With the NBA Draft in the rear view mirror, July offers many fans and teams alike their first look at their highly touted picks in a professional setting. A right of passage for the NBA’s rookie class, summer league play has helped cut the teeth of some of the NBA’s most talented youngsters in recent years including the past two Rookie of the Year winners, Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans, not to mention 2010 scoring leader Kevin Durant. Summer league action has also served as a launching pad for undrafted free agents to show their skills in hopes of winding up on an NBA roster, with Golden State’s Anthony Morrow among recent success stories.The AirTran Airways Pro Summer League will be hosted by the Orlando Magic at the local RDV Sportsplex. Competition kicks off on July 5^th at 1:00 p.m. when the Charlotte Bobcats summer squad takes on the Utah Jazz. NBA teams sending players to Orlando include the Celtics, Bobcats, Pacers, Nets, Thunder, Magic and Sixers. Highlighting this group will be Philadelphia’s rookie shooting guard Evan Turner, The number 2 overall pick in the draft.The NBA’s other summer league will take place in Las Vegas, starting July 9. The first game will be played at UNLV’s Cox Pavilion at 1:00 p.m. when the Denver Nuggets square off against the Dallas Mavericks. The Vegas Summer League will feature 22 NBA teams in addition to a Developmental League All-Star squad. The Mavericks, Nuggets, Pistons, Warriors, Rockets, Lakers, Hornets, Suns, Hawks, Bulls, Cavaliers, Clippers, Grizzlies, Heat, Bucks, Timberwolves, Knicks, Trail Blazers, Kings, Spurs, Raptors and Wizards will all send first and second year players to Sin City with the hopes of impressing GMs and scouts. Ten of the first 14 selections will be on hand in Vegas including number 1 overall pick John Wall.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 30th, 2010 at 5:02 pm and is filed under Annual Events, Basketball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.