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Every year, the NBA G League conducts a draft of unassigned/non-returning players to help the teams fill out their rosters. The player pool consists of guys who have signed a standard G League contract beforehand, and in the case of 2017, that includes former Marquette Golden Eagles Derrick Wilson and Wally Ellenson.
Both guys found themselves selected in the draft, with Wilson being taken 91st overall by Grand Rapids Drive, the Detroit Pistons affiliate, and Ellenson going two picks later to Oklahoma City Blue, which is the — wait for it — the affiliate for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Wilson is one of four picks by the Drive, along with Xavier’s Malcolm Bernard (#13), Brazilian native Wesley Da Silva (#31), and Houston’s Chicken Knowles (#65). Ellenson is joined in Oklahoma City by Pacific’s T.J. Wallace (#23), Stedmon Lemon (#51), who played college ball at Division 2 Johnson C. Smith University, and India native Amjyot Singh (#103).
Wilson played for Marquette for four seasons, averaging 3.0 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.8 assists. He took on a larger role in his final two seasons in Milwaukee, starting in 57 of MU’s 64 contests and averaging over four assists per game in both seasons. Wilson played in Denmark last season, averaging 12.6 points and 4.4 assists for SISU Copenhagen.
Ellenson only appeared in a Marquette uniform in 29 games during the 2015-16 season after transferring from Minnesota. He averaged 1.9 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 0.3 assists in a shade under nine minutes a game while playing with Henry Ellenson, his younger brother. Ellenson played for Windsor in the Canadian NBL last year and averaged 9.7 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.2 assists.
It’s no guarantee that either guy will make their respective teams, as G League teams only have 12 players on their rosters and only 10 are active for game days. Both the Pistons and the Thunder have filled both of their two-way contracts, giving the Drive and the Blue respectively two guaranteed players on the roster already. If Wilson makes the team, he’ll be partnered up with fellow former Golden Eagle Dwight Buycks, who has one of Detroit’s two-way deals.