Kentucky big man Jayden Quaintance is generating top-10 buzz for next year’s NBA Draft and he hasn’t even been cleared for a return to the court yet.
Quaintance suffered a torn ACL during his freshman season at Arizona State and underwent surgery in mid-March. ESPN’s Jonathan Givony reported then that he was expected to be cleared for contact around September. Assuming he’s able to make a full return and pick right back up where he left off, Givony expects Quaintance to be an early draft choice next summer.
Following the conclusion of the 2025 NBA Draft, ESPN’s draft experts put together an early preview of the 2026 class. Givony projected the Memphis Grizzlies to take Quaintance with the sixth pick.
Here’s what he wrote about the big man:
Younger than several highly touted rising high school seniors, Quaintance had a highly productive freshman season at Arizona State, ranking as one of the best shot blockers in college basketball.
He has a chiseled frame, huge hands and a 7-foot-5 wingspan and is exceptionally mobile. NBA teams will be monitoring how he bounces back from the ACL surgery he had in March, and that might require a slower start at Kentucky.
And here’s what ESPN’s Jeremy Woo wrote on Quaintance’s game for that piece:
Quaintance was 17 years old for all of his freshman season at Arizona State and was ineligible to enter this year’s draft. NBA teams were paying close attention throughout, drawn to his excellent physical profile and flashes of talent as a dunker and interior finisher. Considering he could have been a junior in high school, his huge shot-blocking numbers (2.6 per game) were particularly eye-popping.
While Quaintance is quite raw from a skill perspective, particularly his jump shot, and has a lot to learn with his overall technique and ability to process the floor, his extreme youth for the college level earns him benefit of the doubt, and NBA scouts will be eager to see whether he can take another step forward after transferring to Kentucky. He’ll have a major platform there to try to solidify himself as a lottery talent, but there’s a lot of refinement that has to happen before he’s NBA-ready.
Quaintance was a Big 12 All-Freshman and All-Defensive team selection in his first season at Arizona State. Though he was the youngest player in college basketball last season, he averaged 9.3 points, 7.8 boards, and 2.6 blocks in 29 minutes a night. He showed a willingness to step outside and shoot 3s, though that part of his game still needs refinement. He also averaged 1.5 assists and 1.1 steals.
When Arizona State played Florida in December of 2024, Quaintance had 14 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals, and 2 blocks in 34 minutes. He also knocked down a 3-pointer. Arizona State lost the game by 17, but Quaintance was effective against the eventual national champs.
With the Sun Devils, he was one of the best young players in the Big 12. With Kentucky, Mark Pope is hoping the 6-foot-9 forward can anchor his defense and fill the void left by Amari Williams.
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Kentucky big Jayden Quaintance gets early lottery buzz for 2026 NBA Draft Saturday Down South.
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