It feels like we’ve made it back to our old stomping grounds again, waiting for our players that are tied to the NBA to either return back to school or stay in the NBA Draft after testing the waters.
One thing that we are used to is players receiving feedback from the NBA each offseason, as that has become the norm over the last decade no matter if you have full intentions of returning to college or are still actually undecided. It’s become a resource that players can use to receive legitimate feedback from league executives. They can take constructive criticism with what they need to work on throughout the next season in college, or maybe even hear how they are ready to make the jump to the NBA right now.
Last offseason Otega Oweh was this big headliner on who we were waiting on to decide if they would withdraw their name from the draft or not, and this summer it is Malachi Moreno. Otega Oweh has no more eligibility so he will stay in the draft but Malachi would be returning for just his sophomore year, so his eligibility is there and the Wildcats could definitely use him.
So when does he need to make his mind up for a return or to stay in the NBA Draft? May 27th at 11:59 PM. That’s an important deadline because once that clock strikes midnight every college basketball program will step a foot forward with finalizing out their rosters for the upcoming season.
I think it will roll-on until the final days if I had to imagine, unless the Kentucky staff starts pushing for answer quicker for their roster needs. But, I think Malachi’s decision is different because the staff isn’t necessarily waiting on an answer to then decide who they will go out and get to replace him if he was to stay in the draft, it is more so that the staff certainly wants him back — with no plan B — and I’m sure they will allow him the full time to receive the feedback he is looking for. The NBA Draft Combine only lasts until May 17th, giving ten more days afterwards until the deadline hits for players to make their decision. I fully expect for Malachi to announce within the first few days after the combine is over, not wasting any time for Kentucky and still taking in all the feedback he received.
I spoke with his mother and she informed me he worked out for the New York Knicks early on in the process, but we didn’t discuss between one another how it went. Public reports online state it went great and that the Knicks franchise really liked what they saw from him.
The freshman homegrown star took on more of a role in his first season as a Wildcat than I believe many expected him to have to take on, earning out the starting center spot over upperclassman Brandon Garrison early in December. He finished the 2025-26 season with averages of 7.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, and 1.8 assists in 36 games played. The 7-footer started in 30 of those as well. That type of production as just a freshman who many believed would be coming off the bench for the season is very promising for the future and looks poised to have a ‘breakout’ second year.
Mark Pope says Malachi could be the “best center in all of college basketball next year,” also including in that sentence “at Kentucky.” So, to me, it sounds like the head coach is expecting a return. I know the staff has definitely operated as if he is returning but we won’t officially know until sometime between the 17th-27th of May. Also, Malachi did say in his announcement to enter the draft that if he does return to college it would be at Kentucky and nowhere else, so that could be what Mark was referring to.
Malachi Moreno’s measurements from the NBA Draft Combine came back in, confirming a wingspan of 7’1 1/2” and a standing reach of 9’3 1/2”, which is absolutely insane, and I know the NBA will fantasize over. Right now he is being projected in the late first round to early second round, with some of his highest projections coming at 24th overall by Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo/The Ringer, and up to 31st overall by Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report.
The concern there is when you are borderline second round, it’s common for these NBA teams to sign you to a Two-Way contract where you go back and forth between their G-League team, and the money is often much better in college if you are one of those high-paid players through NIL in college, which Malachi is and will be. It’s believed that Malachi will make much more money by returning to Kentucky for another year and also that next year’s draft class is considered to be much lesser of talent than this one so he would have a solid chance to get drafted way higher in the 2027 NBA Draft.
I ultimately do think that Malachi will be back to Kentucky for a sophomore season, anchoring down the five-man spot in the rotation and helping the Wildcats have some production returned from last year’s roster. He would then be joining Kam Williams and Trent Noah as the only returners who played considerable minutes last season, as well as, redshirt Braydon Hawthorne and Reece Potter.
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