NBA executives believe Malachi Moreno and Milan Momcilovic should pull out of the draft

Will Malachi Moreno return to Kentucky or keep his name in the 2026 NBA Draft? We won’t have to wait long to find out now with just five days to go until the withdrawal deadline on May 27. The 19-year-old is wrapping up his final workouts and interviews with teams before entering decision mode, choosing whether a sophomore season in Lexington is part of his future plans.

ESPN has him at No. 36 in its latest mock draft as an early second-rounder while CBS Sports moved him into the first round at No. 30 this week. Heavy.com lists him at No. 24 overall while Yahoo! Sports continues to sing Moreno’s praises at No. 23, among others.

Still, though, the money will likely be better in year two at Kentucky and the 2027 class is much weaker, opening the door for a potential rise to lottery status next go-round. That’s the ideal scenario for all parties involved, but only possible if the 7-footer doesn’t steal a franchise’s attention now rather than later.

What will he do? Jeff Goodman of The Field of 68 polled ten NBA executives on what Moreno — along with 14 other draft hopefuls — should do at the deadline.

The near-consensus favors Mark Pope and the Wildcats, with nine executives believing the Georgetown native should return to school and just one confident now is the time to turn pro. Now, the issue with this is that it only takes one team to make the difference, but you’d rather be in this spot than, say, Arkansas with Meleek Thomas, who is 9-1 the other direction, NBA vs. college.

In other relevant news for Big Blue Nation, Iowa State transfer Milan Momcilovic — a serious Kentucky target — was a clean sweep for college basketball. Not one NBA executive felt the sharpshooting wing should make the jump to the pros, instead encouraging him to take the NIL bag back in school.

We would encourage him to do the same, preferably in Lexington.

Take a look at the full list, which also features a confident NBA push for Santa Clara forward Allen Graves and a toss-up for Baylor’s Tounde Yessoufou, among other names of intrigue:

• Christian Anderson: 10 (go to NBA), 0 (college)
• Meleek Thomas: 9 (NBA), 1 (college)
• Allen Graves: 8 (NBA), 2 (college)
• Tounde Yessoufou: 5 (NBA), 5 (college)
• Koa Peat: 7 (college), 3 (NBA)
• Malachi Moreno: 9 (college), 1 (NBA)
• Matt Able: 9 (college), 1 (NBA)
• Tyler Tanner: 10 (college), 0 (NBA)
• Amari Allen: 10 (college), 0 (NBA)
• Milan Momcilovic: 10 (college), 0 (NBA)
• Flory Bidunga: 10 (college), 0 (NBA)
• Jeremy Fears: 10 (college), 0 (NBA)
• Billy Richmond: 10 (college), 0 (NBA)
• Andrej Stojakovic: 10 (college), 0 (NBA)
• John Blackwell: 10 (college), 0 (NBA)

Give me Moreno and Momcilovic in the blue and white, please and thank you.

🚨 STAY OR GO 🚨@GoodmanHoops talked to 10 NBA executives to get their takes on what these players should do

Who should stay in the NBA Draft and who should return to school? 🤔⬇️ pic.twitter.com/m49ObYdPfx

— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) May 22, 2026