The inaugural NBA G League Elite Camp came to a close on Tuesday after two days of competition, signaling an end to former Husker James Palmer Jr.’s time in Chicago.
Ten players from the camp — a larger number than expected — received an invitation to the NBA Combine but Palmer was not one of them.
Iowa’s Tyler Cook, Iowa State’s Marial Shayok, Ole Miss’ Terrence Davis, Tulsa’s Daquan Jeffries, Nevada’s Cody Martin, Central Florida’s Tack Fall, Miami’s Dewan Hernandez, Auburn’s Jared Harper, Syracuse’s O’Shae Brissett and Mississippi State’s Reggie Perry were the 10 players selected to stick around in Chicago and participate in the NBA Combine.
NBA GMs and assistant GMs were polled to determine which players they wanted to see move on to the combine, although that opened the door for some gamesmanship by the executives.
Actual NBA executive: We sandbagged all five of our votes. We already knew who we liked coming into this week. Why do we need to see those guys again and maybe give other teams who don't do their homework a chance to see how good they are? That makes no sense for us. https://t.co/PS0m31HML7
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) May 14, 2019
Forty draft-eligible players took part in the camp and were separated into four teams of 10. Each team played two games.
On Monday, Palmer’s team won 82-71. He played 21 minutes off the bench, finishing with 11 points on 5-of-9 from the field, 0-of-1 from 3 and 1-of-2 from the free-throw line, three rebounds, two assists, one steal and one turnover. He was plus-21 in the 11-point win.
It didn’t go as well on Tuesday as Palmer’s team dropped its second game 106-99. Palmer played 18 minutes, recording four points on 2-of-6 shooting (0-of-2 from 3), six rebounds, one assist, one steal and one turnover. He was minus-15.
Previously, Palmer took part in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament where he led his team to a third-place finish and earned a spot on the All-Tournament team. Between the five games he played in Portsmouth and Chicago, Palmer shot 23-of-52 (44.3 percent) inside the arc, 2-of-11 (18.2 percent) from deep and 18-of-27 (66.7 percent) from the foul line with 13 assists and nine turnovers.
The Combine will run through Sunday and Nebraska junior forward Isaiah Roby is set to participate. After that, Palmer will likely seek workouts with NBA teams throughout the duration of the pre-draft process. The 2019 NBA Draft is set for June 20.
Jacob Padilla has been writing for Hail Varsity since 2015. He covers football, volleyball men’s basketball and prep sports. He also co-hosts the Nebraska Preps Postgame and Nebraska Shootaround podcasts for the Hurrdat Media and Hail Varsity podcast networks. His love of basketball can best be described as an obsession and if you need to find him, he’s probably in a gym somewhere watching, coaching or playing hoops.
