Tourney Success Signals More Roster Turnover for 2010-11 Wildcats

Kentucky’s overwhelming NCAA Tournament performance through two games (vicious beatings of East Tennessee State and Wake Forest) have got the basketball media speculating left and right about the slew of Wildcats leaving school after the season to enter the NBA draft.

Most reports have made it a foregone conclusion since January that John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Patrick Patterson would leave UK for NBA riches when the season ended. But due to reports by draft guru Chad Ford and a range of others, it’s looking highly probable that Eric Bledsoe and Daniel Orton will also be on their way out of Lexington prematurely.

We have to be honest, the BBL thinks that all five of the above are first rounders. While Bledsoe has been up and down this season, his ridiculous ceiling and a weak PG crop make him a near lock to be taken in the top 15. As for Orton, how many 6-10 guys have the explosiveness, timing, strength and all-around raw ability that he possesses? We didn’t think so, either.

So what does it all mean for the 2010-11 Cats?
Thankfully, the buzz surrounding UK’s mass early exodus has been softened a bit by the news that 6-9, 240-pound power forward Enes Kanter has committed to play for Coach Calipari next season. Kanter, a Turkish national playing prep school ball in Switzerland, has a typical European face up game in a big body. He will help ease the loss of some serious low post firepower.

Still, Kanter represents only Kentucky’s second commit for next year—the other being SF Stacey Poole. Right now, the Cats are a lock to lose six players and could lose as many as eight. So, at minimum, UK will need to find four more bodies.

We’ve already reported here that Brandon Knight is a done deal to Kentucky. We’re staying with that. We also think there are a few big time names who have Lexington on their super short list, and we are going to assume that Orton returns. So as of today, here is our rough look at what type of roster the Cats will suit up next year:

• PG: Brandon Knight and Josh Selby or Doron Lamb
• SG: Deandre Liggins and Darius Miller
• SF: Darnell Dodson, Jon Hood and Stacey Poole
• PF: Enes Kanter and C.J. Leslie
• C: Daniel Orton and Josh Harrellson

The first thing you might say is, how can UK really expect to pull Knight and Lamb or Selby? To that we submit last year as exhibit A. If Cal could sign Bledsoe and Wall in the same class, win with them playing together in the same backcourt and then put them both in the first round of the NBA draft, why wouldn’t it happen again?

BBL’s Take
All in all, there are some other impact signees that UK could still make a run at. We also wouldn’t rule out a surprise return from Patterson, Bledsoe or Cousins. In fact, Calipari himself said earlier this week that “Wall wants to come back to Kentucky.”

There is still a ways to go, but we feel pretty good about going to battle with the rotation above. Would it win a national title? Probably not. But SEC title contender and top 25 staple would be almost a guarantee.