Exactly one month prior to the June 22nd NBA Draft, former Syracuse guard John Gillon announced that he has a workout with his hometown team. Gillon, the six-foot (well, he is listed at six-foot but we all know he isn’t six feet tall) grad transfer announced via Twitter that he has a workout with the Houston Rockets. According to Syracuse.com, Gillon has workouts with other NBA teams ahead of the Draft but does not want to disclose the team names because he is still working on confirming the dates of those workouts.
I appreciate the Houston rockets for the opportunity! Blessed and humbled! pic.twitter.com/2w0MPvzNWN
— John Gillon (@John_Gillon1) May 22, 2017
Though Gillon seems to be getting some attention from teams in the Association, don’t count on him having his name called next month at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. He was not invited to this month’s NBA Draft Combine and does not appear on any “experts” big board. He will also participate in the Agency that he is signed with’s Pro Day on June 2nd. The fact that Gillon has been able to land multiple workouts not only gives him an outside chance at signing with an NBA team after the draft (assuming he isn’t drafted) but it also puts his name out there and makes it more likely that he can land himself a job on a team outside of the United States, like former Syracuse guard Trevor Cooney.
Gillon’s fellow graduate transfer Andrew White III was also omitted from the list of the invitees to the Combine in Chicago earlier this month. However, White worked-out in Chicago during that week and has had several workouts with NBA teams. This is not White’s first go around with this process. Last summer, after his senior season at Nebraska, White declared for the Draft and went through this process, but did not sign an agent. He was then able to return to college basketball for his final season of eligibility.
Both Gillon and White have the significant disadvantage of being 23-years-old. The NBA has trended towards younger players in recent years but both of them done everything that they can to get themselves on professional teams’ radars.
