Koby Brea and Amari Williams became Mark Pope‘s first-ever NBA Draft picks as a head coach, but those two aren’t the only Wildcats about to begin their professional careers.
A trio of former Kentucky players were picked up as undrafted free agents following the conclusion of last week’s draft. Lamont Butler and Jaxson Robinson inked two-way contracts with the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers, respectively, while Andrew Carr signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Portland Trail Blazers. All of them expect to suit up for the first time as NBA players during Summer League action, which begins later this month.
But before they officially transition from college players to pros, Pope has some final parting thoughts on the guys who helped make his first season in Lexington so successful. With the signings of Butler and Robinson recently made official, he’s now publicly able to congratulate his former ‘Cats.
Pope’s comments are brief, but he highlights what made Butler and Robinson so much fun to watch throughout the 2024-25 season.
“I’m so proud of Lamont Butler,” Pope said in UK’s press release. “He came and set records at Kentucky, while battling through injury and improving in just about every area of his game. Lamont has absolutely earned this opportunity.”
Butler will be best remembered by the Big Blue Nation for his perfect shooting performance in the win over Louisville (33 points on 10-10 FG) and battling through his nagging shoulder injury, but more importantly, he developed himself into an NBA-caliber player while at UK. Especially in his final two seasons at San Diego State, Butler was already a terrific college player, but he took a significant leap in Lexington.
During the 2024-25 season, Butler averaged career-highs in points per game (11.4), assists per game (4.3), rebounds per game (2.9), field goal percentage (49.8), and three-point percentage (39.1). The shoulder injury prevented him from being a potential draft pick, but he showed more than enough despite it to earn himself a spot in the NBA.
As for Robinson, he was also bitten by the injury bug — and the timing couldn’t have been worse for his NBA Draft chances. Wrist surgery in early March cut his season short, just as he was hitting a serious shooting groove. He came to Kentucky already on draft boards and likely would have stayed there had he not missed nearly all of the pre-draft process while recovering.
“It has been one of the highlights of my coaching career to spend the last three seasons with Jaxson Robinson,” Pope said. “He was playing the best basketball of his career before his season was cut short and I’m ecstatic that he has earned this very well-deserved opportunity.”
Robinson became a lethal shooter once the SEC schedule rolled around. Across 11 conference games, he averaged 14.4 points per outing while shooting 46.2 percent from the field and 45.7 percent (on 7.4 attempts per game) from long range. He dropped 27 points against Mississippi State, 22 against Texas A&M, and 20 against Arkansas. Pope wasn’t being hyperbolic — Robinson was playing his best basketball before the injury.
But now it’s time to prove their talents on the big stage. Butler and Robinson will suit up for the Hawks and Cavaliers in Las Vegas from July 10-20 for the NBA 2K26 Summer League.
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