The NBA G League held its draft for the 2023/24 season on Saturday afternoon.
The 29 G League teams affiliated with NBA franchises participated in the event, as did the unaffiliated Mexico City Capitanes. The G League Ignite, which is made up of top prospects and veteran mentors, doesn’t take part in the draft.
[RELATED: NBA G League Announces Schedule For 2023/24 Season]
The first player selected in today’s G League draft was former Nuggets and Thunder forward Jack White, who recently fell victim to a roster crunch in Oklahoma City.
White spent last season on a two-way contract with Denver, then signed a two-year, minimum-salary contract with the Thunder that included a $600K partial guarantee.
That guarantee made him ineligible to suit up for the Oklahoma City Blue this season, so he entered the G League draft, where the Texas Legends, the Mavericks‘ affiliate, snared him with the No. 1 overall pick.
Outside of White, there was only one other player drafted today who has prior NBA experience. That player is Scottie Lewis, the 56th overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft. He appeared in just two games for the Hornets while on a two-way deal in 2021/22. The Windy City Bulls, Chicago’s affiliate, drafted him today with the No. 32 overall pick.
Former Tulsa wing Brandon Rachal has never appeared in an NBA regular season game, but he was among Saturday’s draftees who has at least signed an NBA contract, having inked a pair of Exhibit 10 deals with Brooklyn in 2021 and 2022. Rachal made G League history today by becoming the first player drafted by the Rip City Remix, the Trail Blazers‘ expansion franchise.
Here are the full 2023/24 G League draft results:
Round One:
- Texas Legends (Mavericks): Jack White
- South Bay Lakers (Lakers): Teafale Lenard Jr.
- Capital City Go-Go (Wizards): David Muoka
- College Park Skyhawks (Hawks): Javonte Perkins
- Grand Rapids Gold (Nuggets): Will Richardson
- Birmingham Squadron (Pelicans): Pavel Savkov
- Austin Spurs (Spurs): David Shriver
- Greensboro Swarm (Hornets): Isiaih Mosley
- Oklahoma City Blue (Thunder): Logan Johnson
- Salt Lake City Stars (Jazz): Karolis Lukosiunas
- Raptors 905 (Raptors): Myles Burns
- Mexico City Capitanes (N/A): J.J. Romer Rosario
- Sioux Falls Skyforce (Heat): Bryson Warren (Overtime Elite)
- Grand Rapids Gold (Nuggets): Olisa Akonobi
- Grand Rapids Gold (Nuggets): Walter Ellis
- Santa Cruz Warriors (Warriors): Marcus Burk
- Texas Legends (Mavericks): Nana Opoku
- Texas Legends (Mavericks): Maxime Carene
- Westchester Knicks (Knicks): Jamal Bey
- Sioux Falls Skyforce (Heat): Manny Camper
- Osceola Magic (Magic): Jaycee Hillsman
- Rip City Remix (Trail Blazers): Brandon Rachal
- Ontario Clippers (Clippers): Elijah Harkless
- Delaware Blue Coats (Sixers): Anthony Nelson
- Iowa Wolves (Timberwolves): Kok Yat (Overtime Elite)
- Oklahoma City Blue (Thunder): Lance Thomas
- Santa Cruz Warriors (Warriors): Arinze Chidom
- College Park Skyhawks (Hawks): Jared Wilson-Frame
- Wisconsin Herd (Bucks): Myron Gardner
- Maine Celtics (Celtics): Wendell Green Jr.
Round Two:
- Texas Legends (Mavericks): J.D. Tsasa (North Canyon High School)
- Windy City Bulls (Bulls): Scottie Lewis
- Cleveland Charge (Cavaliers): Eric Williams Jr.
- Osceola Magic (Magic): Tray Maddox
- Grand Rapids Gold (Nuggets): No pick
- Stockton Kings (Kings): Kalob Ledoux
- Wisconsin Herd (Bucks): No pick
- Memphis Hustle (Grizzlies): Sincere Carry
- Stockton Kings (Kings): Alex Hunter
- College Park Skyhawks (Hawks): Sam Daniel (Florida Tech)
- Iowa Wolves (Timberwolves): Nojel Eastern
- Ontario Clippers (Clippers): David Bell
- Indiana Mad Ants (Pacers): Stephan Hicks
- Mexico City Capitanes (N/A): No pick
- Osceola Magic (Magic): Darius Mickens (Cal State San Bernadino)
- Santa Cruz Warriors (Warriors): No pick
- Windy City Bulls (Bulls): Keyshawn Bryant
- Rip City Remix (Trail Blazers): Kevin McClain
- Memphis Hustle (Grizzlies): Davion Warren
- Indiana Mad Ants (Pacers): David Sloan
- Indiana Mad Ants (Pacers): No pick
- Westchester Knicks (Knicks): No pick
- Delaware Blue Coats (Sixers): No pick
- Delaware Blue Coats (Sixers): No pick
- Osceola Magic (Magic): Isaiah Wade (Central Oklahoma)
- Salt Lake City Stars (Jazz): Isaac Johnson
- Iowa Wolves (Timberwolves): Denzel Mahoney
- Texas Legends (Mavericks): No pick
- Texas Legends (Mavericks): No pick
- Ontario Clippers (Clippers): No pick
Round Three (supplemental picks):
- Motor City Cruise (Pistons): Robert Johnson
- Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Rockets): Kyree Walker
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 this year’s NBAGL Showcase Cup tournament tipping off on November 10. The Showcase Cup will be played over about a month-and-a-half and will be followed by the G League regular season, which begins on December 27.
Need education here. If the G league is minor league basketball, why are they having a draft? Not similar to baseball minor leagues?
While nearly every NBA team has a G League affiliate, a player’s NBA rights and G League rights are typically separate — so most players on a G League roster remain free to sign with any NBA team.
In certain cases, a G League team functions like the NBA team’s minor league affiliate (ie. the NBA team can assign certain players on its own roster to its G League team), but it’s not like MLB where the rights to every minor leaguer in a given system are controlled by the MLB team.