Former Cyclones Deonte Burton, Matt Thomas, Naz Mitrou-Long latch onto NBA summer league rosters

AMES - Former Iowa State point guard Monte Morris learned late Thursday night he was drafted No. 51 overall by the Denver Nuggets. His former teammates kept waiting.

By the middle of the day Friday, Deonte Burton, Matt Thomas and Naz Mitrou-Long all found homes on NBA summer league rosters.

Burton joined the Minnesota Timberwolves, Thomas landed with the Toronto Raptors and Mitrou-Long will play with the Indiana Pacers and Sacramento Kings.

In Burton's only full season at Iowa State, he averaged 15.1 points and 6.2 rebounds per game with 60 steals and 49 blocks. The Milwaukee, Wis., native was an All-Big 12 second-team pick as a senior and 2016 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year.

Minnesota boasts a young, but talented roster with Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Antony Towns. Timberwolves coach and president of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau also acquired all-star Jimmy Butler on Thursday night in a trade with the Chicago Bulls, coached by former Cyclones coach Fred Hoiberg.

Should Burton not make the final Timberwolves roster, he would be a candidate to play in the franchise's newly acquired G-League team, the Iowa Wolves - which plays its games at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Thomas will be with the Raptors in the Las Vegas Summer League, which is held from July 7-17. He averaged 12.3 points per game and made 89 3-pointers as a senior. Thomas also shot 44.5 percent from beyond the arc and 89.1 percent from the free throw line.

Mitrou-Long will play with the Pacers in the Orlando Summer League from July 1-6 and with the Kings in Las Vegas from July 7-17.

As a senior, Mitrou-Long was tied for second on the team in points per game (15.1) and made 98 3-pointers at a 38.4 percent clip. He is second all time at Iowa State in career 3-pointers (260).