The Phoenix Suns G League affiliate, the Valley Suns, have selected 14 players in the 2024-25 Expansion Draft to take the first steps in filling out their roster.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!This is the team’s roster after the expansion draft and the G League team where the player previously played:
- Garrison Brooks (Westchester Knicks)
- Chaundee Brown Jr. (South Bay Lakers)
- Gary Clark (Salt Lake City Stars)
- Matt Lewis (Westchester Knicks)
- Didi Louzada (Cleveland Charge)
- Theo Maledon (Sioux Falls Skyforce)
- Emmanuel Mudiay (Iowa Wolves)
- Mychal Mulder (Capital City Go-Go)
- Jahlil Okafor (Delaware Blue Coats)
- Justin Smith (Delaware Blue Coats)
- Denzel Valentine (Raptors 905)
- Quinndary Weatherspoon (South Bay Lakers)
- Lindell Wigginton (Cleveland Charge)
- Trevion Williams (Sioux Falls Skyforce)
????BREAKING????
The new Valley Suns G League team selected 14 unprotected Returning Players in the 2024-25 Expansion Draft. @GLeagueSuns will retain the League rights to these selected players for two seasons, beginning with the 2024-25 season.
Learn More: https://t.co/TifM4hLU9Z pic.twitter.com/YArNfLZpKJ
— NBA G League (@nbagleague) June 13, 2024
The press release on the expansion draft detailed how the players were selected:
“The NBA G League shared returning player rights lists with current G League teams. Teams had until 5:00 PM ET on Wednesday, June 5, to provide the League Office with a list of up to 12 protected players for this year’s expansion draft. No G League team could lose more than two returning players through the expansion draft.
“On Thursday, June 6, the Valley Suns received the list of unprotected players available for selection in the expansion draft.
“The Valley Suns submitted the players it wanted to select in the expansion draft to the NBA G League by 3:00 PM ET on Thursday, June 13.
“The new Phoenix G League team had the right to select up to 14 unprotected Returning Players, and they could not select more than two unprotected Returning Players from a single existing team. The Valley Suns will retain the League rights to these selected players for two seasons, beginning with the 2023-24 season.”
Just because these players were drafted, it does not guarantee they will be on the roster next season. The Valley Suns now own the Returning Player Rights to the these 14 players, meaning the franchise has the rights to their contracts if they decide to return to the G League.
There are some notable names on this list, starting off with Theo Maledon, who was on the Suns for a large part of this past season on a two-way deal before being waived when the team signed Ish Wainright on March 7.
Jahlil Okafor was once thought to have star potential in the league when he was selected No. 3 overall out of Duke by the Philadelphia 76ers in 2015. Emmanuel Mudiay was in this same draft class and picked No. 7 overall by the Denver Nuggets. Okafor has played in 247 career NBA games, but has not played in the league since the 2020-21 season. Mudiay would play 300 NBA games his first five years in the league, but has only played in two since the 2019-20 season.
The following year, Denzel Valentine was selected No. 14 overall by the Chicago Bulls and would go on to play 256 career NBA games. He has not played in the NBA since 2022.
The press release notes that there has been some hidden talent found in expansion drafts in the past.
“Notable players’ rights selected in previous NBA G League expansion drafts include New York Knicks center and 2019 NBA G League Finals MVP Isaiah Hartenstein, Milwaukee Bucks forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Chicago Bulls forward Derrick Jones Jr. and former NBA guards Trey Burke and Jimmer Fredette.”
The Valley Suns will be playing their inaugural season at ASU’s Mullett Arena beginning this fall. Fans interested in season tickets can visit thevalleysuns.com for more information.
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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
