NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



Grand Rapids Drive

Drive Selects Six Players in 2016 NBA D-League Draft

October 30, 2016 - NBA G League (G League)
Grand Rapids Drive News Release


AUBURN HILLS, MICH. - OCT 30, 2016 - The Grand Rapids Drive, the official NBA Development League affiliate of the Detroit Pistons, selected six players in the 2016 NBA D-League draft to complete their 17-man training camp roster.

The Drive selected Chris Horton a 6-foot-8, 225-pound, center out of Austin Peay with the 5th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Development League draft. In the 2016-17 NBA Summer League with the Miami Heat, Horton averaged, 2.40 points and 1.40 rebounds in 5 games played. During his four-year collegiate career with Austin Peay, Horton averaged 13.54 points, 9.91 rebounds, and 1.13 assists in 127 games played (126 starts). Recently, has received 2016 NABC All-District (19) First Team, 2016 All-OVC First Team, 2016 OVC Tournament MVP

Below is the list of players selected by the Drive in the 2016 NBA D-League Draft:

2016 NBA Development League Draft Picks ROUND # PICK OVERALL NAME POS HT WT D.O.B SCHOOL 1 5 5 Chris Horton C 6'8 225 6/29/94 Austin Peay 2 19 41 Shannon Brown F 6'4 210 11/29/85 Michigan State Univ. 3 6 50 Pat Forsythe C 6'11 245 7/6/93 University of Akron 4 6 72 Zeke Upshaw F 6'6 215 5/27/91 Hofstra University 5 6 94 Ladarius Tabb G 6'5 190 5/23/93 Alabama University 6 6 116 Matthew Adekponya G 6'5 194 6/9/90 Australia

In addition to the 2016 NBADL draft picks, the Grand Rapids Drive announced today three returning, four affiliate and four open tryout players to complete the 2016 training camp roster. Jordan Crawford, Bruce Massey and Paul Williams as returning players. Trey Freeman, Nikola Jovanovic, Ray McCallum, and Mamadou N'Diaye as the affiliate player followed by Chris Anderson, Paul Graham III, Alex Johnson, and Jeff Newberry as the local tryout players.

Returning Players

Crawford is a 6-foot-4, 195-pound, guard who attended both Indiana University (2007-2008) and Xavier (2009- 2010). While at Xavier, Crawford averaged 20.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game in 35 games played (34 starts). After 2 years of college play, Crawford entered the 2010 NBA Draft and was the 27th overall pick by the New Jersey Nets. He was later traded to the Atlanta Hawks (2010-2011). The NBA and D-League Vet spent time with the Washington Wizards (2011-2013), Boston Celtics (2013-2014), Golden State Warriors (2014) and the Fort Wayne Mad Ants (2015). In just 14 games with the Mad Ants, Crawford averaged 24.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.2 steals per game. Grand Rapids Drive received Crawford's returning player rights on Oct 19 when the team completed a trade with Ft, Wayne Mad Ants in-exchange for first round 6th overall pick in the 2016 NBA D-League Draft.

Massey joined the Grand Rapids Drive in March of 2016 from the available player pool during the 2015-16 season. He finished the season off with the Drive where he averaged 10.9 points, 4.6 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game in 7 contests (2 starts).

Williams joins the Grand Rapids Drive in April of 2016 from the available player pool during the 2015-16 season due to season ending injury of Dallin Bachynski. Williams attended the University of Dayton and averaged 6.39 points, 2.31 rebounds and 1.04 assists per game.

Affiliate Player

Freeman, after going undrafted in the 2016 NBA draft, Freeman joined the Houston Rockets for the 2016 NBA Summer League. On September 26, 2016, he signed with the Detroit Pistons, but was waived on October 22, after appearing in one preseason game. Freeman had two productive seasons at Old Dominion, earning first-team All-Conference USA honors both seasons. For his career, Freeman scored 2,000 points.

Jovanovic, after going undrafted in the 2016 NBA draft, Jovanovic joined the Detroit Pistons for the Orlando Summer League and the Los Angeles Lakers for the Las Vegas Summer League. On September 26, 2016, he signed with the Pistons, but was later waived on October 17 after appearing in one preseason game.

McCallum, who last played for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). In the 2012-13 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, he was named the Horizon League Player of the Year after leading the Horizon League in scoring at 18.7 points per game and guiding the Detroit Titans to a berth in the 2013 National Invitation Tournament. McCallum also averaged 4.5 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game.

On June 27, 2013, he was selected in the second round (36th overall) by the Sacramento Kings in the 2013 NBA draft. After spending time with the Kings (2013-2015), McCallum went to the San Antonia Spurts (2015-16) where he also received multiple assignments to their NBA D-League Team. Once waived by the Spurs he signed a (2) 10-day GATORADE Call-Ups with the Memphis Grizzlies (2016) and then on July 26, 2016, McCallum signed with the Detroit Pistons. However, he was later waived by the Pistons on October 24 after appearing in three preseason games.

N'Diaye, after going undrafted in the 2016 NBA draft and joined the Golden State Warriors for the 2016 NBA Summer League. On October 22, 2016, he signed with the Detroit Pistons, but was later waived that afternoon. He played college basketball for UC Irvine where he was one of the tallest basketball players in the NCAA Division I level, standing at 7-foot-6 in. He was named Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Year after the 2013-14 NCAA Division I men's basketball season and earned all-conference honorable mention accolades as well. He most recently completed his sophomore year at University of California, Irvine and his second season with the Anteaters in 2014-15. He considered a talented shot-blocker, having accumulated 131 blocks in his first 49 collegiate games.

Local Open Tryout Players

Anderson, Graham, Johnson and Newberry attended the Grand Rapids Drive's open tryout on October 8, 2016 and have been selected to join the others for the 2016 Drive training camp. Anderson, the 6-foot-6, 220-pound forward attended Louisiana Tech where he averaged 11.95 points and 4.59 rebounds per game in 37 contests (36 starts) in his senior year (2013-14 season). Graham, the 6-foot-5, 190-pound forward attended Florida Atlantic University. Johnson, the 5-foot-10, 176-pound guard attended both UC Bakersfield and North Carolina State University. Newberry, the 6-foot-2, 185-pound guard attended Oklahoma State University and will finalize the Drive's training camp roster.

Training camp begins Tuesday, November 2, 2016.

Below is the complete 2016 Training Camp Roster for the Grand Rapids Drive.

2015 Training Camp Roster PLAYER POS HT WT D.O.B SCHOOL STATUS Chris Horton C 6'8 225 6/29/94 Austin Peay Draft Pick Shannon Brown F 6'4 210 11/29/85 Michigan State University Draft Pick Pat Forsythe C 6'11 245 7/6/93 University of Akron Draft Pick Zeke Upshaw F 6'6 215 5/27/91 Hofstra University Draft Pick Ladarius Tabb G 6'5 190 5/23/93 Alabama University Draft Pick Matthew Addicponia G 6'5 194 6/9/90 Australia Draft Pick Trey Freeman G 6'2 180 10/12/92 Old Dominion Affiliate Nikola Jovanovic F 6'11 235 1/6/94 University of Southern California Affiliate Ray McCallum G 6'3 190 6/12/91 University of Detroit Mercy Affiliate Mamadou N'Diaye C 7'6 300 9/14/93 UC Irvine Affiliate Jordan Crawford G 6'4 195 10/23/88 Xavier University Returning Bruce Massey G 6'3 195 9/2/90 Middle Tennessee State Returning Paul Williams G 6'4 212 2/14/89 University of Dayton Returning Chris Anderson F 6'6 220 8/16/92 Louisiana Tech Local Tryout Paul Graham III F 6'5 190 12/2/85 Florida Atlantic University Local Tryout Alex Johnson G 5'10 176 1/18/88 North Carolina State University Local Tryout Jeff Newberry G 6'2 185 9/22/92 Oklahoma State University Local Tryout

Check out the Grand Rapids Drive Statistics

• Discuss this story on the NBA G League message board...

NBA G League Stories from October 30, 2016


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central