Michigan Basketball: Thoughts on Wolverines in G-League camp

A number of current and former Michigan basketball players took part in the G-League camp this week, with Hunter Dickinson and DeVante Jones among them. 

The process leading up to the NBA draft is important for players, even if they aren’t getting drafted this year and that’s the case for two Michigan basketball players, Hunter Dickinson and DeVante Jones.

Jones, of course, has never played a minute of basketball for the Wolverines — yet. He transferred to U-M from the portal but was already declared for the 2021 NBA draft.

Jones, who was the Sun Belt Player of the Year last year, has gotten some workouts with NBA teams and was invited to the G-League camp after not getting an invite to the NBA draft combine.

Jones who primarily played point guard in the couple of games he played, scored 15 points in one and seven in another. He showed off a nice floater, which was a frequent shot of his at Coastal Carolina, but you didn’t know how it would translate to the Big Ten and better competition.

Many of these players are at the level of Dickinson, so the fact that Jones was able to get in the lane and finish was promising. His defense was also effective. He got a key steal late in the first game but only had five assists between the two outings, which is a bit of a concern.

Dickinson was also up-and-down. Neither did enough to guarantee they will get drafted and at this point, it doesn’t seem likely that either would go, until late in the second round at the earliest, especially after neither received an NBA combine invite.

Jones, Dickinson likely to return

While you wanted both players to do well and they did at times, Michigan basketball fans were probably a little relieved when neither received a combine invite.

It’s possible they will work out with teams and some might even promise to take Jones or Dickinson in the second round. That could be the biggest threat to either keeping their name in the draft.

But it seems unlikely at this point. Dickinson doesn’t seem like he would stay in the draft to be a late-round pick and Jones could also improve his stock with a solid season at Michigan.

So even though it’s not the best news for these players, it’s probably good news for the program in the long run as it makes it more likely each is in Ann Arbor next season.