Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
Robert Covington Chosen No. 1 in D-League Draft; Two Kentucky Players Taken
The Grand Rapids Drive selected 6-foot-9 forward Robert Covington of Tennessee State with the first overall pick of the 2014 NBA Development League Draft on Saturday afternoon from the league’s New York headquarters.
The Santa Cruz Warriors drafted Elliott Williams (6-5, 183, Memphis) with the second overall pick and the Austin Spurs chose Erik Murphy (6-10, 240, Florida) with the third overall selection. Carrick Felix (6-6, 203, Arizona State) to Santa Cruz and Ben Hansbrough (6-3, 203, Notre Dame) to Grand Rapids rounded out the top-five selections, all of whom boast NBA experience.
Kentucky saw two former standouts selected in the first round as Marquis Teague (6-2, 180) was taken ninth overall by the Oklahoma City Blue and the Los Angeles D-Fenders selected Eloy Vargas (6-11, 250) with the 17th overall pick.
Other first-round picks of note including former Louisville standout Chane Behanan going at No. 14 to Rio Grande and former Seton Hall star Fuquan Edwin at No. 15 to Sioux Falls, the D-league affiliate of the Miami Heat. The Skyforce also selected former Pitt standout Ashton Gibbs.Milos Milisavljevic (6-4, 202) of Serbia and Joonas Caven (6-11, 200) of Finland headline the international players selected in the Draft. Milisavljevic was selected by the Texas Legends with the sixth overall selection and Caven went to the Reno Bighorns with the 10th overall pick. Japanese guard Yuki Togashi went to Santa Cruz in the second round (27th overall).
NBA D-League training camp rosters will be comprised of players drafted today, along with returning, affiliate, draft-rights and local tryout players and cannot exceed 17 total players. Teams had to have selected at least six players in today’s Draft and all players who were selected must be invited to training camp.
For the fourth consecutive year, all 18 NBA D-League teams and the NBA D-League headquarters in New York participated in the Draft exclusively through Cisco WebEx Meeting Center.
Full results from the 2014 NBA D-League Draft Live via Cisco WebEx are below:
2014 NBA D-League Draft Live via Cisco WebEx Results
ROUND ONE
Grand Rapids – Robert Covington
Santa Cruz – Elliott Williams
Austin – Erik Murphy
Santa Cruz – Carrick Felix
Grand Rapids – Ben Hansbrough
Texas – Milos Milisavljevic
Idaho – Tre Bussey
Bakersfield – Robert Vaden
Oklahoma City – Marquis Teague
Reno – Joonas Caven
Reno – Brady Heslip
Canton – Michael Dunigan
Santa Cruz – Melvin Johnson III
Rio Grande Valley – Chane Behanan
Sioux Falls – Fuquan Edwin
Iowa – Damien Wilkins
Los Angeles – Eloy Vargas
Rio Grande Valley – Justin Jackson
ROUND TWO
Delaware – D.J. Seeley
Erie – Daniel Coursey
Fort Wayne – Andre Emmett
Maine – Asauhn Dixon-Tatum
Grand Rapids – Omondi Amoke
Texas – Nick Barbour
Erie – John Bohannon
Los Angeles – Naadir Tharpe
Santa Cruz – Yuki Togashi
Westchester – Joseph Bertrand
Canton – Tristan Spurlock
Delaware – Jamal Jones
Santa Cruz – Trayvonn Wright
Rio Grande Valley – Tristan Carey
Sioux Falls – Michael Williams
Sioux Falls – Manny Atkins
Delaware – Sebastian Koch
Idaho – Quinton Doggett
ROUND THREE
Grand Rapids – Shaun Pruitt
Erie – Lenzelle Smith Jr.
Maine – Omari Johnson
Maine – David Stockton
Delaware – Devon Moore
Oklahoma City – George Beamon
Idaho –Ryan Sypkens
Austin – Keith Wright
Oklahoma City – Dane Miller
Sioux Falls – Chadrack Lufile
Grand Rapids – Kammeon Holsey
Idaho- Kodi Augustus
Grand Rapids – Dominic Waters
Rio Grande Valley – Tyrone White
Maine – Xavier Munford
Iowa – Mike McCall
Los Angeles – Ray Turner
Fort Wayne – Titus Rubles
ROUND FOUR
Delaware – Kenny Hall
Reno – Brian Oliver
Austin – Donte Poole
Maine – Luke Loucks
Grand Rapids – Renaldo Woolridge
Texas – Anthony Vereen
Fort Wayne – Marcus Hall
Bakersfield – Michael Haynes
Oklahoma City – Jonathan Mitchell
Westchester – Todd Mayo
Reno – Raven Johnson
Reno – Kevin Foster
Canton – Tymell Murphy
Rio Grande Valley – Duke Mondy
Sioux Falls – Matt Hezekiah
Iowa – Marcus Melvin
Los Angeles – Charles Hinkle
Fort Wayne – Stephen Madison
ROUND FIVE
Delaware – LaQuentin Miles
Erie – Kevin Anderson
Austin – Corey Raji
Maine – Joshua Freelove
Grand Rapids – Kelsey Barlow
Texas – Luis Jacobo
Idaho – Nick Covington
Texas – DeShone McClure
Oklahoma City – Michael Porrini
Westchester – AJ Ussery
Idaho – Joel Wright
Canton – Kevin Thompson
Santa Cruz – Marcus Bell
Rio Grande Valley – Jarvis Threatt
Sioux Falls – Ashton Gibbs
Iowa – Anthony Stover
Los Angeles – Jordan Burris
Fort Wayne – Stefan Bonneau
ROUND SIX
Delaware – Brandon Goode
Erie – Travis Betran
Austin – Joe Mitchell
Grand Rapids – Moses Sundufu
Grand Rapids – Jerrell Sanders
Texas – Arron Mollet
Idaho – Shane Gibson
Bakersfield – Mohamed Tangara
Oklahoma City – Amadou Mbodji
Westchester – Sherrod Wright
Westchester – Dwayne Mitchell
Canton – Kevin Olekaibe
Santa Cruz – Greg Howard
Rio Grande Valley – Austin Witter
Sioux Falls – Chris McNealy
Iowa – Malik Smith
Bakersfield – Bill Clark
Fort Wayne – Marcus Simmons
2014 NBA D-League Draft Live via Cisco WebEx Results
ROUND SEVEN
Erie – Marcus Goode
Austin – Mfon Udofia
Idaho – Tyrrel Tate
Bakersfield – Ricardo Barbosa
Westchester – Kevin Tiggs
Reno – Keith Chamberlain
Canton – Deilvez Yearby
Iowa – Brandon Provost
Los Angeles – Sammy Yeager
Fort Wayne – Kyrie Sutton
ROUND EIGHT
Erie – Justin Simmons
Austin – Cory Dixon
Bakersfield – John Petrucelli
Reno – Raymond Cowels
About the NBA Development League
The NBA Development League is the NBA’s official minor league, preparing players, coaches, officials, trainers, and front-office staff for the NBA while acting as the league’s research and development laboratory. Featuring 18 teams with direct affiliations with NBA franchises for the 2014-15 season, the league offers elite professional basketball at an affordable price in a fun, family-friendly atmosphere. An all-time high 26 percent of all NBA players at the start of the 2014-15 season boasted NBA D-League experience. In fostering the league’s connection to the community, its teams, players and staff promote health and wellness, support local needs and interests, and assist in educational development through NBA D-League Cares programs. Fans can watch all NBA D-League games on nbadleague.com.
Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle.
A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013.
He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.
The Grand Rapids Drive selected 6-foot-9 forward Robert Covington of Tennessee State with the first overall pick of the 2014 NBA Development League Draft on Saturday afternoon from the league’s New York headquarters.
