Arizona’s roster is drawing serious early draft buzz, and the Wildcats could open the season with three players projected to go in the lottery of the 2027 NBA draft.
In a first-round mock draft published Saturday by CBS Sports’ Adam Finkelstein, freshman guard Caleb Holt and returners Mo Krivas and Ivan Kharchenkov were all slotted among the first 11 picks. That kind of placement says plenty about how scouts view the talent in Tucson.
Holt, a top 3 recruit in the 2026 class, was projected at No. 4 overall behind fellow 2026 freshmen Tyran Stokes and Jordan Smith Jr., along with Slovenian forward Stefan Joksimovic. Finkelstein described him this way: "Holt is long, strong, athletic, and competes with a motor on both ends of the floor," Finkelstein wrote.
"He made steady progress with his guard skills throughout high school, particularly his shooting, and is an impactful defender. The biggest question is how much of his playmaking translates, since he had a tendency to play a lot of bully ball in the high school ranks."
The Alabama native has already flashed plenty in Arizona’s first two exhibition games, showing strong on-ball defense, forcing turnovers and turning defense into transition chances. He’s also looking for his own offense without slowing the Wildcats down.
If that development keeps moving in the same direction, Holt would be a tough player to see slipping past the top five.
Krivas is viewed in a similarly lofty light. Finkelstein said he would have been a first-round pick last year if he had entered the draft, and now has the Lithuanian big man inside the top 10. That lines up with the preseason hype around Krivas, who is the Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year and is widely expected to be in the All-America conversation as Arizona’s interior anchor for coach Lloyd.
A 22-year-old on draft night, Krivas would still qualify as an unexpected top-10 selection. But in what is considered a weaker draft class, that’s not out of the question, especially after Aday Mara went in a similar range this past year.
Kharchenkov’s rise is just as notable. He was Arizona’s steady glue guy during last season’s Final Four run, starting every game while often serving as the team’s fourth or fifth scoring option. This season, the offense runs more through him, and the early signs from Arizona’s foreign tour and two exhibition games suggest he’s ready for that responsibility.
The 6-foot-7 German brings a little of everything, and his defense plus his ability to attack off the dribble already look NBA-ready. If the outside shot comes along, he has a real chance to push into the lottery and maybe even climb into the top 10.
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For Arizona, the larger point is how early the respect has returned. The Wildcats are slotted behind Florida, Duke, Illinois and UConn, which is the kind of company that tells you the expectations are real before a game is even played. Preseason rankings do not decide anything, of course, but they do set the tone, and Arizona enters the season with the sort of national profile that keeps title talk close at hand from the start. [Read more 🡒]