Kentucky Basketball: Bam Adebayo NBA Draft Stock Report

Kentucky is a de facto NBDL franchise and I mean that as a compliment; I always have. Being the first and foremost NBA Developmental Program is the defining characteristic of Coach John Calipari’s recruiting pitch. We’ve been saying it for years- Coach Cal is a social trail blazer in that regard.

He’s developed a system that both a.) works for everyone involved

b.) flies in the face of the NCAA’s hypocritical, broken system. It makes Calipari and the Kentucky a lightning rod for criticism, but you know who else is extremely polarizing?

Everyone who’s ever challenged the establishment and first brought change to the status quo.

Kentucky’s NBA assembly line is showcased every single year in the McDonald’s All-American Game. The Kentucky signees in the MCDAAG this year will be in the NBA Draft Lottery next year.

So if UK is a quasi-NBA D-League, then the MCDAAG is their D-League. Before this gets to be 1.) way too meta and 2.) an alphabet soup of acronyms, let’s move on to updating the NBA Draft stock of each blue chip prospect in Big Blue’s latest freshmen class. Today, we gave a NBA Draft stock report on Bam Adebayo.

Edrice Adebayo is one of those guys who has a nickname that has stuck so well it has now become his new first name. If you’ve seen him play you understand why BAM! perfectly suits him. You can probably see the BAM! just from seeing him in person. At 6-9, 240 he’s fully developed adult human being size already.

“Bam has a specialty,” said ESPN Analyst Seth Greenberg. “In the NBA game, he’s going to be up to rebound the ball. His physicality will not be a detriment like it is at times in college, and I think Bam could end up being a Charles Oakley type player.”

Adebayo is a physical player who can bang bodies on the low block, be explosive at the rim and finish with either hand. He also has a nice shooting touch.

Added Dick Vitale: “Adebayo inside is absolutely strong, physical, tough. I don’t think we’ve seen really anywhere near how good he’s going to be. To me, and I’ve talked to John Calipari about it, I don’t believe he gets enough touches around the basket. I think he’s got to get the ball more inside. He’s got good top step moves.”