Former Kentucky players are dominating the NBA these days. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has won two straight MVP awards, and the last two league champions both led, to some extent, by Kentucky guys. And now, with two gigantic trades, former Wildcats are reshaping the league as the NBA Draft rushes on.
Monday night, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Miami Heat finally ended the long, drawn-out Giannis Antetokounmpo saga when they agreed on a massive swap centering around Tyler Herro. That wasn't the only trade involving a former Cat, as Minnesota expired on the Julius Randle experiment when they dealt the big man to Brooklyn for what was essentially a salary dump.
Oh, and another Cat joined the league, as Jayden Quaintance went No. 20 in the draft to the San Antonio Spurs. Let's break down all this craziness!
Kentucky Pieces Moving in the NBA
The Heat have been publicly pursuing Antetokounmpo for a while; pretty much as soon as it became apparent that the Greek Freak would no longer be content in Milwaukee. But what Pat Riley ultimately gave up is pretty astonishing.
Not only did Miami fork over Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel'el Ware, and Kasparas Jakučionis, but they also threw in three unprotected first-round picks, a first-round pick swap, and a second-round pick. The Heat essentially mortgaged their future for the now. That first-round pick this year immediately turned into former Tennessee Vol Nate Ament, for what that's worth.
Yet, according to CBS reporter Jasmyn Wimbish, Tyler Herro shouldn't get too comfortable being back in his home state of Wisconsin. Wimbish noted that Herro will be an expiring contract, which is highly desirable for teams that want to shed bad numbers and be a player in the next free agent cycle.
Similarly, Herro is still a huge asset, so trading him "also makes sense given that Milwaukee wants to stockpile draft assets." And he was just the start for former Kentuckians.
An Unsurprising Move
Shortly after the Giannis trade, news broke that Julius Randle's time in Minnesota was also coming to an end, but it can't really come as much of a surprise.
The Wolves traded another former Kentucky player in Karl-Anthony Towns to get Randle a few years back, pairing him with Anthony Edwards. But Randle struggled mightily against the Spurs in the Western Conference Semifinals this year, averaging 12.8 points and 7.7 rebounds while shooting just 34.2% from the floor.
The Randle trade also opened up a huge share of salary cap space for the Wolves to sign guard Ayo Dosunmu to a long-term deal. By trading Randle, Minnesota shed roughly $36 million in salary and luxury tax commitments. It was just time for both parties to move on.
No matter how much you're keeping up with departed Wildcats on the next level, it will never not be cool to see that the path to NBA greatness still flows through Lexington.
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