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NBA scout weighs in on every Kentucky draft prospect

Adam Himmelsbach
USA TODAY Sports
Kentucky center Willie Cauley-Stein has a bright NBA future.

The Kentucky basketball team held a first-of-its-kind mini NBA combine over the weekend. About 90 scouts and front office executives attended the three-day event. On Monday, I spoke to one of the scouts who was in Lexington, and he shared his impressions of Kentucky's players.

I asked the scout to name the team's top three pro prospects, and he said, in order: Karl Towns, Trey Lyles and Willie Cauley-Stein. At the end of this player breakdown, the scout shares some more thoughts about the combine and UK's team in general. He requested anonymity because he's not authorized to discuss prospects.

C Willie Cauley-Stein, junior

Obviously still super-athletic and showed that. You know, I think what we're looking forward to with him, the physical tools are so apparent so you just want to see him get in the games and be effective and show he can make a difference at both ends of the floor. From what I saw, yeah he's healthy.

PG Andrew Harrison, sophomore

Andrew, he's shooting it better. I think that's the main thing that stood out. You know, he's still getting better at being a point guard and I think as this team comes together he's gonna have a lot of options to figure out where to get guys shots. Hopefully he'll figure out how to balance that with what he can do getting to the basket.

SG Aaron Harrison, sophomore

He shot it well. He makes open shots. He has a good little pull-up game and he gets to the rim some. You know, I think he seemed pretty consistent through the three days. He's probably who he was last year, hopefully a little bit better.

F Alex Poythress, junior

Obviously looked really strong and athletic and I think he's just got to keep developing and keep working. He's got to take shots when he's open and be confident. But yeah, he had a pretty good couple of days.

C Dakari Johnson, sophomore

Dakari is in great shape, super athletic. He's got to make an impact with his effort and energy level, which he is capable of doing. But there's no question he looked impressive from a physical standpoint.

PF/C Karl Towns, freshman

For sure, he is a talented kid who can do a lot of different things at both ends of the floor. He moves really well, his body is maturing. Watching him, he should be a main focus of what they do this year. He's gonna be fun to watch.

PF Trey Lyles, freshman

Really skilled player. His body looks good. He's coming off an injury too, and he looked good. He's skilled and showed he can do so many different things, inside, outside, passing the ball. And for a kid 6-9 or 6-10, he has a pretty unique skill set.

SG Devin Booker, freshman

Devin is a shooter. You can tell he's just a freshman, but he's a talent. What I saw this weekend was a kid during the year that could probably, if he gets adjusted, he'll really get better and better through the year and has an ability to play at both ends of the floor. He gives you good size as a 2 and is just a kid that's learning. I think he's learning to play for a coach like coach Cal and gives every indication he should become a really good player.

PG Tyler Ulis, freshman

He's little, but I mean, he's tough. He defends, he can move his feet. He pushed the tempo and looked for other guys. He's not afraid, and he can shoot a little bit. I don't think he's any kind of one-and-done guy. And right now I'd think Andrew is pretty entrenched as far as being the starter.

PF/C Marcus Lee, sophomore

He looked really athletic. He's got to get stronger. I'm sure he works really hard at that, but maybe his body just isn't at that stage where it's gonna fill out yet. He's super athletic, and runs and jumps and all that, but he still needs to improve his skill level.

General thoughts on Kentucky's combine:

(Who are the top prospects?) Probably Karl, Trey and then I'm not sure about the third. It's gonna have to play out, but those two are obvious. Probably Willie, based on physical attributes and all that.

I think one thing is, this is the start of the year. So even though this created a lot of buzz and all that, you can't forget this is the beginning and not the end. There's months and months ahead and who knows what can happen in that timeframe or how kids develop or may not develop?

Every year you've got places where guys look really good and then for one reason or another maybe don't have a great year. Other times you've got practices and guys don't look that great and end up having great years.

(As far as the measurements) nothing stood out. I can't say anything was that surprising. Everything was good. The guys you were expected to be fast were fast, and the guys who shoot it pretty well shot it pretty well.

(The combine) wasn't too much different than going to watch them practice for a few days. You know, it's a great first impression to get a feel for the young men, but then also the routines and how they might have improved over the summer. I wouldn't say there's anything hugely different that we got out of it that we wouldn't have gotten from a normal practice.

I think it was cool. They had the kids test in the drills like they do at the combine, and we have results for those things we can keep and be used as a baseline. I thought that was a great idea. It was worthwhile.

Going to other teams' practices and all that I'd think we would get a similar feel and all that, but it was good. I understand Coach Cal kind of getting it out of the way so he doesn't have us trickle in there over the next few weeks and I kind of saw his motivation there. I don't think we're a distraction, but at the same time we'll never know.

Adam Himmelsbach writes for The (Louisville) Courier Journal.

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