Mock drafts: James Young’s NBA stock on the rise

With the NBA draft lottery completed Tuesday night and order established for the June 26 selections, there’s a better idea now where a number of University of Kentucky, Indiana and one Louisville player could land next month.

UK power forward Julius Randle is considered a solid fit with the Boston Celtics, who select sixth overall and have a need at that position. But that’s only if he’s still left on the board. A number of mock drafts project Randle fifth to the Utah Jazz, with others giving the edge at power forward to IU’s Noah Vonleh.

Wildcats forward James Young, considered a shooting guard at the next level, may have worked himself into the lottery by way of an impressive showing at last week’s NBA combine. Most mock drafts now list him in the top 14 picks.

And U of L’s Russ Smith appears destined for an unpredictable suitor in the second round.

Post-lottery mock drafts:

DraftExpress.com: Randle 6^th (Boston), Vonleh 7^th (Los Angeles Lakers), Young 12^th (Orlando) and Smith 49^th (Chicago).

CBS Sports: Randle 5^th (Utah), Vonleh 7^th (Los Angeles Lakers), Young 10^th (Philadelphia) and Smith 48^th (Milwaukee).

BleacherReport.com: Vonleh 5^th (Utah), Randle 7^th (Los Angeles Lakers), Young 10^th (Philadelphia) and Smith 53^rd (Minnesota).

FoxSports.com (first round only): Randle 4^th (Orlando), Vonleh 8^th (Sacramento) and Young 13^th (Minnesota).

Yahoo! Sports (first round only): Vonleh 6^th (Boston), Young 10^th (Philadelphia) and Randle 11^th (Denver).

SBNation.com (first round only): Vonleh 6^th (Boston), Randle 8^th (Sacramento) and Young 13^th (Minnesota).

Jonathan Lintner can be reached at (502) 582-4199; follow him on Twitter @JonathanLintner.