The NBA 2K League has revealed a list of the 198 prospects in its draft pool that will be vying for 74 spots in the 2019 NBA 2K League Draft on March 5.
With the addition of four expansion teams, there will be 126 players competing in the NBA 2K League for the 2019 season. An Expansion Draft took place during the offseason, with 52 players from the inaugural season either retained or selected, thus leaving 74 roster spots available.
The 198-player draft pool consists of 144 new players who were selected by the league following an extensive tryout process, six players from the APAC Invitational that took place in Hong Kong in early February, and 48 unretained players from the inaugural season. You can check the full list of draft-eligible players here.
The draft pool also includes 22 international players from nine countries outside the U.S.; namely Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, New Zealand, the Philippines, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
Some notable names on the draft pool include former first round pick Trong “Shawn_Win” Nguyen, former Pistons GT player Frederick “Im So Far Ahead” Mendoza, former Blazer5 Gaming player Grant “GRANT MONSTER” Barker, top prospect Waseem “BallLikeSeem” Talbert, and two-time NBA 2K Asia Tournament champion Aminolah Rial “d_RIAL_deal” Polog Jr.
The 2019 NBA 2K League Draft will mark the first time that women, namely Chiquita Evans and Brianna Novin, have become eligible to play in the league.
This year’s draft will also mark the first time that the number of draft-eligible players will exceed the spots available in the league.
“I want to congratulate these 198 players on establishing themselves as among the best NBA 2K players in the world through a rigorous evaluation process,” said NBA 2K League Managing Director Brendan Donohue in a statement.
Jazz Gaming hold the first overall pick in the 2019 Draft after winning the lottery. The full draft order is available here.
“We’re looking forward to an exciting draft day as we welcome a new class of players to the NBA 2K League family,” added Donohue.
The NBA 2K League Draft will be held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
