A Brief Recap of the 2023 G-League Elite Camp, and Our Picks for the 2023 All-G-League Elite Camp Teams
May 16th, 2023
By Alan Lu
There has been an avalanche of scrimmage games that went on a couple of days ago, four of them in fact, so since I haven’t really seen those games, I’ll basically just tell you guys a recap of what happened, so this will be strictly from a statistical viewpoint. In the meantime, the Conference Finals in the NBA are just about to start, and the NBA draft lottery is tomorrow, and the NBA Draft Combine is already underway, so there is just a lot going on right now.
Auburn’s Johni Broome (wearing #4 in this photo) was terrific at the 2023 G-League Elite Camp, and his strong performances helped him land an invite to the 2023 NBA Draft Combine.
(Photo: Kevin Cox/Getty Images, via Auburn Wire)
Game 1: Team 1 vs. Team 2 (Team 1 wins 84-81)
The standout performers of this game were Auburn’s Johni Broome, Texas’ Sir’Jabari Rice, Clemson’s PJ Hall, and Florida Atlantic’s Johnell Davis. Broome, Hall, and Johnell Davis played very well for Team 1, and Sir’Jabari Rice, Norchad Omier, Markquis Nowell, and Anton Watson turned in solid performances for Team 2. For those of you who are looking for the box score to this game, here is the link, courtesy of DraftExpress’ Twitter Feed.
Johni Broome scored 23 points on 8 of 11 shooting, made 1 of 2 threes, drew 10 free throw attempts, and he had 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block, and also was a +3 as he dominated from the get go. He was my highest ranked prospect heading into the 2023 G-League Elite Camp, and I was confident that he would play well, and he did that and more. He was terrific in this game, and he really thrived as a shooter and scorer when he was on the floor.
Team 2’s Sir’Jabari Rice scored 16 points, made a couple of threes, and he also had 3 assists and 3 rebounds. He did a good job of shooting and scoring the basketball, and he also excelled as a facilitator. He made shots, good decisions on offense, and he took very good care of the basketball. Overall, Rice has played very well in the pre-draft tournaments and camps at Portsmouth and the G-League Elite Camp, and he has a legitimate shot at potentially getting selected at the 2023 draft.
PJ Hall scored 17 points, made 3 threes, and he also had 1 steal and 1 block in this game. He did a great job of shooting and scoring the basketball, and he also was active defensively. I was concerned that maybe I didn’t watch enough Clemson basketball, even though they technically didn’t make the NCAA Tournament this year (their team did win 23 games this year, but ended up in the NIT). Hall only grabbed just 1 rebound, and rebounding remains a big weakness of his, and he also was a -1, so it’s uncertain if he made a significant impact in this game defensively, but his ability to stretch the defenses and make shots could be a huge asset to him at the NBA level.
Johnell Davis also played very well in this game. He excelled as a shooter, scorer, rebounder, and defender when he was on the floor. He had 12 points on 5 of 8 shooting, made a couple of threes, and he also had 7 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 steals. He also helped lead his team to get to the Final Four this year, and he may be a sleeper prospect for this year’s draft.
Others:
Norchad Omier had 10 points on 5 of 9 shooting, and he also had 8 rebounds, and 3 assists. He generally excelled as an inside scorer, rebounder, and ball mover, but he also did not draw any free throws in this game, and also sometimes would commit fouls. Overall, he had a solid showing on this day.
Markquis Nowell had 11 points on 3 of 7 shooting, made 2 threes, and he also had 8 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 steals in this game. He generally played well, but he also committed 5 turnovers. He played well and had a solid all-around game, but he’ll need to take better care of the ball in the future.
Jazian Gorman scored 10 points on 3 of 7 shooting, and he also made 1 of 2 threes to showcase his scoring skills. He also hauled in 4 rebounds and had 3 steals, but he also had zero assists, and he also committed 3 turnovers and 5 fouls. He is an athletic combo guard that thrived as a scorer and showed that he can be a pest defensively, but he also struggled to take care of the ball or to distribute it, and he also was foul prone.
Anton Watson scored 13 points on 6 of 11 shooting, made a three, but he also committed 3 turnovers, and 5 fouls. He showed off versatile scoring skills, but also was turnover and foul prone. Overall, he did a solid job of scoring the basketball, but he will need to take better care of the ball and be a more disciplined defender in games.
D’Moi Hodge had 10 rebounds and 4 assists, but he also scored just 3 points on 1 of 6 shooting, and he missed all three of his three-point attempts. He really excelled as a rebounder and facilitator, but he also didn’t shoot the ball well in this game.
Josiah Jordan-James had 6 points on 2 of 4 shooting, made 2 threes, and had 3 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 block, but he only took 4 shots in this game, and had zero assists. He showed the ability to be a 3 and D player in the NBA, but he didn’t seem to stand out as much as the other prospects in this game.
Hunter Tyson scored 12 points, but on just 4 of 14 shooting, and he was just 1 of 8 on threes in this game. He did get 5 rebounds, but he was a -14 in this game. In this specific game, he was very inefficient as a shooter, and he scored in volume by taking a lot of shots but didn’t shoot the ball well on this day.
Game 2: Team 3 vs. Team 4 (Team 4 wins, 86-81)
It was a very close game between Team 3 and Team 4, but Team 4 ended up getting the win. Five players tied for the lead with 12 points, but no player was able to get 10 rebounds or 10 assists in this game. For those of you who are interested in the box score of this game, here is the link.
The standout performers appeared to be Illinois’ Matthew Mayer, Florida’s Colin Castleton, Detroit Mercy’s Antoine Davis, Cincinnati’s Landers Nolley, and Vanderbilt’s Tyrin Lawrence. Davis and Nolley shot the ball very well from deep, Castleton and Lawrence excelled as inside scorers, and Matthew Mayer excelled as a shooter and scorer, and he also showed the ability to be a ball mover despite also being turnover prone.
Game 3: Team 2 vs. Team 3 (Team 3 wins, 83-75)
Team 3 got the win in this game, and the standout performers were USC’s Drew Peterson, Detroit Mercy’s Antoine Davis, and Tennessee’s Olivier Nkamhoua for Team 3, as well as Texas’ Sir’Jabari Rice and Clemson’s Hunter Tyson for Team 2. For those of you who are interested in the box score of this game, here is the link.
Drew Peterson showed off very good all-around skills, Olivier Nkamhoua showed off versatile scoring skills, and Antoine Davis excelled as a shooter and defender despite being turnover prone. Sir’Jabari Rice excelled as a scorer, but he also was turnover prone. Hunter Tyson shot the ball very well, and he also showed off some defensive skills in this game. Also, Hakim Hart had 9 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 assists, and he also made a three, as he quietly had a very good all-around game here.
Game 4: Team 1 vs. Team 4 (Team 1 wins, 92-87)
Team 1 was able to get the win here, and Auburn’s Johni Broome continued to turn in a sterling performance for Team 1, as he scored 17 points, and had 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 assists, and he also made a three-pointer in this game. The standout performers of this game looked to be Broome, Kendric Davis, and Dillon Jones. For those of you who are interested in the box score, here is the link.
For Team 1, Memphis’ Kendric Davis played very well, and he had 16 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals in this game. He had a very good all-around game, and he also helped Team 1 get the victory.
UConn’s Tristen Newton also played well, as he scored 14 points, had 6 rebounds, and made 3 threes. He excelled as a shooter, scorer, and rebounder, but was turnover prone.
Matthew Murrell also scored 11 points and made a pair of threes for Team 1. He showed some scoring skills, but he didn’t really stand out in the other aspects of this game.
PJ Hall cooled off in his second scrimmage game after having a solid first game, as he scored just 7 points on 3 of 11 shooting, but he did get 4 rebounds, although he still had zero assists, committed 3 turnovers, 4 fouls, and was a -12 in this game.
For Team 2, Dillon Jones was their standout performer. he had 15 points on 4 of 8 shooting, and he also had 7 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 assists. He played very well, and he was consistently his team’s best player on the floor in this game.
Antonio Reeves scored 16 points despite not making any threes, and he showed that he can score the basketball. Colin Castleton scored 10 points and blocked 3 shots, and he continued to play fairly well on both sides of the ball. Mark Sears had 11 points, albeit on just 4 of 11 shooting, but he also had 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 1 steal, as he excelled in the non-shooting aspects of this game. Also, Overtime Elite’s Jaylen Martin played very well as he scored 10 points on 4 of 6 shooting, and he excelled as a scorer when he was on the floor.
2023 G-League Elite Camp Measurements:
For those of you who are interested in the measurements, here is the link, courtesy of the G-League. I’ll try to keep it brief, but here are some cliff notes.
Rutgers’ Cliff Omoruyi has the biggest hands, as his hands dimension-length was measured at 9.5 inches, and his hands dimension-width was measured at 11 inches. He also measured as having the tallest wingspan at 7 feet, and 6.25 inches (7’6.25”).
Kentucky’s Antonio Reeves had the fastest lane shuttle left time at at 2.867 seconds, and Weber State’s Dillon Jones had the second-fastest lane shuttle left time at 2.974 seconds. Norfolk State’s Joe Bryant Jr. had the fastest lane shuttle right time at 2.89 seconds, and Colorado State’s Isaiah Stevens, Missouri’s D’Moi Hodge, and Rutgers’ Caleb McConnell also ran fast shuttle right times by finishing under 3 seconds each.
Florida’s Alex Fudge had the fastest 3/4 court sprint time at 3.13 seconds. Kansas State’s Markquis Nowell had the fastest pro lane time at 10.51 seconds. Ole Miss’ Matthew Murrell had the best max vert at 41.5 inches, and TCU’s Emanuel Miller had the best standing vert at 34 inches.
Our Picks for the 2023 All-G-League Elite Camp 1st Team:
C Johni Broome, Team 1 (Our Pick for MVP of the 2023 G-League Elite Camp scrimmage games)
F Drew Peterson, Team 3
F Dillon Jones, Team 4
G Sir’Jabari Rice, Team 2
G Kendric Davis, Team 1
In the two games, Johni Broome averaged 20.0 points per game on 16 of 25 shooting (64.0 FG%), made 2 of 5 threes, and also averaged 6.0 rebounds, 2.0 blocks, and 1.5 assists per game, while also being a +20 overall. He dominated in both of the games, and his team won both of their games, so he would be our pick for MVP of the 2023 G-League Elite Camp games.
Dillon Jones was a stat stuffer at this event, and he averaged 12 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, and 1.5 assists per game in two games here, and he would frequently get to the free throw line. He didn’t quite shoot as well from the field, but he was extremely efficient as a shot maker overall, and he made an impact on both sides of the ball.
Kendric Davis averaged 12 points, 5.5 assists, 3 rebounds, and 1 steal per game in both of the games, and he turned in an excellent second game that he played in. He excelled as a three-point shooter and he also drew many free throws and made many of them. He posted a 2.75 Assist to Turnover ratio in both of the games that he played in, and he played very well overall here.
Drew Peterson was a very underrated performer at this event, and he averaged 10 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1.5 steals per game here. He made 6 of 9 shots from the field, drew many free throws, and he was extremely efficient and productive, despite not taking as many shots as some of the other prospects. He made more than 2 points per shot, and he showed off solid all-around skills here.
It was tough to decide who to pick for the fifth spot, but Sir’Jabari Rice played well in both of the games he played in. He averaged 14.5 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists per game in both of the games here, he also shot the ball well, and he really excelled at drawing and making his free throws at this event.
Our Picks for the 2023 All-G-League Elite Camp 2nd Team:
C Colin Castleton, Team 4
F Olivier Nkamhoua, Team 3
F Jaylen Martin, Team 4
G Antoine Davis, Team 3
G Mark Sears, Team 4
Honorable Mention:
G Tyger Campbell, Team 3, G Tristen Newton, Team 1, F Anton Watson, Team 2, G Jazian Gortman, Team 1, F PJ Hall, Team 1
(Source: Twitter/@DraftExpress)
From purely a performance perspective, I would definitely agree with about half of these picks. I felt that Johni Broome, Dillon Jones, Kendric Davis, and Sir’Jabari Rice played very well in both of the games.
As for the others that received late invites to the 2023 NBA Draft Combine, it may be debatable, but definitely good cases can be made in their favor. Clemson’s PJ Hall played very well in his first game, but not nearly as well in the second game, but his size and jump shot definitely seemed to help his showing here. Hunter Tyson didn’t actually shoot the ball well in his first game at this event, but did play well in the second game, and also played very well at Portsmouth.
Tosan Evbuomwan didn’t seem to play quite as well as expected here, but he had a fantastic season this year, as the Princeton senior forward helped his team get surprising wins over Arizona and Missouri in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, and he’s a skilled point forward who has been pretty high on my board, and he reminds me of a poor man’s version of Draymond Green, at least from a playmaking perspective. In that case, he and Kobe Brown may look to be the most Draymond-like prospects amongst those that could be available in the second round of the 2023 draft. Jazian Gortman showed flashes at this event, and he is a very athletic combo guard that could may have more upside than most of the other prospects that played here. So, I don’t really have any major quibbles, but cases could be made for some of the other players that weren’t invited to the 2023 NBA Draft Combine after they played at the 2023 G-League Elite Camp.
All in all, those are my thoughts on how the 2023 G-League Elite Camp went. Thanks for reading.
