The G-League draft isn’t much of anything like the NBA Draft, where all the best players are in a pool to be selected.
Most of the best players in the G-League now are on two-way contracts and are already tied to a specific team. Exhibit 10 training camp contracts — where a team brings a player into training camp, then he gets a bonus of up to $75,000 for signing with that club’s G-League team — also are prevalent and fill up much of the G-League’s rosters.
The G-League draft is for everyone else — players who signed to play in the G-League but are not tied to a specific team. That limits the pool of players, but still, some interesting names were at the top. Here are the results of the first round of the draft (hat tip Hoops Rumors). New York/Westchester made a trade to get the first two picks in this draft.
Round One:
Westchester Knicks (Knicks): Matt Ryan
Westchester Knicks (Knicks): Landry Shamet
Cleveland Charge (Cavaliers): Sean East II
Rip City Remix (Trail Blazers): Thierry Darlan
Long Island Nets (Nets): Chandler Hutchison
Sioux Falls Skyforce (Heat): Christian Brown
Texas Legends (Mavericks): Tyson Walker
Greensboro Swarm (Hornets): Malik Hall
Maine Celtics (Celtics): Eric Gaines
Salt Lake City Stars (Jazz): Tae Williams
Santa Cruz Warriors (Warriors): Seth Maxwell
Motor City Cruise (Pistons): Cam Martin
Austin Spurs (Spurs): Ibrahima Diallo
Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Rockets): Justin Moore
Raptors 905 (Raptors): Tylor Perry
Indiana Mad Ants (Pacers): Kevin Cross
Sioux Falls Skyforce (Heat): Paul Mulcahy
Sioux Falls Skyforce (Heat): Brandon Childress
Valley Suns (Suns): Nate Roberts
Santa Cruz Warriors (Warriors): Tommy Rutherford
Maine Celtics (Celtics): London Johnson
Cleveland Charge (Cavaliers): Trae Hannibal
South Bay Lakers (Lakers): Marlain Veal
Texas Legends (Mavericks): Bryce Griggs
Salt Lake City Stars (Jazz): Jaylan Gainey
Oklahoma City Blue (Thunder): Justyn Hamilton
San Diego Clippers (Clippers): Garrett Denbow
Austin Spurs (Spurs): Steven Richardson
Mexico City Capitanes (No affiliation): Lewis Duarte
Sioux Falls Skyforce (Heat): No pick
San Diego Clippers (Clippers): Emmanuel Bandoumel
Any NBA team can sign any of these players out of the G-League, although traditionally players are more likely to be called up to the team affiliated with their G-League team.
For example, the Knicks are known to have an interest in potentially bringing up their top two picks, Ryan or Shamet (Shamet was considered likely to make the roster until a shoulder injury in a preseason game sidelined him). New York has a couple of roster spots to fill early in the season.
Since the advent of two-way contracts, there have been fewer pure call-ups from the G-League, but expect a handful of these players to get a chance in the NBA this season. Starting with Shamet.