How many Kentucky Wildcats will leave for the 2021 NBA Draft?

With the season at its end for the Kentucky Wildcats, be it earlier than usual, that means we can all start the process of “how many players will we lose this season?” earlier as well.

One has already decided to leave the program in the form of Cam Fletcher, who has decided to throw his name into the transfer portal.

But how many Wildcats are we looking at leaving for the NBA Draft? My answer? Three, possibly four.

To start, Isaiah Jackson proved himself as the most pro-ready Wildcat on the team. He’s a freakishly long, athletic big man who grab rebounds and shoot it well from the free-throw line. While he is not the prototypical big man of today’s NBA, his athleticism alone will keep him a main-stay in the league for quite some time.

Jackson is a projected first-rounder and could see his way into the late lottery.

After Jackson, however, is where things get cloudy. Terrence Clarke has seen his draft stock absolutely tank during his first season at Kentucky, but Clarke almost didn’t even end up at Kentucky in the first place. Clarke flirted with the G-League back in April of last year, but decided to head the collegiate route.

And in the case of BJ Boston, John Calipari’s comments after the South Carolina game two weeks ago gave off cryptic vibes, whether he was talking to Boston or NBA scouts indirectly, but he seemed to be advocating for Boston to return to Kentucky for another year to work on his strength.

Keion Brooks is another one that could go either way. In all honesty, Brooks easily needs another year of college, in which he could become an absolute star, much like Junior Nick Richards. But, does Keion do what EJ Montgomery and Ashton Hagans did last year and leave before he’s ready?

If you’re asking me, I believe that Kentucky loses all four of these guys to the pro-level, and then of course, Davion Mintz could always go as well, but he was a fifth-year senior anyway.

What about you? How many players do you think Kentucky loses to the NBA Draft this year?