Every once in a while, sophomore Kansas guard Svi Mykhailiuk flashes the kind of shooting and ball handling that reminds you he arrived at KU from Ukraine touted as a future pro, and likely a player who would leave college early for the NBA Draft.

Mykhailiuk exhibited his potential Saturday, at Kansas State, where the 6-foot-8 backup came off the bench to hit each of his first three shots from 3-point range, and added 4 rebounds and 2 assists in 20 solid minutes.

The thing is, one never knows from game to game these days whether “Svi for three” will be shouted during a Jayhawks run, because chances are he might not even get off the bench to check in.

Throw out the 195-pound sophomore’s 2 games against K-State (10 points in 21 minutes on Feb. 3) and his 24 minutes (3 points) in a KU rout at TCU, and Mykhailiuk has seldom stepped foot on the floor during live action in the past 9 games.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas guard Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk (10) puts up a three before Kansas State forward Wesley Iwundu (25) during the first half, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016 at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kan.

The Cherkasy, Ukraine native did not play at all in Kansas home wins over Texas and Kentucky, nor in the Jayhawks’ victory at Oklahoma.

Mykhailiuk played 1 minute at Iowa State, 4 minutes versus West Virginia and 3 minutes against Oklahoma State. In total, over the last 9 games, the talented 18-year-old has logged 73 minutes on the floor (about 8.1 minutes a game).

If Bill Self doesn’t have enough trust in Mykhailiuk to play him regularly in the Big 12, there is no way he would contribute in the NBA a year from now.

So should Kansas worry at all about losing Mykhailiuk (5.5 points, 1.3 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 40.2% FGs, 34.2% 3s this season, through 24 games played) at the end of the season to the NBA Draft?

Surprisingly, as recently as a few weeks ago, DraftExpress.com listed him as the 25th pick in the first round of the 2016 draft. But, boy, have things changed for Mykhailiuk on the mock draft board since then. In its current projections, Draft Express doesn’t have Mykhailiuk getting selected at all in the 60-pick, two-round draft.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas guard Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk comes away with a steal from Kansas State guard Barry Brown (5) during the second half on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016 at Allen Fieldhouse.

That seems like good news for Self and KU. The Jayhawks could use a stronger, improved version of “Svi” back in Lawrence for the 2016-17 season.

Still, we have no idea what the weeks ahead could mean for Mykhailiuk. Will his showing vs. K-State be a turning point? Will he consistently play 20-plus minutes down the stretch as KU makes a postseason run? We just don’t know.

Such a scenario could put Mykhailiuk firmly back on NBA team’s radars. After all, even Draft Express still has him as the No. 42 overall available prospect.

Even if you see posts such as this one over at Upside & Motor, explaining why Mykhailiuk continues to draw NBA interest, the Draft Express projections indicate — at least for now — Mykhailiuk doesn’t appear to be a player who should declare this year.

The 2017 NBA Draft? Now that’s another story. Draft Express projects the still developing KU wing as the 21st pick, following what would be his junior season with the Jayhawks.