Not much in the way of news today. Just a couple of quick men’s basketball hits for you this morning:- Former UK men’s basketball forward DeMarcus Cousins has agreed to terms on a contract with the Sacramento Kings, according to reports. Cousins, who was drafted by the Kings with the fifth overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, can earn about $7 million in his first two years of the deal. The Kings have separate team options for the third and fourth seasons. Cousins is the second of the five 2010 Kentucky draftees to ink a deal with their respective team.- I posted the individual schedules of former Kentucky men’s basketball players in this year’s NBA Summer League, but I wanted to quickly give a special shout out to a pair of ex-Cats who are off to hot starts in the Orlando league. Joe Crawford, who scored 29 points for the Orlando Magic on Wednesday in a loss to the New Jersey Nets, is averaging 19.5 points and shooting 65.0 percent from the floor in his first two games. Meanwhile, Jodie Meeks continues to do what he does best, and that’s score for the Philadelphia 76ers. Meeks has been consistent in his three games with the 76ers, scoring 18, 18 and 16 points. That brings his Summer League average to a 17.3 clip.
– After decades of going without a top overall pick in the NBA Draft, could Kentucky’s first two top draft picks conceivably come in back-to-back years? According to a blog post by ESPN’s Doug Gottlieb, that’s a realistic possibility. Gottlieb, lists UK signee Enes Kanter as his top prospect for 2010. Here’s is what Gottlieb had to say (you must be an ESPN Insider to read the full story):
“A tough big man who seems to rise to the challenge of elite competition, Kanter should not be a Turkish ball of hype like Deniz Kilicli was last year for West Virginia. … He’s legit.”