was named Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year this past season by the coaches and also won the award in 2023 from the media. He’s a three-time MWC All-Defense Team member.

This past season, Butler averaged 9.3 points, three assists, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.5 steals in 27.5 minutes per outing for San Diego State. He shot 42.1 percent overall, 30.2 percent from deep, and 59.4 percent from the line while starting all 37 games played.

Two other transfer players who committed to Kentucky this offseason continue to contemplate making the leap to the NBA. Dayton’s Koby Brea and Wake Forest’s Andrew Carr still have decisions to make regarding turning pro or returning to college. That being said, the expectation is that both will ultimately come back to college and play in Lexington next season.

Another notable name still going through the process is BYU’s Jaxson Robinson. If the talented guard elects to pull his name, Kentucky is viewed as the likely landing spot. The deadline for players to withdraw their names from the draft pool is May 29 at 11:59 p.m. EST.