What to look out for in the NBA G League Showcase

Anthony-Bennett;-Toronto-Raptors

Canada's Anthony Bennett. (Chris Young/CP)

The NBA G League Showcase commences in Mississauga, Ont., on Wednesday, Jan. 10 and will run through Saturday, Jan. 13.

All 26 teams will participate, playing twice over the course of four days across two courts at the Hershey Centre and the Mississauga SportZone complex.

“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome the NBA G League back to Mississauga as the host team for NBA G League Showcase 2018,” Raptors General Manager Bobby Webster said in a press release when they were awarded hosting rights for the second consecutive year.

“The Showcase is the premier event for the G League and we look forward to working with the league to host all 26 teams this season.”

The players use this event as an opportunity to try and catapult themselves onto an NBA roster. Over the course of the 13 previous Showcases, over 50 players have been called up either during or immediately after the scouting event.

The scheduling of this event is planned for this period in January since NBA teams are allowed to sign players to 10-day contracts from Jan. 5.

Here’s more on what to look out for over the duration of this event:

[snippet id=3636937]

Raptors 905

The 905 will play their games on Jan. 11 at noon against the Santa Cruz Warriors and again at the same time on Jan. 13 against the Sioux Falls Skyforce.

Both Bruno Caboclo and Alfonzo McKinnie will not play during this scouting event as they already have NBA contracts and the 905 want to maximize the exposure of those players on G League contracts during this event.

Lorenzo Brown is currently on a two-way contract with the Raptors 905 but his usage will be dependent on the status of Kyle Lowry for Toronto’s home games against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors. He has been a revelation for the 905, averaging 20.1 points, 8.8 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals while shooting 37 per cent from three.

Malcolm Miller is the other player on a two-way deal with the Raptors organization and he will be looking to carry over some of his hot shooting since returning from injury.

Canadian content

The 905 will feature Kaza Keane and Aaron Best as their local products, but Negus Webster-Chan’s status remains uncertain with a knee/iliotibial band injury.

Anthony Bennett averages 10.8 points and 5.3 rebounds for the Maine Red Claws, Khem Birch has starred for the Lakeland Magic with 13.7 points, 10.1 rebounds and 2.4 blocks, and Xavier Rathan-Mayes has also performed well for the Westchester Knicks with 15.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 6.4 assists, and two steals through 23 games.

Naz Mitrou-Long signed a two-way contract with the Utah Jazz just before Christmas and made his debut for the team on Jan. 5 against the Denver Nuggets. His availability for this event has not been confirmed.

Chris Boucher, a six-foot-10 forward, went undrafted after declaring for the 2017 NBA Draft but was later signed to a two-way contract by the Golden State Warriors. He will not participate during the event due to injury.

Olivier Hanlan and Mychal Mulder have made 16 starts each for the Austin Spurs and Windy City Bulls, respectively.

[snippet id=3360195]

Best of the best

21-year-old shooting guard Antonio Blakeney of the Windy City Bulls is probably the biggest name to look out for at the event. He currently leads the G League in scoring with 35.4 points per game over 14 games, and has added 7.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.2 steals as well. He’s making 3.3 three-pointers on 41.1 per cent shooting, and is at 48.8 per cent from the field, overall.

Blakeney is on a two-way contract with Chicago so don’t get your hopes up if you think the Raptors could use a three-point shooter.

32-year-old point guard Justin Dentmon is averaging 28.9 points, 4.3 assists and 3.7 rebounds for the Texas Legends. He is really emphasizing his ability to shoot the three with a league-high 11 attempts per game while connecting on 37.9 per cent of those tries.

At six-feet and 185 pounds, age and size are the biggest factors going against him.

Terrence Jones of the Santa Cruz Warriors and K.J. McDaniels are familiar NBA names looking to make it back to the big stage as well. Kendrick Perkins is also with Cleveland’s Canton Charge.

Among the teams, the Westchester Knicks (18-9) and the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (17-9) sit atop the Eastern and Western conferences, respectively, with the 905 well placed at 14-10 after winning nine straight.

[relatedlinks]

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.