Were Kentucky basketball’s 2025 NBA Draft hopefuls helped or hurt by combine events?

• Six current, former or future Kentucky basketball players participated in NBA draft events, but their stock remains largely unchanged.
• Koby Brea and Otega Oweh participated in the NBA draft combine.
• Jaland Lowe, Lamont Butler, Andrew Carr and Amari Williams competed in the G League Elite Camp, with Lowe’s performance standing out.

LEXINGTON — Kentucky basketball had a combination of six current, former or future players who participated in a pair of NBA events earlier in May: the G League Elite Camp as well as the draft combine.

Those six players included a quartet with no further college eligibility (guards Koby Brea and Lamont Butler, forward Andrew Carr and center Amari Williams), an incoming transfer (ex-Pittsburgh guard Jaland Lowe) and a star weighing his options (guard Otega Oweh, UK’s leading scorer last season).

The unfortunate news for the six players in question: Their performance at the two NBA events didn’t move the needle enough to appreciably enhance their draft stock — at least according to NBA draft experts.

Brea and Oweh were the Wildcats‘ headliners, as they were the only two who received invitations to the draft combine.

Each had their moments during the 5-on-5 scrimmages that were part of the event. But neither rose to the level of ensuring a spot in the first round of the NBA draft, scheduled June 25.

Brea entered the combine forecasted to hear his name called in the second round of the draft. Post-combine mock drafts from ESPN, Yahoo!, Sports Illustrated and Bleacher Report still list Brea as a second-round pick. Yahoo! is most bullish on Brea, projecting him as the 34th overall pick (to the Charlotte Hornets). Bleacher Report was next, slotting him to the Utah Jazz with the 43rd pick. ESPN (No. 54) and Sports Illustrated (No. 55) both had Brea selected among the final six picks of the draft.

Oweh had been viewed as a borderline second-round selection prior to the combine. And that’s where he remains, per the four post-combine mock drafts. Only Sports Illustrated predicted he’ll be picked: 58th overall, one ahead of the final selection of this year’s draft. ESPN, Yahoo! and Bleacher Report did not list Oweh’s name in their 59-pick mock drafts. It’s always been assumed that Oweh, while testing the draft waters, would rejoin coach Mark Pope in Lexington, where he stands to make more in name, image and likeness agreements than he would as a second-round NBA draft pick (or playing in the G League).

It’s a different story for the other four, all of whom competed in the G League Elite Camp.

Lowe arguably had the best showing of the four. In his first 5-on-5 scrimmage, Lowe had nine points on 50% shooting from the field (4 for 8). He dished out five assists and notched two steals and a block. He also paced all players in the game in plus/minus rating (plus-15), despite not starting. Speaking of starting, that’s the role he’s anticipated to take on next season for Kentucky; Lowe’s time at the G League camp was more about receiving feedback from NBA talent evaluators than it was an attempt to place his name in the draft pool.

The performances for Butler, Carr and Williams varied.

Butler had 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists off the bench in his team’s first game. But he didn’t appear in the second outing, listed as, “Did Not Play — Coach’s Decision” on the official stat sheet.

Carr, who also came off the bench, had eight points, three rebounds, one assist and two steals in his first game. He only scored three points in his second contest but led all players in the game with two blocked shots.

Williams, who played on the same team as Carr at the G League camp, pulled down a game-high eight rebounds in his first showing and scored four points on 2-of-5 shooting. His second game was far more of a struggle: Williams committed a whopping seven turnovers — the most of any player in any of the four 5-on-5 games held during the camp.

Needless to say, Butler, Carr and Williams will sweat it out on draft night as each pick is announced.

At this juncture, barely a month from the draft, they’ll need to keep their options open, with an eye toward signing undrafted free-agent contracts once the event concludes.

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.

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