With exactly two weeks remaining before the NBA Draft deadline, Kentucky head coach John Calipari is still awaiting decisions from Isaiah Briscoe and Marcus Lee.
Calipari said Briscoe has worked out for three NBA teams and performed well in those workouts. Briscoe, a natural point guard who averaged 9.6 points per game as a freshman, wasn’t invited to the NBA combine.
The main issue Briscoe faces is his shooting, Calipari said. He shot just 13 percent from 3-point range and 46 percent from the free throw line in his first season in Lexington.
“They know every other skill he has translates well,” Calipari said of Briscoe. “Physically, defensively and rebounding, it all translates. He just has to be a more consistent shooter.”
Calipari said he isn’t sure if Briscoe is coming back or not, but he spoke in the press conference as if he expected him to be return for his sophomore season.
However, Calipari does not expect junior Marcus Lee to return next season. Lee still hasn’t hired an agent, but he was invited to the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago.
“Marcus really wants to do this,” Calipari said. “My guess is he’ll keep his name in the draft. This is what he wants to do. I told him to go up there and do his thing and show the athletic player that you are.”
Lee averaged six points and six rebounds in 21 minutes per game this season. If he keeps his name in the draft, he’ll join Tyler Ulis, Jamal Murray and Skal Labissiere as players who declared early.
Calipari also said he was told that senior Alex Poythress—who injured his ACL as a junior—won’t workout for NBA teams until his leg is 100 percent healthy.
“I was really happy to hear that they’re on top of it,” Calipari said. “This is about how we put him in the best position he can be in. There’s a lot of teams that like Alex, but he has to go in healthy and show them that athleticism.”