While the Blazers were evening up their semifinals series with the Nuggets on Wednesday night in the lone game of the NBA Playoffs, the BIG3 conducted its third annual draft.
The league expanded to 12 teams for the upcoming summer season, adding the likes of Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Kendrick Perkins, and Gilbert Arenas as captains of their four new teams. As such, their three round draft featured 31 picks overall (Power will run it back with the same team and didn’t make any selections, while 3’s Company only had one selection in the third round). Everyone else picked three new players, and the biggest stories of the draft were, as usual, the ex-NBA players that made their way onto rosters.
Royce White, former Iowa State standout and first round pick, was the first overall selection by Gilbert Arenas’ Enemies squad, and made a statement with an “I Flew Here” t-shirt, referencing his battles with anxiety and the longstanding question of how he’d work in the NBA with a fear of flying on planes. White has been an advocate for mental health over the years, but wants to prove he can still ball in the BIG3.
Larry Sanders went third overall, as the former Bucks center was a late entry to the combine. Sanders ended his NBA career early after battling his own anxiety issues, but looked good enough at the combine to earn an early selection from the 3 Headed Monsters. Greg Oden’s return to the basketball court was the final major storyline from the first round of the draft, as he joins Kendrick Perkins’ Aliens roster as the seventh overall pick. The former No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft famously battled various injuries that derailed his career, and he recently returned to Ohio State to get his degree.
The full BIG3 Draft results can be found below, with other former NBA players like Jamario Moon, Mario Chalmers, Brandon Rush, C.J. Watson, Carlos Arroyo, and more making their way onto teams for the upcoming season.
Round 1
1: Enemies – Royce White
2: Triplets – Chris Johnson
3: 3 Headed Monsters – Larry Sanders
4: Killer 3’s – Josh Powell
5: Ball Hogs – Will McDonald
6: Tri-State – Yakhouba Diawara
7: Aliens – Greg Oden
8: Trilogy – Patrick O’Bryant
9: Bivouac – Shawn Williams
10: Ghost Ballers – Jamario Moon
Round 2
1: Bivouac – C.J. Leslie
2: Killer 3’s – Donte Greene
3: 3 Headed Monsters – Tre Simmons
4: Tri-State – Jason Richardson
5: Triplets – Alan Anderson
6: Trilogy – Sam Young
7: Ghost Ballers – Alex Scales
8: Aliens – Brandon Rush
9: Ball Hogs – Jermaine Taylor
10: Enemies – Craig Smith
Round 3
1: Triplets – Sergio Gipson
2: 3 Headed Monsters – Mario Chalmers
3: Aliens – Robert Vaden
4: Ball Hogs – Dusan Bulut
5: Killer 3’s – C.J. Watson
6: 3’s Company – Dijon Thompson
7: Trilogy – Carlos Arroyo
8: Bivouac – Dion Glover
9: Ghost Ballers – Mike Taylor
10: Tri-State – Bonzi Wells
11: Enemies – Frank Robinson
