There is suddenly a realistic shot that guard Darius Miller could be the lone returning starter on next year’s team.According to ESPN Insider Chad Ford, freshman guard Eric Bledsoe has moved into the top 14 in his NBA Lottery Mock Draft. That begs the question, if Bledsoe is a projected NBA Lottery pick, will he make the jump after one season in college?It could be one of the most important questions in the offseason.”I never thought about anything like that,” Bledsoe told the Kentucky Kernel in late January, when Ford first placed Bledsoe as a potential first-round pick. “I was reading it and I was shocked like ‘Is he really talking about me?’ because I went through everything growing up. I guess I had bumps in the road and it’s paying off.”Bledsoe told the Kernel that he was planning on coming back, but he did say that he would likely leave if he was a projected top-10 pick. What about top 14?”It makes me feel great that I have a chance to be one and done but I don’t really look into or buy into it,” Bledsoe told the Kernel in January. “That just means I have to come in and practice every day and work hard and try to be the best.”Ford has Bledsoe going No. 14 in most of his lottery projections, joining teammates John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Patrick Patterson in the lottery. First-round picks are guaranteed contracts in the NBA.Should all four UK players go in the lottery, it would be the first time four players from the same team have been selected in the top 14 since North Carolina’s foursome of Marvin Williams, Raymond Felton, Sean May and Rashad McCants were picked in the 2005 NBA Draft Lottery.
UK head coach John Calipari has continually pledged his support for his players that want to jump to the pros. Calipari has a track record of being able to replace them.Just last week, Calipari told reporters that freshman reserve Daniel Orton has played so well of late that he could have the option of turning pro after this season. As well as Orton has played, his stats (zero starts, 3.5 points per game and 3.5 rebounds per game) would suggest otherwise. “Daniel will have options at the end of the year to make a decision on what he wants to do,” Calipari said. “Can you imagine? And I’m not sure that would have happened if he was on a team that was an NIT team. You hear what I’m saying? Now they’re looking at him saying this kid is really, really good. And he is.”Bledsoe has been on a tear down the stretch. The freshman point guard from Birmingham, Ala., is averaging 16.8 points per game over his last six games. Bledsoe has hit 36-of-58 shots (62.1 percent) during that stretch, including 9-of-12 three-pointers in the NCAA Tournament.The NBA Draft will take place June 24 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
