Cole, Wieskamp Headline G League Draft Pool
Norris Cole and Joe Wieskamp are among 128 players who are eligible for the annual NBA G League draft, which will take place on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Cole, 34, played for Miami, New Orleans and Oklahoma City during his NBA career, which spanned 2011-17. He’s played for a variety of European teams since, most recently JL Bourg in France. He also played for Team USA this summer.
Wieskamp was waived by the Spurs on Monday. Wieskamp, 23, was drafted 41st overall in 2021 by the Spurs and spent most of his rookie season on a two-way contract with the team. He was converted to a rest-of-season standard contract in March, then re-signed with San Antonio in August on a two-year deal that includes a guaranteed $2.175MM salary for 2022/23.
Jared Rhoden, who was waived by both the Trail Blazers and Hawks this preseason, is another prominent name on the list.
Here is the full list of players eligible to be drafted, as provided by a G League press release:
Name (Position, School)
- Warith Alatishe (F, Oregon State)
- Chris Allen (G, Iowa State)
- Seth Allen (G, Virginia Tech)
- Arsenio Arrington (F, Aquinas)
- Ron Artest III (F, Cal State Northridge)
- Marcus Azor (G, UMass-Dartmouth)
- Gracin Bakumanya (C, France)
- Kentrell Barkley (G, East Carolina)
- Jahvon Blair (G, Georgetown)
- Vander Blue (G, Marquette)
- Shannon Bogues (G, Stephen F. Austin)
- Tim Bond (F, Eastern Michigan)
- Terrell Brown Jr. (G, Washington)
- Patrick Burnett (G, York (NE))
- Devante Carter (G, Nicholls State)
- Naz Carter (G, Washington)
- Dimon Carrigan (F, West Virginia)
- Gary Chivichyan (G, Pacific)
- Tamenang Choh (G, Brown)
- Chris Clarke (F, Texas Tech)
- Norris Cole (G, Cleveland State)
- David Collins (G, Clemson)
- Derrick Colter (G, Duquesne)
- Markel Crawford (G, Memphis)
- Derek Culver (C, West Virginia)
- Jared Cunningham (G, Oregon State)
- Tulio Da Silva (F, Missouri State)
- Sam Daniel (F, Florida Tech)
- Devon Daniels (G, North Carolina State)
- Adrian Delph (G, Appalachian State)
- Keron Deshields (G, Tennessee State)
- Mamoudou Diarra (F, Tennessee Tech)
- Tom Digbeu (G, Australia)
- Devonaire Doutrive (G, Boise State)
- Malik Dunbar (F, Auburn)
- Nojel Eastern (G, Howard)
- Tarkus Ferguson (G, Illinois-Chicago)
- Armon Fletcher (G, Southern Illinois)
- Philip Flory (G, Wisconsin-Stevens Point)
- Tyrn Flowers (F, Long Island)
- Hasahn French (F, Saint Louis)
- Both Gach (F, Utah)
- Eron Gordon (G, Valparaiso)
- Ty Gordon (G, Nicholls State)
- Kadre Gray (G, Laurentian)
- Alan Griffin (G, Syracuse)
- Haowen Guo (G, China)
- Blake Hamilton (G, Buffalo)
- Amauri Hardy (G, Oregon)
- Jericole Hellems (F, North Carolina State)
- Jay Henderson (G, Louisville)
- J.R. Holder (G, Jacksonville)
- Tra-Deon Hollins (G, Nebraska-Omaha)
- Nick Hornsby (F, Sacramento State)
- Ron Houston (G, Bethany)
- Pe’Shon Howard (G, USC)
- Kevin Hunt Jr. (G, Denver)
- Dazon Ingram (G, Central Florida)
- Zak Irvin (G, Michigan)
- Jimond Ivey (G, Akron)
- Kadeem Jack (C, Rutgers)
- Demetrius Jackson (G, Notre Dame)
- Anthony January (F, Cal State-San Bernardino)
- Theo John (C, Duke)
- Isaac Johnson (F, Appalachian State)
- Jayce Johnson (C, Marquette)
- Tyson Jolly (G, Iona)
- Kevin Kangu (G, Lenoir-Rhyne)
- Justin Kier (G, Arizona)
- Abu Kigab (F, Boise State)
- Mayan Kiir (F, New Mexico State)
- Nick King (F, Middle Tennessee State)
- Landon Kirkwood (G, Barry)
- Ishmael Lane (C, Northwestern State)
- Gabe Levin (F, Long Beach State)
- Trey Lewis (G, Louisville)
- Elijah Lufile (F, Oral Roberts)
- Tevin Mack (G, Clemson)
- Sterling Manley (C, North Carolina)
- Melik Martin (G, Drexel)
- Remy Martin (G, Kansas)
- Brandon McCoy (C, UNLV)
- Brandon McGhee (G, CSU Pueblo)
- Trey McGowens (G, Nebraska)
- Martaveous McKnight (G, Arkansas-Pine Bluff)
- John Meeks (G, Charleston)
- Sam Merrill (G, Utah State)
- JJ Miles (F, East Carolina)
- JJ Moore (F, Rutgers)
- Taze Moore (G, Houston)
- Barra Njie (G, Sweden)
- Jack Nolan (G, Washington U – St. Louis)
- Mike Nuga (G, UNLV)
- Daniel Orton (C, Kentucky)
- Mike Parks Jr. (F, Memphis)
- Jassel Perez (G, Dominican Republic)
- Kavion Pippen (C, Southern Illinois)
- M.J. Randolph (G, Florida A&M)
- Jared Rhoden (G, Seton Hall)
- Nate Roberts (C, Washington)
- Wesley Saunders (G, Harvard)
- Taz Sherman (G, West Virginia)
- Fred Sims Jr. (G, Chicago State)
- Jai Smith (F, Overtime Elite)
- Kendall Smith (G, Oklahoma State)
- Andre Spight (G, Northern Colorado)
- Derek St. Hilaire (G, New Orleans)
- Noah Starkey (C, Southern Nazarene)
- Wayne Stewart Jr. (F, Texas A&M – Commerce)
- Taren Sullivan (F, Findlay)
- Sean Sutherlin (G, Minnesota)
- Jordan Swopshire (F, Colgate)
- Jachai Taylor (F, Queens (NC))
- Marlon Taylor (G, LSU)
- JD Tisdale Jr. (G, Rogers State)
- Austin Trice (F, Old Dominion)
- Jahlil Tripp (F, Pacific)
- Buay Tuach (G, Loyola Marymount)
- Jordan Tucker (F, Butler)
- Ryan Turell (F, Yeshiva)
- Rashad Vaughn (G, UNLV)
- Dantez Walton (F, Northern Kentucky)
- Michael Weathers (G, SMU)
- Aaron Wheeler (F, St. John’s)
- Joe Wieskamp (G, Iowa)
- Keith Williams (G, Cincinnati)
- Kam Williams (G, Ohio State)
- Dion Wright (F, St. Bonaventure)
Eastern Notes: Pistons, Bulls, Rozier, Knox
The Pistons began their in-market training camp on Wednesday with several players from their G League affiliate participating, according to Rod Beard of the Detroit News (Twitter link). Tre’Shawn Thurman, Tra-Deon Hollins, Adam Woodbury, Khalil Iverson, and Craig Sword all played with the Grand Rapids Drive this season.
Beard also reports (via Twitter) that Pistons center Justin Patton had surgery Tuesday to repair a fractured right pinky finger. Additionally, Tony Snell returned home for personal reasons, and Jordan McRae will not be participating in the team portion of the in-market camp.
Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- The Bulls have reportedly hired Vanja Cernivec as an international scout, per Daniel Greenberg (Twitter link; h/t Real GM). Cernivec spent the last five years working in the NBA’s office in Spain as manager of basketball operations. He also played professional basketball in Slovenia.
- After wrapping up his first season with the Hornets, Terry Rozier is ready to take on a larger role, writes Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. “I’ve had a lot of time over six months to figure out how I can be a better leader: Get to the guys, talk to them how they like it,” Rozier said. The combo guard averaged 18.0 PPG, 4.4 RPG, and 4.1 APG this season, after inking a three-year free-agent deal last summer with Charlotte. Rozier also spoke about how hard its been not being able to play in an organized game in six months. “I’m not going to sugar-coat and say, ‘Ah, six months is nothing.’ It’s been tough on all of us.”
- Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau is hoping that assistant coach Kenny Payne can help unlock Kevin Knox‘s potential, writes Marc Berman of the New Post. Knox has struggled to find his footing since being selected with the ninth overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft. This season, he averaged a modest 6.4 PPG and 2.8 RPG in 17.9 MPG, but Thibodeau has been impressed with the 21-year-old in the team’s in-market training camp. “Kevin’s come in and he’s done quite a bit of work,’’ Thibodeau said. “I’m getting to know him and he’s getting to know me and it will take some time. But I like what he’s done so far.”
NBA G League Announces 2019/20 All-NBAGL Teams
After being named the G League’s Most Valuable Player on Thursday, Wisconsin Herd guard Frank Mason III – who is on a two-way contract with the Bucks – headlines the All-NBA G League First Team, as the league announced today in a press release.
Mason was joined on the All-NBAGL first team by teammate Jaylen Adams, as well as Salt Lake City Stars forward Jarrell Brantley, South Bay Lakers big man Devontae Cacok, and Memphis Hustle forward Jarrod Uthoff. Mason, Brantley, and Cacok are currently on two-way contracts with NBA teams.
That’s a common theme for this year’s All-NBAGL teams. The majority of the 15 players named to the three squads are either currently on two-way contracts or have had NBA experience in the past.
The complete list of the 2019/20 All-NBA G League teams, along with the All-Rookie and All-Defensive squads, is below. Players currently on two-way contracts are noted with a caret (^).
All-NBAGL First Team:
- Jaylen Adams (Wisconsin Herd)
- Jarrell Brantley (Salt Lake City Stars) ^
- Devontae Cacok (South Bay Lakers) ^
- Frank Mason III (Wisconsin Herd) ^
- Jarrod Uthoff (Memphis Hustle)
All-NBAGL Second Team:
- Donta Hall (Grand Rapids Drive)
- B.J. Johnson (Lakeland Magic) ^
- Josh Magette (Lakeland Magic)
- Johnathan Motley (Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario) ^
- Tremont Waters (Maine Red Claws) ^
All-NBAGL Third Team:
- Justin Anderson (Long Island Nets)
- Dusty Hannahs (Memphis Hustle)
- Jemerrio Jones (Wisconsin Herd)
- Vic Law (Lakeland Magic) ^
- Marial Shayok (Delaware Blue Coats) ^
NBAGL All-Rookie Team:
- Jarrell Brantley (Salt Lake City Stars) ^
- Devontae Cacok (South Bay Lakers) ^
- Donta Hall (Grand Rapids Drive)
- Marial Shayok (Delaware Blue Coats) ^
- Tremont Waters (Maine Red Claws) ^
NBAGL All-Defensive Team:
- Tacko Fall (Maine Red Claws) ^
- Tra-Deon Hollins (Grand Rapids Drive)
- Christ Koumadje (Delaware Blue Coats)
- Sir’Dominic Pointer (Canton Charge)
- Kenny Wooten (Westchester Knicks) ^
Of the 20 players who earned a spot on one of the G League’s All-NBAGL or All-Defensive teams this year, only four – Adams, Jones, Koumadje, and Hollins – haven’t been on some form of standard, two-way, or 10-day NBA contract since the ’19/20 season began.
Adams and Jones have previous NBA experience, while Koumadje and Hollins have yet to make their regular-season NBA debuts.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Pistons Waive Four Players
The Pistons trimmed their roster by waiving guards Dakarai Allen and Tra-Deon Hollins and forwards Donta Hall and Tre’Shawn Thurman, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.
Hall signed with Detroit in July after going undrafted out of Alabama. He played for the Pistons’ Summer League team and saw limited action in three preseason games. Thurman signed on Friday and is expected to become an affiliate player for the Pistons’ G League team in Grand Rapids.
Allen has spent the past two seasons in the G League and was traded to Grand Rapids in January. Hollins has played in both the G League and in Canada.
