By REYNALD MAGALLON
Kai Sotto is projected to land in the second round of the NBA rookie draft, according to the recent mock draft of US-based outlet Sports Illustrated.
SI reporter Brett Siegel put Sotto in the second round with the Sacramento Kings taking him 49th overall.
It was the first time that Sotto’s name has appeared in such draft predictions since he declared for the NBA draft last month.
So far, only Siegel has included the Filipino homegrown talent in his mock drafts with Sotto still missing the Top 60 lists for the June 24 proceedings (June 25, Manila time) in other reputable outlets like ESPN, Yahoo Sports, The Athletics, The Ringer, CBS sports and USA Today.
In fact, the NBA draft room still ranked Sotto at the 102nd spot of its list.
With the draft just a month away, the inclusion should still come as a welcome development for Sotto who has arranged several workouts with a couple of NBA teams including the New York Knicks.
On Friday, Sotto also teased his fans about the developments of his NBA draft journey after posting a photo of the Orlando Magic facility in his Instagram story.
The 20-year-old beanpole had a solid outing with the Adelaide 36ers in Australia’s NBL, averaging 7.4 points on 51-percent clip from the field and 39-percent shooting from beyond the arc. Sotto was also solid on the defensive end with 4.5 rebounds and close to one block per contest in just 15-minutes of play.
