Jayden Quaintance remains projected NBA lottery pick

One of the most interesting storylines in the early portion of this Kentucky basketball season is that there is a projected NBA lottery pick still working his way back from injury. The potential with this player is there in spades, and he can make this team, potentially, exponentially better.

Jayden Quaintance, who tore his ACL in February during his Freshman season at Arizona State, is still working his way back nine months later.

“He’s making real progress,” Pope said on Friday of Quaintance, who continues to see his name pop up as a potential NBA lottery pick in next year’s draft despite having yet to play a game for the Wildcats this season.

Last week, ESPN’s Jeremy Woo and Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman both included Quaintance among the top 10 in their updated 2026 mock drafts.

For a player who hasn’t played in nine months and hasn’t even played a whole season of college basketball, to still be projected as a lottery pick is incredible. That tells you how talented a player he is, and that should make Wildcats fans even more excited for him to make his Kentucky debut.

“Optimistically, he projects as a vertical spacer and lob threat who can also anchor a team defensively, but he’s not a good outside shooter nor super skilled for a 5-man, likely creating some limitations on how he might be used on offense,” Woo wrote. “NBA teams are eager to see him retake the floor to get a better feel for his readiness and upside.”

Quaintance averaged 9.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 3.7 steals/blocks in 29.5 minutes per game as a 17-year-old freshman at Arizona State.

For a Wildcats team that doesn’t necessarily have a great player, Quaintance could be that kind of player. That could put this Wildcats team back into the national championship conversation.