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G League’s All-Defensive, All-Rookie Teams Unveiled

April 17th, 2025 at 2:43pm CST by Rory Maher

The NBA has officially announced (via Twitter) the G League’s All-Defensive Team for the 2024/25 season. Here’s the full five-player list:

All-NBA G League Defensive Team

The top rookies of the NBAGL season were also unveiled on Thursday (Twitter link). They are as follows:

All-NBA G League Rookie Team

Key, who was recently promoted to a standard contract with Golden State, was named the NBAGL’s Defensive Player of the Year, while Alexander won Rookie of the Year. Badji, who recently signed with a Spanish club, and Nogues, who has declared for the 2025 NBA draft, finished second and third in DPOY voting, respectively. Jones Garcia was the runner-up for ROY, with Young finishing third.

As our tracker shows, Alexander, Jenkins, Young and Dennis are on two-way contracts with their respective NBA clubs.

Journeyman center Brown also earned a spot on the All-NBA G League Second Team, while Alexander made the Third Team.

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2024/25 All-NBA G League Teams Announced

April 17th, 2025 at 1:14pm CST by Rory Maher

In a series of tweets, the NBA has announced the three All-NBA G League teams for the 2024/25 season. Here’s the full list of honorees:

First Team

Second Team

Third Team

* Denotes two-way contract

^ Denotes standard contract

~ On a standard contract with the Cavaliers

While each player selected has some level of NBA experience, four of them — Flynn, Nowell, Brown and Warren — are currently free agents. Of that group, only Warren didn’t appear in an NBA regular season game during the ’24/25 campaign.

Davison, Tshiebwe and Nowell finished first, second and third in voting (in that order) for this season’s G League Most Valuable Player award, so it’s no surprise that they made the First Team. McClung, who was the league’s 2023/24 MVP, helped Osceola make the NBAGL Finals this spring, with the final spot going to former Pistons guard Flynn, who signed a 10-day contract with Charlotte last month.

Mason Jones recently helped Stockton win its first G League title, earning Finals MVP in the process. He’s joined on the Second Team by NBAGL Most Improved Player Harkless, McGowens, Brown, and Timme.

Former first-round pick Okeke signed a pair of 10-day contracts with Philadelphia before signing with Cleveland ahead of the playoffs. NBA veteran Warren, G League Rookie of the Year Alexander, Heat two-way guard Christopher, and Kings big man Jones round out the Third Team.

Davison and Isaac Jones were promoted from two-way deals to standard contracts at the end of the season. Timme was an NBA free agent before Brooklyn gave him a two-year standard contract in March due to his strong play in the NBAGL.

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Pacers’ NBAGL Affiliate Rebrands As Noblesville Boom

April 16th, 2025 at 12:31pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pacers‘ G League affiliate will no longer be known as the Indiana Mad Ants. According to a press release from the team, the NBAGL club has been rebranded as the Noblesville Boom.

The new nickname, per today’s announcement, is a tribute to the phrase “Boom, baby!” made famous by former Pacers coach and commentator Bobby “Slick” Leonard, who passed away in 2021.

The G League team was known from 2007-23 as the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. That nickname was a reference to “Mad” Anthony Wayne, the namesake of Fort Wayne, who was a general in the American Revolutionary War and a U.S. congressman.

The club relocated from Fort Wayne to Indianapolis in 2023 and temporarily kept the Mad Ants nickname, but it was determined that a rebrand was necessary as the team makes the move to Noblesville for the 2025/26 season.

The Boom have revealed their new color scheme and logo on their official website, as well as via a promotional YouTube video. A new court design, mascot, and uniforms will be unveiled in the coming months, ahead of the ’25/26 season.

In the past, the make-up of the G League typically changed a little from year to year as teams relocated or the league introduced expansion franchises. That won’t happen as often going forward now that each NBA team has an affiliate of its own – especially since many of those affiliates are conveniently located near their respective NBA homes – but we could still see rebrands like this one happen every now and then.

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Stockton Kings Win G League Title, Mason Jones Named Finals MVP

April 15th, 2025 at 7:19am CST by Luke Adams

The Stockton Kings, Sacramento’s affiliate, claimed the 2024/25 G League title by winning the deciding game of a best-of-three series with the Osceola Magic on Monday.

After losing Game 1 to Orlando’s G League affiliate last Tuesday, Stockton evened the series with a 144-126 victory on Friday and then knocked off Osceola 118-110 on Monday, with Dexter Dennis, Terry Taylor, and Isaac Jones all scoring at least 21 points in the championship game.

Veteran guard Mason Jones, who is on a two-way contract with Sacramento, was named the G League Finals MVP (Twitter link). For the series, he averaged 22.3 points, 9.7 assists, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.7 steals per game and made 11-of-25 three-point shots (44.0%).

Jones, 26, made his NBA debut in 2021 and has since appeared in 51 regular season games for the Rockets, Sixers, Lakers, and Kings, including 10 for Sacramento this season. However, he has played very limited minutes at the NBA level, whereas he averaged 23.6 PPG, 7.9 APG, 5.1 RPG, and 1.1 SPG in 35.9 MPG with a shooting line of .492/.447/.790 across 27 Tip-Off Tournament and regular season outings for Stockton this season.

Mason Jones was one of three players under contract with Sacramento who contributed to Stockton’s NBAGL championship. Fellow two-way player Isaiah Crawford also started all three games in the Finals, while Isaac Jones, who was promoted to the Kings’ 15-man roster last month, was assigned to Stockton for Game 3 and posted a double-double (21 points, 13 rebounds) on 8-of-11 shooting on Monday.

The Kings hold a minimum-salary team option on Isaac Jones for next season. Mason Jones and Crawford will be eligible for restricted free agency this summer.

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Osceola Magic, Stockton Kings To Compete In NBAGL Finals

April 7th, 2025 at 3:58pm CST by Rory Maher

The Osceola Magic (Orlando’s affiliate) and the Stockton Kings (Sacramento’s affiliate) will compete in this year’s NBA G League Finals, a best-of-three series that will begin on Tuesday night.

The NBAGL’s playoffs have a much different setup than the NBA’s, as only 12 teams advance instead of 16, with the top-two seeds from each conference receiving a first-round bye. The conference quarterfinals, semifinals and finals are also single elimination instead of taking place over multiple games.

Both Osceola and Stockton went 22-12 during the regular season, finishing as the top seeds in their respective conferences.

Led by 42 points from Mac McClung, who is on a two-way contract, the Magic defeated the Maine Celtics to advance from the East. Out West, Stockton defeated the Austin Spurs in the conference final behind 38 points from Mason Jones, who is on a two-way deal with the Kings. Terry Taylor, who signed a 10-day contract with Sacramento last month, finished with 27 points and 10 rebounds.

Game 1 of the NBA G League Finals will take place in Osceola on Tuesday at 7 pm CT (ESPNU). Game 2 will be played in Stockton on Friday at 9 pm CT (ESPNews). If necessary, Game 3 will be next Monday in Osceola at 7 pm CT (ESPN2).

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And-Ones: NBA’s European Project, Dellavedova, Badji, Cui

April 6th, 2025 at 11:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Commissioner Adam Silver‘s interest in starting a new NBA venture in Europe goes beyond the potential financial rewards, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic. The biggest benefit, according to Vardon, would be direct access to a player development pipeline that has produced numerous NBA stars over the past decade.

“The European development of the kids, especially in the Yugoslavian area, especially in terms of fundamentals, is 10 times better than in the States,” said Misko Raznatovic, the former head of Mega Basket, Belgrade’s pro club, and current Serbian-based agent for Nikola Jokic. “This is the reason you are getting more and more players from Europe.”

Vardon explains that there are no school teams in Europe, so the top players join clubs run by the professional organizations. Unlike the AAU system in the United States, there’s more of an emphasis on developing skills than on playing several games in a weekend. Players who show early signs of stardom like Jokic, Luka Doncic or Victor Wembanyama quickly move on to the pro team, often by the time they’re ready for high school.

“At the age of 15 you get Jokic, you get Doncic, that kind of player, if you don’t teach them how to play basketball, don’t develop their skills and don’t develop their IQ, they will score zero points because based on their athleticism, their quickness, they cannot score anything (in the NBA),” Raznatovic added. “That’s the reason that the guys from this area are getting more skill and a better basketball IQ.”

There’s more from around the basketball world:

  • EuroLeague teams will hold an internal meeting Monday in Barcelona to discuss the league’s future amid the proposed NBA project, per Domantas Urbonas of BasketNews. Sources tell Urbonas that shareholders are hoping for “full transparency” on which teams are committed to staying in the league and which might be open to other opportunities.
  • Former NBA guard Matthew Dellavedova has agreed to a multiyear contract with the Sydney Kings after being the most sought-after free agent in Australia, per Olgun Uluc of ESPN. Dellavedova, 34, unites with Andrew Bogut, his longtime teammate on the Australian national team, who was recently named an assistant coach in Sydney.
  • Ibou Badji, who finished second in this year’s G League Defensive Player of the Year voting, has signed with La Laguna Tenerife in Spain for the rest of the season. Badji had been playing for the Wisconsin Herd.
  • Yongxi Cui, who was waived by the Nets in December after tearing his ACL, recently talked about returning to the NBA in a video released by the G League, according to NetsDaily. “In social media, a lot of people thought I’m done,” Cui said. “But a lot of people, like 70 to 80%, think I will get back to the NBA.”
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Nuggets’ Trey Alexander Named G League Rookie Of The Year

April 4th, 2025 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

First-year guard Trey Alexander, who is on a two-way contract with the Nuggets, has been named the NBA G League’s Rookie of the Year, according to a press release.

Alexander signed a two-way contract with Denver last July shortly after going undrafted out of Creighton. He has played sparingly at the NBA level, logging just 110 total minutes across 22 outings, most of which came in garbage time. However, he has been a standout for the Grand Rapids Gold, the Nuggets’ G League affiliate.

In 30 total appearances in the Tip-Off Tournament and NBAGL regular season, Alexander averaged 25.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists, and 1.6 steals in 37.0 minutes per game, posting a shooting line of .462/.395/.817.

“The Nuggets and Gold are so proud of Trey and all he has accomplished this season.” Gold general manager Ben Tenzer said in a statement. “He is a fantastic player, and an even better person. His work ethic and approach to the game are second to none. We have enjoyed watching his tremendous growth and look forward to all the success that comes his way in the future.”

While it’s possible that Alexander’s strong play in the G League will earn him a longer look from Denver in the NBA next season, he’ll need to be re-signed first. Since the 21-year-old’s two-way deal only covers one season, he’ll be eligible for restricted free agency this summer.

According to the NBA (Twitter link), David Jones Garcia of the Mexico City Capitanes was the runner-up in G League Rookie of the Year voting, while Windy City Bulls guard Jahmir Young, who is on a two-way contract with Chicago, finished third.

The award is voted on by the NBAGL’s head coaches and GMs.

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Jazz’s Elijah Harkless Named NBAGL Most Improved Player

April 3rd, 2025 at 2:11pm CST by Rory Maher

Guard Elijah Harkless, who is on a two-way contract with the Jazz, has been named the NBA G League’s Most Improved Player for the 2024/25 season, the NBA announced today (via Twitter).

Harkless earned the award for his time with the San Diego Clippers and Salt Lake City Stars. He’s the first player from the Stars to win NBAGL MIP, according to the press release.

After averaging 11.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.0 steal in 20 regular season games (22.7 MPG) for San Diego in 2023/24, the 25-year-old improved his counting stats across the board in ’24/25, averaging 26.9 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 4.4 APG and 1.3 SPG in 19 regular season appearances, 17 of which came for Salt Lake City (31.4 MPG). He has posted a .447/.419/.745 shooting line during the G League’s regular season.

Harkless, who went undrafted out of UNLV in 2023, was named to the NBAGL’s Up Next event — essentially the G League’s All-Star game — earlier this season. He also had a stint in the Canadian Elite Basketball League with the Saskatchewan Rattlers this past spring.

Known for his defense, Harkless has played 10 games for Utah in what is technically his rookie NBA season. The combo guard has averaged 3.2 PPG, 2.1 RPG and 1.0 SPG in 13.8 MPG during those appearances.

Drew Timme and Tyson Etienne of the Nets finished second and third in voting for the award, respectively. Both players have been standouts for Brooklyn’s affiliate in Long Island.

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Spurs Notes: Paul, Vassell, McLaughlin, King, Ingram

April 3rd, 2025 at 6:48am CST by Luke Adams

When a player signs a contract that includes unlikely incentives, those incentives can be worth up to 15% of the player’s base salary. The Spurs took full advantage of that rule last summer when they signed Chris Paul, making the most of their cap room by agreeing to a one-year deal with a base salary of $10.46MM and another $1.569MM in achievable unlikely incentives that wouldn’t count against the cap.

Paul began cashing in on those incentives on Wednesday, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link), when the Spurs registered their 32nd win of the season, beating the Nuggets in Denver. The veteran point guard earned a $262K bonus as a result of the team reaching that win total, Marks reports.

Paul is on track to earn another $523K before the end of the season by meeting two more individual performance benchmarks, Marks tweets. As Marks previously wrote for ESPN.com, those bonuses are related to Paul’s net rating and true shooting percentage.

Here’s more on the Spurs:

  • Spurs wing Devin Vassell was held out of Wednesday’s win for left ankle injury management, missing a game for the first time since December 6. Acting head coach Mitch Johnson explained that the team decided to rest Vassell because he was “getting a little bit too much in the danger zone” after having been playing through an ankle injury, writes Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. “It’s being mindful of the big picture, keeping him healthy, and so we made the call,” Johnson said.
  • A throw-in piece in the De’Aaron Fox blockbuster in February, guard Jordan McLaughlin has barely played for the Spurs since being dealt from Sacramento to San Antonio. But he was a +8 in 17 minutes of action in Denver on Wednesday and made a crucial three-point shot in the fourth quarter. With just nine Spurs players active for the game, McLaughlin said the reserves’ attitude was to “go out there and have fun,” as Orsborn relays. “We all work really hard behind the scenes even when we’re not playing, so it was just a great opportunity for us to go out there and play basketball,” the veteran guard said.
  • Scott King, the head coach of the Austin Spurs, San Antonio’s G League affiliate, has been named the NBAGL’s Coach of the Year, the league announced on Wednesday (Twitter link). A former Knicks player development coach, King led Austin to a 22-12 record and the No. 2 seed in the G League’s Western Conference in his first year at the helm, finishing ahead of runners-up DeSagana Diop (Westchester Knicks) and Quinton Crawford (Stockton Kings) in a vote conducted by the league’s 31 head coaches and GMs. At the time of his hiring, one report indicated that King was viewed as a future NBA head coach — he likely bolstered his case with his performance this season.
  • Speaking to Grant Afseth of RG.org, Spurs two-way forward Harrison Ingram said his goal is to earn a standard contract. The 48th overall pick in the 2024 draft, Ingram has appeared in just three games for San Antonio this season, having spent most of the year in Austin, an experience he discussed with Afseth. He’ll be eligible for restricted free agency this summer.
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Warriors’ Braxton Key Named NBAGL Defensive Player Of The Year

April 2nd, 2025 at 3:43pm CST by Luke Adams

Santa Cruz Warriors forward Braxton Key, who is on a two-way contract with Golden State, has been named the NBA G League’s Defensive Player of the Year for the 2024/25 season, according to an official announcement (Twitter link). The award is voted on by the league’s 31 head coaches and general managers.

Key appeared in a total of 49 G League games this year in the Tip-Off Tournament and regular season for the San Diego Clippers and Santa Cruz Warriors. He averaged a league-leading 2.6 steals per game to go along with 1.1 blocks per contest.

While both San Diego and Santa Cruz finished in the middle of the pack in defensive rating, the Clippers were significantly more effective on that end of the floor when Key was playing. San Diego had a 102.5 defensive rating during his minutes and a 113.7 mark when he wasn’t on the court. Santa Cruz, which finished the season with a 111.5 defensive rating, had a 109.2 mark during Key’s minutes.

Wisconsin Herd center Ibou Badji, who anchored the defense for the Bucks‘ G League affiliate with 3.5 blocks in just 22.4 minutes per game across 50 appearances, was the Defensive Player of the Year runner-up.

Rip City Remix guard Isaac Nogues finished third in the G League’s DPOY voting. He averaged 2.1 steals per contest across 40 games for the Trail Blazers‘ affiliate, which had a defensive rating of 107.8 when he was on the floor and 113.5 when he wasn’t.

Neither Badji nor Nogues is under contract with an NBA team. Key will be eligible for restricted free agency this offseason.

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