How many top 100 current NBA players came from UK?

[Son_Of_Saul]

The Kentucky program has never had so many quality players in the league. Here's my best guess ont he next NBA player rankings...

Top 5- Davis
Top 10-15 - Wall
Top 10-15 - Cousins
Top 35 - Bledsoe
Top 35 - Knight
Top 50 - Towns
Top 75 - Rondo
Top 75 - Kanter
Top 100 - Randle
Top 100 - Noel
Top 175 - Jones
Top 175- Kidd-Gilchrist
Top 200 - Cauley-Stein
Top 275 - Patterson
Top 275 - Meeks
Top 275 - Lyles
Top 300 - Booker
Top 350 - Prince
Top 375 - Young
Top 375 - Goodwin
Top 400 - Hayes
Top 450 - Aaron Harrison
Top 450 - Mohammed

 

[Montana81]

I don't know that I can put Randle or Towns in since they haven't played a game yet. Agree with all the rest though.

I think Terrence Jones when healthy is also close.

Also I think it's safe to just go ahead and say Wall and Cousins are top 10 for sure instead of just 10-15.

Cousins is probably the best center in the league and has been one of the most productive players in the league for the last 2 seasons. I think he's comfortably in the top 10 right now.

Wall is at worst the 4th best point guard. I tried to think of 10 players that were better and couldn't.

 

[WildMoon]

Noel is probably higher than top 100, i would go as top 75.

He showed some insane defensive stats last year.

MKG while offensively disastrous, Bobcats team overall was much better when he was on the court. (i believe i read that somewhere...) If he learns to shot, he'll be very good player. Right now he is a solid player. He starts, and there's 160 players who start for NBA. I would say he isn't the worst starter. I guess there are players better than him on the bench as well, but i would say he is a top 150 player.

 

[Bigblueforever]

Just great that Kentucky has so many players in the NBA. Keep it up Coach Cal.

 

[Montana81]

Also, and I realize I'm just splitting hairs but for conversations sake, Patterson and Meeks are probably higher than that too.

There are only 360 total roster spots in the NBA. The bottom 100 or so are mostly bench warmers. Patterson was a strong 6th man for a playoff team and Meeks is a career double digit scorer both guys are in the middle of their prime too. Id say they're top 200 at least. And Id even go as high as top 150 because there are a lot of teams both guys would start for.

 

[GonzoCat90]

Jones, MKG and Patterson are all too low, especially when you start trying to name players. Sit down sometime and make a list and see how quickly you get to guys that are just role-playing starters or rotation guys.

 

[miracle7s]

Randle in the top 100 is crazy, he has yet to play in a game and looked horrible in summer league last year and this year. Hope I'm wrong but I see him as a huge bust waiting to happen. Too small for his skill and if clams up in the big moments in the NBA like he did at UK, not a good combo.

 

[king of cali]

Knight in the top 35 is a HUGE stretch IMO. What was he ranked last year? Randle in the top 100 is laughable seeing as how he hasn't done a thing in the NBA. It will be interesting when the actual rankings come out.

 

[mj2k10]

A more objective look, using Real +/- wins above replacement level- a number that is going to take into account how many games a guy's team won, how many minutes he played, and how many games he missed.

5- AD
11-Wall
16- Cousins
18-Bledsoe
71-MKG


And PER value added:

2-AD
9-Cousins
21-Wall
32-Bledsoe
34-Kanter
70-Knight
89-Noel

The real answer to this question is that there are currently 4 guys who are clear-cut top level NBA players, as in definite or potential all-stars. The rest are either totally unproven, or part of a large middle-class-definite contributors, but not necessarily stars or even a top 1-2 players on the roster of a winning team. That goes even for Kanter and Knight, both of whom might put up some gaudy numbers, but still have huge question marks about certain aspect of their games (which is why advanced stats tend to dislike them).

People are severely overestimating a lot of the UK guys here. You remember them, and you don't think much about guys who might rate 3-8 on the rosters of winning NBA teams. But there are a lot of those guys, and there's not a whole lot to separate MKG, and Knight, and Kanter, and Patterson, and Noel, and anyone else except the top 4 from that pack.

 

[Rhavicc]

Knight in the top 35 is a HUGE stretch IMO. What was he ranked last year? Randle in the top 100 is laughable seeing as how he hasn't done a thing in the NBA. It will be interesting when the actual rankings come out.

He makes the pay of a top 35 or so player. I don't think it's a "HUGE" stretch, or a stretch at all.

 

[king of cali]

He makes the pay of a top 35 or so player. I don't think it's a "HUGE" stretch, or a stretch at all.

And Kobe Bryant is still the highest paid player in the league, or close to it. Salary has no bearing on whether or not Knight is a top 35 player.

 

[Aike]

I think the first 4 are about right. After that, I disagree with much of it.

Others have made good points, so I won't waste time with a detailed post. I will add one MKG stat that I like: he was 2nd in the league last year in defensive rebounding from the small forward position. Draymond Green was first.

MKG may be the most underrated player in the league if you go by the casual fan's opinion of him. He's routinely labeled a bust by people who don't pay attention. I doubt there's a GM in the league who wouldn't love to have him.

 

[UKcats1988]

Let's see where Wall, Knight, Bledsoe, Cousins and Davis rank among various metrics by ESPN, Basketball Reference.

PER

Davis-1
Cousins-9
Wall-43
Bledsoe-61
Knight-84

Real Plus Minus

Davis-4
Cousins-9
Wall-22
Bledsoe-35
Knight-not top 100

Box Plus Minus

Davis-6
Cousins-15
Wall-27
Bledsoe-44
Knight-90

Value Over Replacement

Davis-6
Wall-16
Cousins-22
Bledsoe-25
Knight-68

 

[UKcats1988]

We have 3 guys who are top 5 at their position, which no other school can say.

Davis- Best power forward
Cousins- Top 2 center
Wall- 4th or 5th best point guard imo

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

Knight in the top 35 is a HUGE stretch IMO. What was he ranked last year? Randle in the top 100 is laughable seeing as how he hasn't done a thing in the NBA. It will be interesting when the actual rankings come out.

Towns as a top 50 is not laughable based on potential but Randle as a top 100 is?

Randle has everything he needs to flourish statistically on a depleted LA roster. Maybe my view of him is misplaced and he struggles early in his career or becomes little more than a higher-end role player, but I think his skillset warrants some pretty solid numbers redounding and scoring-wise. He has a chance to establish himself as a secondary scoring threat on an NBA team. If he's efficient in doing that, it might be such a stretch that he enters the top 100.

 

[king of cali]

Towns as a top 50 is not laughable based on potential but Randle as a top 100 is?

Randle has everything he needs to flourish statistically on a depleted LA roster. Maybe my view of him is misplaced and he struggles early in his career or becomes little more than a higher-end role player, but I think his skillset warrants some pretty solid numbers redounding and scoring-wise. He has a chance to establish himself as a secondary scoring threat on an NBA team. If he's efficient in doing that, it might be such a stretch that he enters the top 100.

Towns and things that Randle doesn't, namely better shot, better footwork, better defender, that should allow him to reach that top 50 number, even if it is too high right now.

I think we just look at things differently. Flourishing statistically on a bad team doesn't make one a top player IMO. I think Randle will end up being a high end role player. To me his ceiling is a Draymond Green type if he can continue to get range on his shot.

 

[KA4Prez]

Ranking the top 500 NBA players seems foolish considering there are only 450 players on a roster at a given time. Sure, there are some injuries to account for, but having a guy ranked 425th essentially means he made a roster. That doesn't necessarily means he's a better "player" than a guy who isn't on a roster, but just a better fit for a specific team at that time.

The bottom 10-20% of the NBA are like a merry-go-round of players every year. Guys who made it, were gone and you were sure would never show back up, make it back. Other guys who you're crazy to think they won't find a spot, never find a spot. Backup PG's and C's can be underwhelming in college, but find a spot.

Matthew Dellavedova...is in the NBA and Marquis Teague hardly ever got a shot.
Seth Curry...is in the NBA and Doron Lamb is probably done forever.