G League

The Greensboro Swarm selected Admiral Schofield with the top overall pick in the G-League draft, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium. 

The 23-year-old Schofield, who played college basketball for the Tennessee Volunteers, was drafted in the second round of the 2019 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers but was traded immediately to the Washington Wizards. 

Schofield appeared in 33 games for the Wizards last season, averaging three points per game. 

The remainder of Monday's results are below (the * symbol denotes a team that could not make the pick):

Round 1

• 2. Memphis (from Erie): Freddie Gillespie (Baylor)
• 3. Canton (from RGV): Antonio Blakeney (LSU)
• 4. Iowa (from Windy City via LAK): Allonzo Trier (Arizona)
• 5. Lakeland (from Westchester): Tahjere McCall (Tennessee State)
• 6. Canton (from South Bay): Anthony Lamb (Vermont)
• 7. Oklahoma City (from Iowa): Zavier Simpson (Michigan)
• 8. Lakeland (from Long Island): DJ Hogg (Texas A&M)
• 9. Westchester (from Oklahoma City via CTN): Justin Patton (Creighton)
• 10. RGV (from Agua Caliente via OKC, CTN, SCW): Armoni Brooks (Houston)
• 11. Raptors905: Kevon Harris (Stephen F. Austin)
• 12. RVG (from Delaware): Jarron Cumberland (Cincinnati)
• 13. Oklahoma City (from Stockton via GBO): Vincent Edwards (Purdue)
• 14. Austin: Jonathan Kasibabu (Fairfield)
• 15. Raptors905 (from Lakeland): Gary Payton II (Oregon State)
• 16. Memphis: Anthony Cowan Jr. (Maryland)
• 17. Iowa (from Canton via OKC): Dakarai Tucker (Utah)
• 18. *Salt Lake City
• 19. N/A

Round 2

• 1. Delaware (from RGV): Jemerrio Jones (New Mexico State)
• 2. Fort Wayne (from Windy City): Oshae Brissett (Syracuse)
• 3. *Westchester
• 4. *Iowa
• 5. *Long Island
• 6. *Agua Caliente (from OKC)
• 7. Fort Wayne: Quincy McKnight (Seton Hall)
• 8. *Agua Caliente
• 9. Santa Cruz: Selom Mawugbe (Azusa Pacific)
• 10. *Raptors905
• 11. *Memphis (from Capital City via ACC)
• 12. Austin (from Delaware): Anthony Mathis (Oregon)
• 13. *Erie (from Sioux Falls)
• 14. *Greensboro (from Texas)
• 15. Austin (from Stockton): Kaleb Johnson (Georgetown)
• 16. *Santa Cruz (from Austin)
• 17. *Memphis
• 18. Oklahoma City (from Canton): Rob Edwards (Arizona State)
• 19. *Salt Lake City

Round 3

• 1. *Greensboro
• 2. *Erie
• 3. *Westchester
• 4. Delaware (from South Bay via ACC): Braxton Key (Virginia)
• 5. *Iowa
• 6. *Long Island
• 7. *Oklahoma City
• 8. *Fort Wayne
• 9. *Canton (from Santa Cruz)
• 10. *Raptors905
• 11. *Delaware
• 12. *Lakeland
• 13. *Memphis
• 14. *Canton
• 15. *Raptors905 (from Salt Lake City)
• 16. N/A
• 17. N/A
• 18. N/A
• 19. N/A

Perhaps more notable than the players picked were the veterans that G-League teams bypassed on:

The G-League will host its 2021 season at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando in February. Like the NBA did last season, it will be a bubble environment amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Seventeen teams will participate, with eight teams advancing to a single-elimination postseason. 

The G League will follow the NBA's lead from last summer, playing its entire 2021 season in a bubble environment at Disney World's ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Florida, according to Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic.

The season is scheduled to begin in February and the top eight teams in the standings will advance to a single-elimination playoff to determine a champion.

The G League suspended its 2019-20 season last March as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and announced in June it would cancel the remainder of the year. The NBA was able to continue its season in a bubble, completing eight seeding games before a standard four-round playoff that ended with the Los Angeles Lakers crowned champions.

After initial quarantine periods, there were zero positive tests among NBA players or staff within the bubble, and no games were affected by COVID-19.

Charania previously reported the G League's plan to use the bubble environment this year, noting there would be a 12- to 15-game season beginning on Feb. 8.

The schedule will feature 18 teams that opted into playing, while 11 franchises chose not to send their G League affiliates.

The G League has been valuable in helping develop young talent for NBA rosters in recent years, although there are several notable veterans who will be involved in 2021, including Lance Stephenson, Jeremy Lin and Michael Beasley.

This season also represents the debut of Ignite, a team made up of top 2021 NBA draft prospects who opted to play professionally rather than compete in the NCAA, including Jalen Green, Jonathan Kuminga and Daishen Nix. International prospects such as Kai Sotto also help fill out the intriguing roster.

The South Bay Lakers, the G League affiliate of the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers, announced Friday they've opted out of the 2021 season at the Disney World complex in Orlando, Florida.

Here's a statement from the team:

"While we appreciate the G League's efforts in putting together this model to accommodate all member teams, we have determined this is the best course of action for the Lakers organization.

"We look forward to our eventual return to G League basketball. In the meantime, we will continue to assign opportunities to our staff as they become available."

G League President Shareef Abdur-Rahim confirmed details of an 18-team season earlier Friday. Play is scheduled to start in February, with eight clubs advancing to a single-elimination postseason.

The former NBA All-Star forward said:

"We worked closely with our teams, the Basketball Players Union, and public health experts to develop a structure that allows our teams to gather at a single site and safely play. We are thrilled to get back to basketball and to fulfill our mission as a critical resource for the NBA in developing players, coaches, referees, athletic trainers and front-office staff."

NBA teams that don't have an affiliate in Orlando can still "assign roster players and transfer two-way players using the league's flexible assignment and two-way rules."

South Bay posted a 19-25 record before the remainder of its 2019-20 season was canceled in June because of the coronavirus pandemic. Coby Karl has served as the team's head coach since 2016. Its most notable player is Kostas Antetokounmpo.

The franchise reached the finals of the then-D-League twice but remains in search of its first title since being founded in 2006.

One month after being released by the Detroit Pistons, LiAngelo Ball is reportedly returning to the NBA G League.

Per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Ball signed a contract to play in the G League bubble. 

The G League hasn't formally announced a plan for this season, but it's reportedly considering holding games in a single-location setting. 

Per ESPN's Dave McMenamin, the G League is looking at Atlanta as its host site for the 2021 season with a reduced schedule. 

McMenamin also noted that G League president Shareef Abdur-Rahim "recently asked franchises to volunteer to forgo the season, hoping to settle on anywhere from 14 to 20 teams to complete the season."

The younger brother of New Orleans Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball, LiAngelo has bounced around professional organizations dating back to 2017. He originally planned to play college basketball at UCLA but withdrew from school in December 2017 after being involved in a shoplifting incident in China where the Bruins were playing their season-opener against Georgia Tech. 

Ball signed with Prienai of the Lithuanian Basketball League shortly after leaving UCLA. He averaged 12.6 points per game and shot 41.5 percent from three-point range in 14 games.

In July 2018, Ball joined the Los Angeles Ballers in the Junior Basketball Association, a league founded by his father, LaVar. The 22-year-old was named JBA Finals MVP after scoring 58 points in the clinching game against the Seattle Ballers. 

Ball spent last season with the Oklahoma City Blue, the G League affiliate of the Oklahoma City Thunder. He was primarily a practice squad player and didn't appear in a game before the season was canceled in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Pistons signed Ball to a non-guaranteed contract on Dec. 2 but released him 11 days later.

The NBA may be turning to Mickey Mouse once again as it looks to play basketball amid the COVID-19 pandemic, only this time for the G League.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the G League is "focused on" playing a 12-to-15 game 2021 season at the Walt Disney World Resort. The tentative plan is to start the season on Feb. 8 with teams arriving in their home markets on Jan. 19 and arriving at the bubble-like location on Jan. 26.

The playoffs would then run March 5-9.

Eighteen of the league's teams have opted into playing this season, including the Ignite, G League Elite team. However, 11 of the NBA's franchises have chosen not to play their G League affiliates this season.

Those teams are Atlanta (College Park Skyhawks), Boston (Maine Red Claws), Chicago (Windy City Bulls), Dallas (Texas Legends), Detroit (Grand Rapids Drive), Los Angeles Lakers (South Bay Lakers), Miami (Sioux Falls Skyforce), Milwaukee (Wisconsin Herd), Phoenix (Northern Arizona Suns), Sacramento (Stockton Kings) and Washington (Capital City Go-Go; will utilize Erie).

The biggest storyline of the G League season will be how the Ignite roster holds up against professional competition.

The roster will include a number of top 2021 draft prospects, including Jonathan Kuminga, Jalen Green and Isaiah Todd. Rather than playing college basketball, they took the opportunity to play at a professional level and make a salary before they are eligible to make the jump to the sport's highest level.

This decision comes on the heels of the NBA finishing its 2019-20 campaign inside the Walt Disney World Resort.

It was one of the few success stories in a sports year filled with so much uncertainty, as there were zero positive COVID-19 cases throughout the entire time the league was inside the bubble. That stands in stark contrast to the issues other leagues faced while trying to play seasons inside home markets.

That is what the NBA is attempting to do in 2020-21, and it already had to postpone a game between the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder.

The NBA's Walt Disney World Resort bubble may not be the last high-profile bubble in the basketball world this year.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, the NBA G League is "seriously discussing" a tournament in November or December and hosting it inside a bubble-like environment. The biggest draw of the tournament would be the inclusion of the elite Ignite team, which features talented youngsters such as Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga.

Earlier this month, the G League announced its team of top-notch prospects who will play at this level instead of collegiately during the 2020-21 season would be called NBA G League Ignite.

The focus of the team, which will include Daishen Nix, Kai Sotto and Isaiah Todd as well, is to prepare some of the country's best young players for the level of competition they will eventually face in the NBA all while giving them the opportunity to make money playing basketball.

"We are thrilled to officially announce NBA G League Ignite as the name of our new team for elite prospects and we think it's a fitting moniker for a group comprised of young players taking the first step of their promising professional careers," NBA G League President Shareef Abdur-Rahim said. "These players have a passion for the game and a desire to develop their skills for the next level and it brings us a lot of pride for them to blaze trails as inaugural members of NBA G League Ignite."

Brian Shaw, who played for the Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers, Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Lakers from 1988 through 2003, will coach the team.

Shaw was previously an assistant coach for the Lakers and a head coach for the Denver Nuggets in 2013-14 and 2014-15.

This potential tournament could be a national introduction for these top prospects and give them an opportunity to prove their skill sets against elevated competition before the 2021 NBA draft.

In June, the G League elected to cancel the remainder of its 2019-20 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It had not been in action since March.

G Leaguers have officially formed a union after receiving assistance from the National Basketball Players Association. 

Per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, approximately 80 percent of players in the G League signed union authorizations "well above the 50-plus percent necessary for voluntary recognition."

Anthony Tolliver, secretary treasurer of the NBPA's Executive Committee, issued an official statement about the voting result: 

"We are extremely pleased that our brothers in the G League elected to form their own union. The many NBA players with prior experience in the G League can personally attest to the value an organized union brings to players' careers. We would like to especially thank Andre Ingram and John Holland who gave so much of their personal time to the organizing process."

Per the NBPA's official statement, players will receive "the benefit of the many protections afforded to union-represented employees and the right to collectively bargain on a variety of matters, including, but not limited to, salaries, benefits and other working conditions."

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported in April that the G League received assistance from the NBPA and that players would start the voting process to form a union. 

Wojnarowski noted the G League's union will operate independently of the NBPA and have its "own constitution, bylaws and leadership structure."

The G League was founded in 2001—when it was known as the National Basketball Development League—and consisted of eight teams.

It has since expanded to 28 teams, with the Mexico City Captains set to join the league next season. 

The NBA G League has reportedly informed teams it must book separate hotel rooms for each player and increase per diem payments by $15 for the 2020-21 season.

Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic reported the update Friday.

The G League is set to become a more common route for top NBA prospects after the creation of a new pathway program that's an alternative to college basketball.

In April, ESPN's Jonathan Givony and Adrian Wojnarowski reported the initiative includes a $500,000 salary for elite prospects to take part in the one-year development program, which already received a commitment from guard Jalen Green, the No. 2 overall prospect in the 2020 recruiting class.

Players previously often had to consider overseas options if they wanted to turn professional during the year between leaving high school and being eligible to enter the NBA draft.

The prospects are expected to compete in 10-12 games against G League opponents, but the "primary objective will be assimilation and growth into the NBA on several levels—from playing to the teaching of life skills," according to the ESPN report.

It's going to increase the league's reach and in turn there's pressure on teams to improve conditions.

Although the per diem figures aren't publicly available, Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated it was $50 per day while on the road as of December 2017.

Players also had to share hotel rooms for away games, per Charania.

The G League will feature 29 teams starting next season with the addition of the Capitanes de Ciudad de Mexico in Mexico City.

Members of the NBA G League plan to begin voting Saturday on the possible formation of a union, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.  

Wojnarowski reported the players are receiving help from the NBA Players Association, and he tweeted in December that the idea dates back to 2018:

The Athletic and Stadium's Shams Charania reported in December the goals of unionizing included "increased salaries for players, freedom of player movement, work benefits and having a voice on their behalf on issues of discipline and contract structures."

According to Charania, the NBA players union voted in February to support a union push for G League players, with the next step requiring the approval of G League players themselves.

Sports Illustrated's Michael McCann noted the show of solidarity by the NBPA differed from how unions in other major sports leagues look upon their minor league peers.

The MLB Players Association received some criticism when it agreed to a deal with league owners that assured major leaguers a portion of their salaries during the COVID-19 pandemic. In return, MLB has the option to reduce the 2020 draft from 40 rounds to five, which could significantly limit the pool of players who can enter the minor league ranks this season.

The base salary for G League players is $35,000. Elite recruits coming out of high school are eligible to receive a $125,000 select contract, but OZY's Ray Glier reported in September that nobody had taken advantage of the option.

However, Wojnarowski and Jonathan Givony reported April 16 that Jalen Green was signing a $500,000 contract to enter a one-year developmental program that's a joint partnership between the NBA and G League. Fellow 2020 recruit Isaiah Todd followed Green one day later.

Neither Green nor Todd will play in the G League full time, but they will occasionally line up against G League players.

Isaiah Todd's decision to decommit from the Michigan Wolverines and pursue the NBA G League's new pathway to the sport's highest level was apparently not difficult.

Todd appeared on NBA TV's NBA GameTime on Tuesday and said as much (h/t Adam Zagoria of Forbes).

"About two weeks before I made a college decision, I got a call, and then it was kind of like irrefusable," he said. "It just sounded perfect, and it sounded like a no-brainer, and I felt bad when I knew that was kind of the way I was going to go, thinking about the Michigan fans. But I had to do what's best for my family."

Todd's mother, Marlene Venable, told Jeff Borzello of ESPN on April 14 that her son elected to play professionally instead of joining head coach Juwan Howard and the Wolverines.

Two days later, highly regarded prospect Jalen Green also announced he would play in the G League instead of attending college.

Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported Green was expected to make approximately $500,000 with his G League deal, not including potential endorsement deals and appearance money.

Zagoria explained the select team with Todd, Green and others will not be affiliated with a G League or an NBA team. It will play an independent schedule of 20 or 25 games and be scouted by NBA teams.

Todd was a 5-star prospect, the No. 13 overall player and the No. 2 power forward in the class of 2020, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

It was a major loss for Michigan and Howard's efforts to build a consistent championship contender in the Big Ten, but the Wolverines still have a talented 2020 class that includes Hunter Dickinson, Zeb Jackson and Terrance Williams.