If Kentucky misses on Kusturica.

Jun 30, 2025
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Good news, if we miss, there is still time to get players for the season after next. There are high school prospects to pursue and whatever portal sensation that pops up out of nowhere.
 
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FLBBNFAN

All-Conference
Mar 25, 2025
833
1,611
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My question would be if it's true that he wants a cap at 15mpg then how big of an impact will he really make ? In addition who gets their playing time shortened?

I just dont have a lot of confidence in the so called experts projecting him as a top draft pick. I really like Kam but he was being touted as a potential first round pick when he signed here and he's not close in my opinion.

I hope Kam crushes it but he has a long way to go. Add that with all the recruiting/portal expert projections that have been wrong and it seems they just spout things for clicks.

If he does a 2 year deal it makes a little more sense but I thought his camp wanted a 1 year
deal.
 
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Nightwish

Senior
Jul 10, 2025
553
804
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Location is always an overrated topic. There's positives and negatives for both LA and Lexington but if he chooses UCLA it won't be because he thinks he'll be bored to tears in Lexington and/or hates horse farms and if he chooses UK it won't be because he's suddenly developed a hatred or disgust with Los Angeles.
 

rivercatinfl

All-Conference
Nov 21, 2012
2,163
2,124
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I’d kill to live n LA with 14 mil. The kicker is you really can’t live in LA without that kind of money. It’s just not much of a place for the working man these days.
My brother lived in La for 10 years. I visited often but when it took me 1.5 hours to go to Pinks hotdog stand that was 8 miles away I had to pause. The congestion is serious and that ain’t my bag.
many parts of California are gorgeous, drove the A1A highway to San Francisco and that was spectacular but LA is a mess.
Anyway as someone else said, he won’t be picking the school based on the scenery unless his agent is a goober.
 
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HipTer

Senior
Apr 11, 2012
1,114
887
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My question would be if it's true that he wants a cap at 15mpg then how big of an impact will he really make ? In addition who gets their playing time shortened?

I just dont have a lot of confidence in the so called experts projecting him as a top draft pick. I really like Kam but he was being touted as a potential first round pick when he signed here and he's not close in my opinion.

I hope Kam crushes it but he has a long way to go. Add that with all the recruiting/portal expert projections that have been wrong and it seems they just spout things for clicks.

If he does a 2 year deal it makes a little more sense but I thought his camp wanted a 1 year
deal.
I also remember reading that K. Williams was projected as a 3 & D draft pick before last season due to his AGE, length, and shooting ability. His slower start and then injury this season seems to have nixed that; but I believe that his biggest obstacle to overcome in regard to being an NBA draft pick going forward might end up being his age.

The NBA is like a pedophile: the younger they are the better they like them. Each year a player stays in college they lose more of the element of projection – which is a huge part, if not the overwhelmingly most important aspect for drafting purposes.

So an adolescent (whether high school or Europe) being projected as a 1st round draft pick doesn’t really correlate much at all with the production or impact on winning anyone should expect them to provide to their college team as a freshman. Because the projection doesn’t have anything to do with the expectation for college production.

So, whenever someone says they want some 17 or 18 yr. old because he’s a projected “top __ draft Pick” I always think “you need to tell me a whole lot more because neither that nor a recruiting ranking is a valid reason for taking a kid you know is going to be OAD.” There may reasons why an expected OAD freshman is the best fit to help a team win, but it isn’t because he’s a projected draft pick. It would be because his play and production is expected to have a bigger impact on winning RIGHT NOW than say Player X would. At a top program like UK, which can select from all pools, I think that’s often not the case.
 

Anon1768287303

Sophomore
Jan 13, 2026
80
109
33
If that’s the case send him to LA for a week. He will be offering to pay UK to come here.
I don't know about that. I spent six days in LA last January. It was beautiful out there. Guys hooping on the beach courts, walking the piers in short sleeves, maybe a light jacket at night.
Came home to KY to 2 feet of snow and cold as hell. I love this state, but there is a reason a lot of folks head to warmer climates in the Winter. Which, by the way, covers basketball season.
 

Skyguyb27

All-American
Feb 12, 2008
4,830
8,034
113
No problem my friend. When you miss, you miss and I obviously missed on that joke. One of those that sounded funny in my head at the time.

The context in my mind (at least) was that some were acting like why come to Lexington when you can go to LA//Miami. Not everyone wants that, even some young athletes imo.
I do the same thing. I come across as a jerk sometimes but actually I didn’t mean it the way it sounded. Im a work in progress I guess.
 

LineSkiCat14

Heisman
Aug 5, 2015
39,446
62,049
113
Damn.. 2 year for 14mil? As much as I like locking down talent for multiple years.. what if he's just mediocre?

Its still unreal how player-friendly these deals are. A guy like Kusturica, if he winds up being just decent, will not only have burned someone for $14mil, but youre stuck with him for a 2nd year.
 

Runt#1969

All-American
Dec 13, 2010
21,342
8,988
113
Damn.. 2 year for 14mil? As much as I like locking down talent for multiple years.. what if he's just mediocre?

Its still unreal how player-friendly these deals are. A guy like Kusturica, if he winds up being just decent, will not only have burned someone for $14mil, but youre stuck with him for a 2nd year.
Unless this kid is the second coming of another Cooper Flagg type phenom and I haven't heard anyone say he's THAT talented ... the 14$ mill figure makes me balk ... but then again, it's not my money to spend.

If he is legit top 5 NBA draft projectiong two years out, which I am continuing to hear, like everyone else, I'll say at least this :

It's a better prospect to spend money on him than, say spending money on a player you HOPE comes back from major injury status to be healthy enough to actually make an impact.

At least the kid isn't injured to begin with.

Just saying.
 
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CRZ4UK

Heisman
Jun 6, 2008
5,083
10,169
103
Unfortunately all European born players are from major cities from what I’ve heard on here and only want to go to other major cities if they move here. Sucks but it is what it is I guess.
Shows how little he knows about America specifically wanting to go to California. After his two years there instead of the NBA he could be a homeless, gay fentanyl addict that still gets taxed half of what he begs for at the corner.
 
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CRZ4UK

Heisman
Jun 6, 2008
5,083
10,169
103
Com'on man!! What player improved under Pope?
Brea and Amari Williams was on no one’s draft radar. Both are now in the league. Carr was better here than he was in the terrible ACC. Aberdeen struggled at point early but was way better than he was at Florida late. No one expected much from Moreno. He almost kept his name in the draft. Chandler was unplayable when he got here. BYU just invested 2 million to take him.
 
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UKWildcats1987

Heisman
Sep 9, 2021
20,126
35,509
113
What if we are n the sweet and there's 5 mins to go and its tied and dude and his agent say sorry good luck we are past 15 mins of playing time?

I mean the money idc but the minutes restriction is bizarre to me. Like ur getting bank, u play as much as we need u.
 

TheResistance

All-American
Jul 3, 2025
3,154
6,892
113
Damn. The moment Trilly said he thought UK led, I knew it was over. These guys know VERY little.
I have no idea, and I'm not even sure about this UCLA page, it has 25k followers but I don't think that means anything. Everybody is just guessing at this point.
 

Beatle Bum

Heisman
Sep 1, 2002
42,614
64,894
113
Yea it’s easy when you can change picks to make sure you are always correct.
I don’t know what you do for a living. You’re probably very good at whatever it is. Hopefully your job is not just one thing but has different aspects. Crystal ball picks are a small part of what he does and it’s only because we want them, I suspect. He is actually very good at that but his job is much more and he brings a lot of info to the fans in what appears to be a very sincere way. He probably would have made a great GM for UK.
 

LineSkiCat14

Heisman
Aug 5, 2015
39,446
62,049
113
Is UCLA really putting out a contender next year? I get losing recruits to Dusty May/Michigan or even Duke/Scheyer/$$$... but UCLA with Cronin?
 
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ScWildcat3

Senior
Sep 27, 2005
574
847
93
I don’t know what you do for a living. You’re probably very good at whatever it is. Hopefully your job is not just one thing but has different aspects. Crystal ball picks are a small part of what he does and it’s only because we want them, I suspect. He is actually very good at that but his job is much more and he brings a lot of info to the fans in what appears to be a very sincere way. He probably would have made a great GM for UK.
Haha that’s about the funniest thing I have read in a while on here. What in the world would make you think he can negotiate with agents and all the other stuff it takes to be a GM? He can’t even read the room when he was lied to supposedly to make that UK pick for kusturica but you would trust him to negotiate huge million dollar deals for Uk?
 

Drcats2025

Heisman
Nov 13, 2012
8,019
16,052
93
I don’t know what you do for a living. You’re probably very good at whatever it is. Hopefully your job is not just one thing but has different aspects. Crystal ball picks are a small part of what he does and it’s only because we want them, I suspect. He is actually very good at that but his job is much more and he brings a lot of info to the fans in what appears to be a very sincere way. He probably would have made a great GM for UK.
Hey, Travis! Nice to meet you.
 

Mdnerd

All-American
Apr 20, 2022
1,974
6,009
113
You're seeing the same thing we saw a few weeks ago with UK. One person says something and bunch of other latch on. Its all nonsense.
 

Beatle Bum

Heisman
Sep 1, 2002
42,614
64,894
113
Haha that’s about the funniest thing I have read in a while on here. What in the world would make you think he can negotiate with agents and all the other stuff it takes to be a GM? He can’t even read the room when he was lied to supposedly to make that UK pick for kusturica but you would trust him to negotiate huge million dollar deals for Uk?

You don’t know what you are talking about. Enjoy your laugh. LOL