Kentucky seems to be indicating that Sharpe will return to college in 2022-23. Do NBA scouts you've talked to think that's a real possibility?
These situations are fluid in my experience, and there's no reason to show your hand at this early stage. Outside of James Wiseman's situation at Memphis, I've never seen a player declare for the NBA draft this early in the season, because that would be distasteful, especially under the circumstances he's in and the scrutiny Kentucky's coaching staff is under. None of the draft's top prospects -- Paolo Banchero, Jabari Smith, Chet Holmgren et al -- have come out saying they definitively will or won't be in this draft, and neither has Sharpe.Even coach John Calipari, at a news conference last week, said "we'll see," when asked about the possibility of Sharpe testing the NBA draft waters and gathering feedback. "We haven't gone that far, I don't see any reason not to," Calipari said. "If someone in this draft will take him 1,2,3, 5, if someone guarantees me they'll do it. Then you got to sit down and talk. Will he test the waters? He may not. He may say 'Coach, I'm not ready.' We don't know yet."
Talking to NBA teams, they are all preparing for Sharpe ultimately being in the draft, and say they'll be surprised if he isn't. Historically speaking, 99.9% of players in his situation (projected lottery picks, likely top-10 picks) end up declaring, because there's simply too much risk in going back to school, risking poor play or injury, and seeing their stock fall.
The most notable exceptions I can recall since Tim Duncan famously passed on the possibility of being the No. 1 pick in the draft to return for his senior season at Wake Forest in 1996? Marcus Smart, a likely top-five pick in 2013, surprisingly returning to Oklahoma State for his sophomore year; teammates Joakim Noah and Al Horford, potential top-10 picks, returning to Florida for their junior seasons after winning the national championship; and Jared Sullinger, then a possible top-five pick, returning to Ohio State for his sophomore season.
NBA teams will explain to Sharpe's family and mentors that they know how to develop players for the league just as well, if not much better, than colleges do. We saw that when high school players went straight to the NBA, and we've seen that time and again with raw or unpolished players who left school before they were even close to being ready to be impact players.
The argument that Sharpe needs to play at Kentucky in order to reach his full potential feels hollow. Great NBA players have come straight from high school, from low-major colleges, from the second division of Greece, via the G League, and everywhere in between. If a team takes him in the top 10, they'll throw him right into NBA games next season, and let him take his lumps and learn on the fly. Every team in the lottery will likely encourage Sharpe to throw his name in the draft, because this is a short-term business, and it benefits them to have a deeper group of prospects to choose from.
Personally, I'd love to see Sharpe suit up at Kentucky next season and lead his team to the Final Four. But history says that's unlikely, unless Sharpe decides to buck the trend and bet on himself, which would be awesome to see, but almost entirely unheard of. -- Jonathan Givony
Article dated Feb 16 …an Insider article
