The Kentucky Wildcats’ future are in question as they are yet to find a replacement for John Calipari. Many of the coaches they have approached for the position are not interested, making the team’s future even more uncertain.
What makes the situation tougher is the team’s yearly tradition of losing talented players to the 2024 NBA Draft. Rob Dillingham is among the players who won’t be returning to Lexington next season after declaring his intent to go pro recently.
Rob Dillingham joins Kentucky Wildcats’ list of one-and-done players as he declares for 2024 NBA Draft
It was widely expected to see Rob Dillingham leave the Kentucky Wildcats after the solid season he put out last season. The guard is expected to enter the 2024 Draft as a top-ten selection due to his excellent scoring sense and his high potential.
NBC Sports’ Kurt Helin writes about what NBA fans can expect out of Dillingham in the NBA:
Dillingham is one of the biggest rolls of the dice in a draft full of them — his ceiling and his floor are Sistine Chapel levels apart.
Dillingham is a bucket getter—he’s got one of the better handles in the draft. He’s incredibly quick with the ball and can get to the rim but destroys defenders with pull-up jumpers from the midrange and 3. He knocks down off-balance shots with the best of them, and he’s become a dangerous shooter from distance, hitting 44.4% of his 4.5 3-point attempts a game this season.
His 2023-24 stat line of 15.2 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.0 steals a game show that there’s potential for him to become a dynamic guard tthat can hurt opponents on both ends of the court.
Potential red flags with Rob Dillingham
While many expect him to become a top-ten pick in this year’s draft, there’s a huge issue that comes with drafting Dillingham: his size.
Compared to many top guards in the NBA, he’s undersized at 6’2″, 170 lbs. Helin is among the pundits that consider him to be the worst defender in this year’s draft, believing that he’ll be a defensive liability if he gets the starting nod for whichever team he gets drafted to.
With the NBA requiring its guards to guard pretty much every position, it’s important for the soon-to-be former Wildcat to up his defensive game if he wants to have a long and successful career in the league.
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