The BIG3, a new professional 3-on-3 league starring retired and presumably otherwise underemployed basketball players, had its inaugural draft on Sunday in Las Vegas. We put together a last-minute mock draft just prior to the big event. Clearly, we had no idea what was going to happen.
2017 BIG3 draft results: Rashad McCants goes No. 1, Steve Francis goes unpicked
Strange things are afoot in the BIG3.
Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for BIG3
A couple of high-level retired players who aren’t totally ancient — Steve Francis and Latrell Sprewell — went undrafted. Rashad McCants, who has floated on the fringes of the NBA for seven years or so, went No. 1 overall. Several players who hadn’t been listed in any BIG3 promotional materials, including Kwame Brown, Jerome “Junk Yard Dog” Williams, and Moochie Norris, were picked.
The league’s biggest prospective draw, Allen Iverson, didn’t show up to the draft despite being the coach, captain, and star of his team, 3’s Company. His teammate DerMarr Johnson ended up making the team’s picks (which seem bad on paper). Francis, who seemed quite invested in BIG3 as players collected in Vegas for a combine and scrimmages, going undrafted actually seems quite sad. (Do they have undrafted free agents and roster size limits in the BIG3? We’ll see.)
With that, here are the full BIG3 draft results. Special thanks to the heroes who live-tweeted the affair, Joey Devine and Sean Keane.
1. Trilogy: Rashad McCants
2. 3’s Company: Andre Owens
3. Killer 3s: Reggie Evans
4. Tri-State: Xavier Silas
5. Three-Headed Monsters: Kwame Brown
6. Power: Jerome Williams
7. Ball Hogs: Derrick Byars
8. Ghost Ballers: Maurice Evans
9. Ghost Ballers: Marcus Banks
10. Ball Hogs: Rasual Butler
11. Power: DeShawn Stevenson
12. Three-Headed Monsters: Eddie Basden
13. Tri-State: Lee Nailon
14. Killer 3s: Larry Hughes
15. 3’s Company: Michael Sweetney
16. Trilogy: James White
17. Three-Headed Monsters: Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf
18. Ball Hogs: Dominic McGuire
19. Trilogy: Dion Glover
20. Power: Moochie Norris
21. 3’s Company: Ruben Patterson
22. Ghost Ballers: Ivan Johnson
23. Tri-State: Mike James
24. Killers 3s: Brian Cook
See More:
