Overtime Elite Draft: Breaking Down the Three Squads
City Reapers, Cold Hearts and Yng Dreamerz will all take the stage for OTE in year two of the program
Year Two of the Overtime Elite program promises to be much better than the first. The initial iteration of OTE’s prospect development experience left a lot to be desired organizationally, from the lack of access to film and stats consistently to the blurred jerseys that were really difficult to differentiate. We’ve written before about the challenges that they faced (or created) last year and needed to address.
We’ve already seen those adjustments already be addressed. Overtime Elite officials booked the international tour to play reputable pro teams in exhibitions, including a thrilling and vital matchup with Mega. Now the program has booked tournaments with other top prep programs, giving NBA scouts a chance to see future top-name talent go against the OTE greats. This year’s batch of players also features more young talent that should attract eyeballs on multiple teams within the program.
Most notably, OTE has addressed the difficulty that went into figuring out each team and the confusion of their jerseys that were hard to read. This season, there will be three distinct teams with different colors, jerseys and names: the City Reapers, Yng Dreamers and Cold Hearts.
Last week, the programs had their ‘draft’ to separate all their talent into these teams and begin the official season. Below are the rosters, and we will provide a quick cheat sheet on the rosters and style of play, plus what we’re watching for, from each team.
City Reapers
2023 Prospects to Watch: Amen Thompson, Ausar Thompson, De’Vontes Cobbs
2024 Prospects: Ryan Bewley, Tyler Bey
2025 Prospects: Jahki Howard, Somto Cyril
2026 Prospects: Eli Ellis
Likely the most talented team within the OTE program, the City Reapers feature two players with immediate intrigue to NBA staffs in the Thompson Twins. We’ve done plenty to break down the games and upsides of both Amen Thompson (#5 on our current Big Board) and Ausar Thompson (currently sitting #11), so we won’t rehash their outlooks. Instead, we’ll talk about the construction of this roster in terms of surrounding them with enough talent and fit to be successful and mask some of their areas for growth.