2021/22 NBA G League Draft Results
The NBA G League held its draft for the 2021/22 season on Saturday afternoon.
The 28 G League teams affiliated with NBA teams participated in the event, with the G League Ignite and Mexico City Capitanes sitting it out. The Ignite and Capitanes will be taking part in the NBAGL’s Showcase Cup this fall, but won’t be part of the 36-game regular season that tips off in late December.
The first player selected in today’s draft was former St. John’s point guard Shamorie Ponds, who was picked by the Delaware Blue Coats, the Sixers‘ G League affiliate. Ponds has a little NBA experience, having appeared in four games as a rookie in 2019/20 while on a two-way contract with Toronto.
Among the other notable picks were Nate Darling by the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario at No. 5 and LiAngelo Ball by the Greensboro Swarm at No. 14. Last week, the Clippers and Hornets signed and waived Darling and Ball, respectively, in an effort to secure their affiliate rights, but were unable to get those rights for procedural reasons. The two teams had to use the draft to make sure they landed those players.
The Knicks also signed and waived veteran guard Brandon Knight during the preseason and were unable to get his affiliate rights due to a procedural issue. However, Westchester passed on Knight with the No. 4 overall pick today, and the Heat‘s affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, snatched him up at No. 6. We’ll see if Knight is no longer in the Knicks’ plans or if the Skyforce intend to trade his rights to Westchester.
Lance Stephenson to the Grand Rapids Gold (Nuggets) at No. 13 and Dwyane Wade‘s son Zaire Wade to the Salt Lake City Stars (Jazz) at No. 10 were a couple of the other notable picks that played out as expected.
Here are the full 2021/22 G League draft results:
Round One:
- Delaware Blue Coats (Sixers): Shamorie Ponds
- College Park Skyhawks (Hawks): Tyler Hagedorn
- Fort Wayne Mad Ants (Pacers): Gabe York
- Westchester Knicks (Knicks): Justin Turner
- Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario (Clippers): Nate Darling
- Sioux Falls Skyforce (Heat): Brandon Knight
- Texas Legends (Mavericks): Eddie Stansberry
- Motor City Cruise (Pistons): Jaylen Johnson
- Iowa Wolves (Timberwolves): Michael Gbinije
- Salt Lake City Stars (Jazz): Zaire Wade
- Texas Legends (Mavericks): Loudon Love
- Santa Cruz Warriors (Warriors): Alan Griffin
- Grand Rapids Gold (Nuggets): Lance Stephenson
- Greensboro Swarm (Hornets): LiAngelo Ball
- Lakeland Magic (Magic): TJ Haws
- Cleveland Charge (Cavaliers): B.J. Taylor
- Windy City Bulls (Bulls): Scottie Lindsey
- Maine Celtics (Celtics): Isaiah Ross
- Iowa Wolves (Timberwolves): Ruot Monyyong
- Lakeland Magic (Magic): Marlon Stewart
- Stockton Kings (Kings): Joe Young
- Iowa Wolves (Timberwolves): Samir Doughty
- Greensboro Swarm (Hornets): Chudier Bile
- Capital City Go-Go (Wizards): Rodney Pryor
- Windy City Bulls (Bulls): Tim Bond
- Greensboro Swarm (Hornets): Tyree White
- Cleveland Charge (Cavaliers): Montell McRae
- Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Rockets): Cullen Russo
Round Two:
- Memphis Hustle (Grizzlies): Karim Mane
- College Park Skyhawks (Hawks): Kalob Ledoux
- Memphis Hustle (Grizzlies): Gerard Tarin
- Delaware Blue Coats (Sixers): Barra Njie
- Raptors 905 (Raptors): Tahj Eaddy
- Grand Rapids Gold (Nuggets): Trevon Duval
- Lakeland Magic (Magic): Gary Chivichyan
- Motor City Cruise (Pistons): Ryan Daly
- Wisconsin Herd (Bucks): Keaton Wallace
- Salt Lake City Stars (Jazz): Pedro Bradshaw
- Austin Spurs (Spurs): Alexis Wangmene
- Fort Wayne Mad Ants (Pacers): Ian DuBose
- Sioux Falls Skyforce (Heat): Mike Smith
- Lakeland Magic (Magic): Jaire Grayer
- Raptors 905 (Raptors): Blake Francis
- Cleveland Charge (Cavaliers): Jack Pagenkopf
- Lakeland Magic (Magic): Devonte Patterson
- Fort Wayne Mad Ants (Pacers): Jordan Allen
- Birmingham Squadron (Pelicans): Devearl Ramsey
- Long Island Nets (Nets): Chris Walker
- Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Rockets): Eric Demers
- Birmingham Squadron (Pelicans): Derrick Griffin
- Santa Cruz Warriors (Warriors): JaQuan Lyle
- Capital City Go-Go (Wizards): Jachai Taylor
- Westchester Knicks (Knicks): Lydell Elmore
- Greensboro Swarm (Hornets): Ikenna Ndugba
- Oklahoma City Blue (Thunder): Tevin King
- Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario (Clippers): Kammeon Holsey
Round Three:
- South Bay Lakers (Lakers): Elijah Cain
- College Park Skyhawks (Hawks): Landon Taliaferro
- Fort Wayne Mad Ants (Pacers): Will Vorhees
- Westchester Knicks (Knicks): Asante Gist
- Stockton Kings (Kings): Princepal Singh
- Grand Rapids Gold (Nuggets): Trevor John
- Raptors 905 (Raptors): Tristan Jarrett
- Motor City Cruise (Pistons): Devon Baulkman
- Wisconsin Herd (Bucks): Jaylen Bland
- Salt Lake City Stars (Jazz): J.C. Show
- Austin Spurs (Spurs): No pick
- Memphis Hustle (Grizzlies): No pick
- Sioux Falls Skyforce (Heat): Joel Ntambwe
- Delaware Blue Coats (Sixers): No pick
- Texas Legends (Mavericks): Lamonte Bearden
- Stockton Kings (Kings): No pick
- Delaware Blue Coats (Sixers): No pick
- Maine Celtics (Celtics): Lindsey Drew
- Iowa Wolves (Timberwolves): Artur Labinowicz
- Long Island Nets (Nets): Jaylen Fisher
- Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario (Clippers): Randy Onwuasor
- Iowa Wolves (Timberwolves): Seth Allen
- Santa Cruz Warriors (Warriors): Jovan Mooring
- Capital City Go-Go (Wizards): Jermaine Haley
- Windy City Bulls (Bulls): Kerwin Roach
- Greensboro Swarm (Hornets): Isaiah Blackmon
- Oklahoma City Blue (Thunder): Marlon Taylor
- Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Rockets): Jimond Ivey
Teams will fill out their rosters with affiliate players, returning-rights players, tryout players, and players who are assigned to the G League from the NBA roster (including those on two-way contracts).
G League training camps open on Monday, with the Showcase Cup tournament tipping off on November 5.
Draft Updates: Pinson, Knicks, Ntilikina, Jeanne
UNC forward Theo Pinson, who had been testing the draft waters, will return to North Carolina for his senior season, the school announced today in a press release.
“It was a dream of mine to play college basketball at the best school and in the best league in the country, and it is a dream of mine to play in the NBA as well,” Pinson said in a statement. “The best path for me to reach the league and have a long career there is to have a great senior season and I am so excited to have that opportunity to play another year for Coach Williams and finish my degree as well.”
Here are a few more draft-related odds and ends, including more news on players withdrawing their names:
- The Knicks are currently projected to pick seventh overall, meaning top point guards like Markelle Fultz, Lonzo Ball, Dennis Smith Jr., and De’Aaron Fox may be off the board. However, the Knicks like French point guard Frank Ntilikina and would consider him at No. 7, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post, who reports that GM Steve Mills is overseas scouting the 18-year-old this week. Berman also notes that Ntilikina is among the many top prospects who will miss this year’s draft combine.
- Jonathan Jeanne, a 7’2″ center from France, has been invited to the NBA’s draft combine and has tentatively accepted, despite his season not being over, tweets Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com. Jeanne, who is the No. 36 prospect on DraftExpress’ big board, is an international early entrant, so he’d have the option of withdrawing his name if he doesn’t get great feedback at the combine in Chicago.
- Randy Onwuasor, a Southern Utah shooting guard, has elected to take his name out of the draft and will return to school for his senior year, coach Todd Simon tells Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
- Valparaiso junior Tevonn Walker will also be heading back to school for another year, according to Jon Rothstein of FanRag Sports, who reports that Walker is withdrawing his name after testing the draft waters. The 6’2″ guard wasn’t expected to be selected if he’d stayed in the draft.
Draft Updates: Milton, Trier, Maten, Okobo
A pair of notable NCAA underclassmen have decided to return to school for at least one more year, according to reports. Jon Rothstein of FanRag Sports tweets that SMU guard Shake Milton will stay in school for his junior year, while Arizona guard Allonzo Trier tells Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com that he’ll remain with the Wildcats for his junior season. Both players would have been candidates to be selected if they had entered the 2017 draft — they currently rank back to back at Nos. 59 and 60 on the DraftExpress big board.
Here are a few more draft updates worth passing along:
- Georgia power forward Yante Maten will test the draft waters, per Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Maten won’t hire an agent, so he’ll have the opportunity to withdraw from the draft by May 24 and return to Georgia for his senior year.
- Elie Okobo, a combo guard from France, has declared for the 2017 NBA draft, agent Herman Manakyan tells Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (Twitter link). Okobo’s ranks ninth on DraftExpress’ list of 1997-born international prospects.
- Brandon Goodwin, a Florida Gulf Coast junior guard, has decided to enter the draft without hiring an agent, the school announced in a press release. Despite averaging 18.5 PPG for FGCU in 2016/17, Goodwin is not viewed as a top prospect by DraftExpress.
- Southern Utah shooting guard Randy Onwuasor will enter his name into the draft pool without hiring an agent, according to Ryan Miller of The Spectrum. Onwuasor, who is not considered likely to be drafted, is planning to return for his senior season, Miller writes.