The NBA G League's first overall pick is the player who is selected first among all eligible draftees by a team during the annual NBA G League Draft (known as the NBA Development League Draft until 2017). For players to become eligible for the draft they must sign a general contract with the league. [2] They must also be at least 18 years old, not attending college during the season which the draft precedes, and have either graduated from high school or, if the player did not finish high school, had what would have been his graduating class graduate. [3]
No first overall picks have ever won the G League Most Valuable Player Award. [4] [5] Five players have been named to at least one NBA Development League All-Star Game: Andre Barrett, [6] Eddie Gill, [6] Chris Richard, [7] Carlos Powell (twice) [6] [8] and Nick Fazekas. [6] The first All-Star Game did not occur until the 2006–07 season, however, and so the possibility for players such as Mikki Moore to earn an All-Star selection was not possible. [9] Moore was named the NBDL Defensive Player of the Year and was named to the All-NBDL First Team as a rookie in 2002–03. [10] Fazekas, the first overall selection in 2010, and Powell, the first overall selection in 2009, each had previous NBA Development League experience prior to those respective drafts. In 2007–08, Fazekas had played for the Tulsa 66ers while Powell had played for the Dakota Wizards, and both were selected as NBA Development League All-Stars that season, [6] making them back-to-back number one draft picks who had previously been NBADL All-Stars. [6] [11]
Note that from the 2001 through 2004 drafts, it was known as the NBDL Draft. From 2005 through 2016, it was known as the NBA Development League Draft in accordance with the league's slight name change. [12] The 2017 draft was the first under the league's current identity as the NBA G League, following a sponsorship deal with Gatorade. [13] [14]
^ | Denotes player who has been selected to (an) NBA G League All-Star Game(s) |
* | Denotes player who has been selected to (an) NBA G League All-Star Game(s) and was also selected in an NBA draft |
† | Denotes player who was also selected in an NBA Draft |
Player (in italic text) | Rookie of the Year |
PPG | Points per game [a] |
RPG | Rebounds per game [a] |
APG | Assists per game [a] |
The 1972 NBA draft was the 26th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 10 and 15, 1972 before the 1972–73 season. In this draft, 17 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. The first two picks in the draft belonged to the teams that finished last in each conference, with the order determined by a coin flip. The Portland Trail Blazers won the coin flip and were awarded the first overall pick, while the Buffalo Braves were awarded the second pick. The remaining first-round picks and the subsequent rounds were assigned to teams in reverse order of their win–loss record in the previous season. As a result of last year's supplemental hardship draft, the Cincinnati Royals, the Atlanta Hawks, the Golden State Warriors and the Baltimore Bullets forfeited their first-round picks, while the Los Angeles Lakers forfeited their fourth round pick. Prior to the start of the season, the Cincinnati Royals relocated and became the Kansas City-Omaha Kings. The draft consisted of 18 rounds comprising the selection of 198 players.
The expansion draft for the construction of the Charlotte Bobcats, recognized at the time as the 30th NBA franchise, was held on June 22, 2004. The Bobcats selected 19 players from other teams' unprotected players lists and constructed their squad for what was regarded at the time as their inaugural season.
The 1989 NBA expansion draft was the ninth expansion draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 15, 1989, so that the newly founded Minnesota Timberwolves and Orlando Magic could acquire players for the upcoming 1989–90 season. Minnesota and Orlando had been awarded the expansion teams on April 22, 1987. In an NBA expansion draft, new NBA teams are allowed to acquire players from the previously established teams in the league. Not all players on a given team are available during an expansion draft, since each team can protect a certain number of players from being selected. In this draft, each of the twenty-three other NBA teams had protected eight players from their roster and the Magic and the Timberwolves selected twelve and eleven unprotected players respectively, one from each team. The previous year's expansion teams, the Charlotte Hornets and the Miami Heat, were not involved in this draft and did not lose any player. Prior to the draft, the league conducted a coin flip between the Timberwolves and the Magic to decide their draft order in this expansion draft and in the 1989 NBA draft. The Magic won the coin flip and chose to have the first selection and the right to select twelve players in this expansion draft, thus allowing the Timberwolves to receive the higher pick in the 1989 Draft.
Robert Anthony Vaden is an American former professional basketball player. Previously he played for the Erie BayHawks of the NBA Development League. Vaden played college basketball with the Indiana Hoosiers and the UAB Blazers for two years each. After four years in college, he was drafted by the Charlotte Bobcats with the 54th pick in the 2009 NBA draft. After the draft, his draft rights were immediately traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder. However, the Thunder did not sign him to a contract. As a result, he went on to play in Italy, Slovakia, and in the NBA Development League with the Tulsa 66ers, the D-League team affiliated with the Thunder.
Marquis Devante Teague is an American professional basketball player who last played for Kolossos Rodou of the Greek Basket League. He was one of the top-rated high school basketball players in the class of 2011.
The 2001 NBDL Supplemental Draft was a supplemental draft for the newly formed National Basketball Association Development League. It was held on November 3, 2001, before the league's inaugural 2001–02 season, and took place two days after the 2001 NBDL Draft. The supplemental draft was a one-time occurrence designed to fill out the league's rosters and to ensure competitive play. In this draft, all eight of the league's charter teams took turns selecting available recent college graduates, semi-professional and/or professional players. The draft consisted of four rounds of eight selections each, but there were five instances of a team passing on their draft selection. In all, 27 players were drafted out of 32 possible selections; the Huntsville Flight and Fayetteville Patriots passed on two players apiece, while the Columbus Riverdragons passed on one.
The 2001 NBDL Draft was the inaugural draft of the National Basketball Development League (NBDL), which was later renamed the NBA Development League (NBADL). The draft was held on November 1, 2001 before the 2001–02 season. In this draft, the league's eight charter teams took turns selecting players who had all competed at the college level in the United States at some point.
The 2006 NBA Development League expansion draft was the first expansion draft of the National Basketball Association Development League (NBADL). The draft was held on September 19, 2006, so that the newly founded Colorado 14ers, Bakersfield Jam, Anaheim Arsenal and Los Angeles D-Fenders could acquire players for the upcoming 2006–07 season. An independent agency conducted a random drawing to determine the selection order. Colorado was awarded the first overall pick, followed by Bakersfield, Anaheim and Los Angeles. The expansion draft was conducted via conference call from the NBA Development League's main office, and it drew from a pool comprising 44 players who had played in the D-League the season before but who were not currently on D-League rosters. Regarding the inaugural expansion draft, Senior Director of Basketball Operations and Player Personnel Chris Alpert said, "The Expansion Draft is an effort to give new teams an equal footing in regard to rights to returning players. The league will sign up to four players from season-ending rosters of returning teams, so this levels the playing field somewhat heading into the regular Draft."
The 2010 NBA Development League expansion draft was the fifth expansion draft of the National Basketball Association Development League (NBADL). The draft was held on August 31, 2010, so that the newly founded Texas Legends could acquire players for the upcoming 2010–11 season. All 14 of the available players in the draft pool came from the 2009–10 Los Angeles D-Fenders roster, who had to place their team on hiatus for 2010–11. The Legends were allowed to claim the rights to 10 of Los Angeles' 14 players. Besides the dispersal of the D-Fenders' roster, Texas was also able to draft local talent from the greater Frisco area.
The 2009 NBA Development League expansion draft was the fourth expansion draft of the National Basketball Association Development League (NBADL). The draft was held on September 2, 2009, so that the newly founded Springfield Armor and Maine Red Claws could acquire players for the upcoming 2009–10 season. The Armor was created when the Anaheim Arsenal relocated from the West Coast to the East Coast in an effort for the league to establish a greater presence in the east. Springfield was able to retain the rights to many of Anaheim's players, but with the addition of the Maine Red Claws, a need for an expansion draft arose. The Colorado 14ers were also putting the 2009–10 season on hiatus before their eventual move to Frisco, Texas to become the Texas Legends, which evened out the number of teams in the NBADL at 16.
The 2008 NBA Development League expansion draft was the third expansion draft of the National Basketball Association Development League (NBADL). The draft was held on September 24, 2008, so that the newly founded Reno Bighorns and Erie BayHawks could acquire players for the upcoming 2008–09 season.
The 2007 NBA Development League expansion draft was the second expansion draft of the National Basketball Association Development League (NBADL). The draft was held on September 5, 2007, so that the newly founded Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Fort Wayne Mad Ants, Utah Flash and Iowa Energy could acquire players for the upcoming 2007–08 season. Players from the final 2006–07 rosters of the Arkansas RimRockers and Fort Worth Flyers, as well as all other unprotected NBADL players, were available to have their rights selected in the 2007 expansion draft. A random drawing was held to determine the draft order and the Vipers won the first overall pick. The draft comprised 10 rounds where each team switched their selection order; for example, the Iowa Energy chose last in Round 1 but were able to select first in Round 2.
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