The Rocky Mountain Revue Summer League, in Utah, begins on July 16th. We'll be fielding a team up there, and it seems it will go something like this: - Nick Collison and Luke Ridnour will both play, and one assumes get fairly extensive minutes. - Robert Swift will play. It remains to be seen how much court time he'll get etc, but it will be a nice early opportunity for him to work with Collison and Ridnour, which will likely be three big pieces of our future. - Paccellis Morlende will come over to try and earn a roster spot. I am interested to see if he gets a chance to prove himself running the point, as he is a good scorer/slasher and very athletic, but is only around 6'2. Might be another Flip Murray situation where when he does play the point, he plays a shoot first style of game. - Dave Young will be vying for that roster spot too, and coach McMillan seems to think he has a good chance of getting it. As he is a potential lock down defender at the two, his chances would seem higher than Morlende at this point. Post any thoughts, observations or hopes regarding the Summer League compeition here.
There's another logjam at the guard positions, but this time we don't have Barry to lead the way. I think Morlende will head back to Europe for now, but he has the potential to break out this year. I don't see how Young could crack the rotation unless somebody goes down. I wish I could watch the games...
This summer team will basically be about seeing how well Collison has come back from injuries and how effective will Swift be. There will only be three guaranteed contract players on this team and I'm guessing that at the most there will be two other players from this team that would make the beginning of the season active roster. I don't know much about Paccellis Morlende but it sounds as if it is between him and Dave for the third shooting guard roster spot. I believe that this is the first season for the Sonics in the Rocky Mountain Review. This is known across the league as the best summer league in the NBA so this should give us a decent indication of how far along Collison and Swift are in their developments. For Dave to make the roster he has to show that he can score the ball b/c there are plenty of back up two guards in the league capable of playing above average defense. I'm very interested in what happens this summer.
Nick Collison has been officially cleared to play, and it remains to be seen whether he'll be thrown right in or play limited minutes. Colorado guard Michel Morandais, who was an All-Big 12 second teamer in his junior and senior seasons, will be invited to play on our team. Robert Swift was introduced to the media today, and officially measured by team officials. He measured 244 lbs, 7'0 without shoes and 7'1 with shoes.
I really hope Paccellis Morlende will show a good game. He is tremendous athlete and I think he has a chance to get that roster spot! http://www.eurobasket.com/FRAplayer.asp?PlayerID=4175
<u>Official Summer League Roster</u> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">SEATTLE - General Manager Rick Sund today announced the 20 players the Sonics have invited to participate in their summer training camp next week. The group includes two players under contract to the Sonics (Nick Collison and Luke Ridnour), both of this season's draft picks (Robert Swift and David Young) and Leon Smith, who played one game for the Sonics at the end of last season. They have been joined by 15 free agents, six with NBA experience. The summer training camp will be held from July 12th-14th, after which the Sonics will cut down to their roster for play in the Rocky Mountain Revue summer league, which runs July 16th-23rd.</div> Click Here for the roster courtesy of SuperSonics.com Good to see Mateen Cleaves and Jeff Trepagnier working out for us, for the fact I was a fan of their college years alone. No Paccelis Morlende... <font face="arial"><font size="2"><font color="#ffffff"></font></font></font>
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Supersonic:</div><div class="quote_post">No Morlende? That doesn't make a lot of sense to me...</div> I heard that he is still under contract in Europe. I don't think the Sonics would buy him out to give him a roster spot.
Why the hell does Mateen keep picking the guard heavy teams? He could break out in the league if he doesn't keep picking teams with 3-4 other damn point guards. Before Seattle it was Sacramento, where he backed up Bobby Jackson and Mike Bibby with Brent Price.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The notable exception among the invitees is Paccelis Morlende, whom Seattle acquired on draft day in 2003 and played with its summer league team in Long Beach, Calif. last year. Team officials said the French guard signed a deal to play for Benetton Treviso, an Italian league team, and is unable to return to Seattle this summer. The Sonics are expected to sign Swift, the No. 12 overall draft pick, before the team departs for Salt Lake City. </div> <font size="1">Full Story courtesy of Percy Allen and the Seattle Times. </font>
Final Roster: Luke Ridnour, Nick Collison, Mateen Cleaves, Jeff Trepagnier, Robert Swift, Josh Powell, David Young, Leon Smith, Derrick Zimmerman, James Singleton and Damien Wilkins.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Supersonic:</div><div class="quote_post">Final Roster: Luke Ridnour, Nick Collison, Mateen Cleaves, Jeff Trepagnier, Robert Swift, Josh Powell, David Young, Leon Smith, Derrick Zimmerman, James Singleton and Damien Wilkins.</div> Hmm..looks like Damien Wilkens could be the tough perimeter defender off the bench that we need. Looks like he's a pretty good scorer as well. Hopefully the Supes keep a good eye out on him. -The Grinman
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Supersonic:</div><div class="quote_post">Anyone got any background on this Wilkins guy? Is he the dude from Georgia?</div> He is. -The Grinman
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Supersonic:</div><div class="quote_post">Dominique's kid then. I'm told he has talent, but was an underachiever at Gergia.</div> Well, he's Gerald's kid, Que' is his uncle. -The Grinman
