NBL Imports In D-League
Tagged in: NBL
Current National Basketball League All-Star Ernest Scott will continue to chase the NBA dream this Northern winter.
Scott, a star for the regular season champion Wellington Saints in 2008, was one of three former NBL imports selected in last week’s NBA Development League Draft, being joined by former Auckland Stars guard Brock Gillespie and Taranaki Mountain Airs scoring champion Garry Hill-Thomas.
Scott, who averaged 21.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game and shot 53.8 percent from the field and 47.1 percent on threes, was taken with the 14th pick in the second round by the Idaho Stampede.
Hill-Thomas, who averaged 26.1 points per game and shot 48.1 percent from the field in 27 games with Taranaki in 2006-07, winning the scoring title in 2007, was selected by the Reno Bighorns with the seven pick in the sixth round.
Gillespie, who averaged 12.9 points per game for the Stars in 2006, was picked by the Sioux Falls Skyforce with the fourth pick in the seventh round.
Keith Salscheider, Dynamos Taranaki’s sole import last season, averaging 20.1 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, has also been signed with the Colorado 14ers as one of two players selected after tryouts.
Scott was with the current D-League champion Stampede during the 2007-08 season, averaging 8.0 points and 3.5 rebounds in 40 games. He was waived on March 28 but quickly picked up a week later by the Saints, who had jettisoned original import Marquis Webb after round five.
It will be Hill-Thomas’ third season in the tier below the NBA. He averaged 4.2 points on 57.9 percent shooting in 16 games last season for the Utah Flash, who waived him on November 23 but re-acquired him on January 22. He also averaged 13.6 points and 2.6 rebounds in 14 games for the Roanoake Dazzle in 2004-05.
Gillespie will be in his second D-League stint after averaging 7.3 points and 1.7 assists, while dropping 40.6 percent of his three-point attempts in 41 games for the Austin Toros during the 2006-07 season.
The NBA D-League regular season starts November 28, running until April 11. The four former NBL imports will have to wait until late-November to learn if they have escaped the final round of cuts.
