By ADAM ZAGORIA
Former St. John’s star Shamorie Ponds, former NBA standout Lance Stephenson, LiAngelo Ball and Zaire Wade were among the prominent names taken in Saturday’s NBA G League Draft.
Ponds, who led St. John’s to its last NCAA Tournament appearance in 2018, went No. 1 overall to the Delaware Blue Coats (76ers). In 2020-21, Ponds played 5 games with OKK Spars Sarajevo of the Bosnian Premijer Liga BiH, where he averaged 6.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists. The Brooklyn-native appeared in 4 games with the Toronto Raptors during the 2019-20 NBA season, and played 18 games with Raptors 905 during the same year, averaging 14.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists for the Toronto affiliate.
Wade, the son of Utah Jazz minority owner and former NBA star Dwyane Wade, was selected No. 10 by the Salt Lake City Stars (Jazz). Wade played alongside Bronny James and Clippers and former Kentucky guard B.J. Boston at Sierra Canyon (CA).
The 6-5 Stephenson was drafted 13th overall by the Grand Rapids Gold. The nine-year NBA veteran last played in the league during the 2018-19 season with the Los Angeles Lakers and spent the 2019-20 season with the Liaoning Flying Leopards of the Chinese Basketball Association.
Stephenson, 30, was “99 percent” set to sign a deal with the Indiana Pacers before the pandemic hit in March 2020, but was not permitted to sign with the league after spending the first part of this season in China, he and his agent, Reggie Brown, said last summer.
“Lance and we here at Priority Sports are excited about this new G League opportunity with the Denver Nuggets Grand Rapids Affiliate,” Brown said Saturday.
“He’s not looking to go in and average 30 points a game, although he’s more than capable of doing so. Lance will show his leadership skills and maturity by guiding the younger players. He’s in the best shape of his life. NBA teams will see the much improved skills, especially his 3-point shooting and defense along with the intangibles that impact winning.”
The Greensboro Swarm selected the 6-5 Ball with the 14th overall pick. Ball, the brother of Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball and Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball, most recently played for Charlotte during the 2021 NBA Summer League.
Among some other notable names to get drafted were:
–Former Kentucky guard Brandon Knight at No. 6 to the Sioux Falls Skyforce (Heat)
–Former Syracuse and Illinois forward Alan Griffin went No. 12 to the Santa Cruz Warriors.
–Former Iona guards Isaiah Ross (No. 6 to Maine Celtics) and Asante Gist (third round to Westchester Knicks).
–-Joel Ntambwe, older brother of Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, went in the third round to Sioux Falls.
Full results from the 2021-22 NBA G League Draft are below.
ROUND ONE
- Delaware – Shamorie Ponds
- College Park – Tyler Hagedorn
- Fort Wayne – Gabe York
- Westchester – Justin Turner
- Agua Caliente – Nate Darling
- Sioux Falls – Brandon Knight
- Texas – Eddie Stansberry
- Motor City – Jaylen Johnson
- Iowa – Michael Gbinije
- Salt Lake City – Zaire Wade
- Texas – Loudon Love
- Santa Cruz – Alan Griffin
- Grand Rapids – Lance Stephenson
- Greensboro – LiAngelo Ball
- Lakeland – TJ Haws
- Cleveland – BJ Taylor
- Windy City – Scottie Lindsey
- Maine – Isaiah Ross
- Iowa – Ruot Monyyong
- Lakeland – Marlon Stewart
- Stockton – Joe Young
- Iowa – Samir Doughty
- Greensboro – Chudier Bile
- Capital City – Rodney Pryor
- Windy City – Tim Bond
- Greensboro – Tyree White
- Cleveland – Montell McRae
- Rio Grande Valley – Cullen Russo
- Memphis – Karim Mane
- College Park – Kalob Ledoux
- Memphis – Gerard Tarin
- Delaware – Barra Njie
- Raptors 905 – Tahj Eaddy
- Grand Rapids – Trevon Duval
- Lakeland – Gary Chivichyan
- Motor City – Ryan Daly
- Wisconsin – Keaton Wallace
- Salt Lake City – Pedro Bradshaw
- Austin – Alexis Wangmeme
- Fort Wayne – Ian DuBose
- Sioux Falls – Mike Smith
- Lakeland – Jaire Grayer
- Raptors 905 – Blake Francis
- Cleveland – Jack Pagenkopf
- Lakeland – Devonte Patterson
- Fort Wayne – Jordan Allen
- Birmingham – Devearl Ramsey
- Long Island – Chris Walker
- Rio Grande Valley – Eric Demers
- Birmingham – Derrick Griffin
- Santa Cruz – Ja’Quan Lyle
- Capital City – Jachai Taylor
- Westchester – Lydell Elmore
- Greensboro – Ikenna Ndugba
- Oklahoma City – Tevin King
- Agua Caliente – Kammeon Holsey
- South Bay – Elijah Cain
- College Park – Landon Taliaferro
- Fort Wayne – Will Vorhees
- Westchester – Asante Gist
- Stockton – Princepal Singh
- Grand Rapids – Trevor John
- Raptors 905 – Tristan Jarrett
- Motor City – Devon Baulkman
- Wisconsin – Jaylen Bland
- Salt Lake City – JC Show
- Austin – Passed
- Memphis – Passed
- Sioux Falls – Joel Ntambwe
- Delaware – Passed
- Texas – Lamonte Bearden
- Stockton – Passed
- Delaware – Passed
- Maine – Lindsey Drew
- Iowa – Artur Labinowicz
- Long Island – Jaylen Fisher
- Agua Caliente – Randy Onwuasor
- Iowa – Seth Allen
- Santa Cruz – Jovan Mooring
- Capital City – Jermaine Haley
- Windy City – Kerwin Roach
- Greensboro – Isaiah Blackmon
- Oklahoma City – Marlon Taylor
- Rio Grande Valley – Jimond Ivey
