Beginning this Friday, NBA dreams could come true or fall short at the Rocky Mountain Revue. Everyone from first-round picks and un-drafted rookies to second-year pros have something to prove.
Making an NBA roster can be a daunting task, but solid summer league play can help young players gain a spot on an NBA roster. Players who have limited experience also are provided key minutes that give them a platform for potential regular season playing time.
For the Utah Jazz, the opportunity falls into the hands of a few roster headliners, namely rookie guard Morris Almond, third-year center Rafael Araujo, sophomore guards Dee Brown and Ronnie Brewer and second-year forward Paul Millsap.
Morris Almond, Utah’s first-round selection out of Rice, has a quick release and a lights-out jump shot. He could earn playing time early in the regular season with a strong shooting performance in the Revue. He was selected to fulfill the need the Jazz had at shooting guard.
Rafeal Araujo has been a bust since being selected as a lottery pick by Toronto three years ago. With career averages of 2.8 points per game and 2.2 rebounds per game, he has grossly underachieved. During the 2006-2007 season Araujo only played 5.6 minutes per game. The BYU product needs to be consistent during the Revue to increase his playing time. More importantly, his development would give the Jazz even more depth, especially as a big man on the defensive end.
The loss of Derek Fisher will affect the Jazz, but it will profoundly affect Dee Brown. The loss of Fisher moves Brown up on the depth chart and makes him the number two behind perennial all-star-in-the-making Deron Williams. Playing time at the Revue will give the coaching staff and fans a taste of what Brown can do with more playing time. The review should be a stage for Brown to show off his quickness, ball-handling and passing skills. It will be interesting to see how Brown will run the offense as the floor general.
Ronnie Brewer and the word “potential” have become synonymous. Most people agree that Brewer has great promise because of his size, presence, and athleticism at the guard spot. However, his lack of intensity or aggressiveness sometimes showed weakness in his game and got him into trouble.
With budding young star Morris Almond in the mix, it should be interesting to see how Brewer will step up. The Revue should provide a good medium for Brewer to show why he should receive quality minutes night in and night out during the regular season.
Paul Millsap helped shape the depth of the Utah Jazz’s bench last season. His ability to come in off the bench and provide quality minutes helped the Jazz all the way to the Western Conference Finals. With that being said, during this year’s Revue he could make an even bigger statement by performing with numbers similar to his number at Louisiana Tech.
Millsap is the only NCAA men’s basketball player to lead the nation in rebounding for three consecutive years. Considered the NBA Draft’s biggest steal a year ago, he could prove to be even more of a steal with a solid outing at the Rocky Mountain Revue.
[Note: Could possibly make this into a graphic if there is room]
In addition, the Jazz have a host of other rookies and young players trying to earn a spot on the roster, such as Jason Cain, Keydren Clark, Nate Doornekamp, Carl Elliot, Eddie Gill, Levon Kendall, Matt Lojeski, Kevin Lyde, John Millsap and Wen Mukuba.
The Jazz open Revue play on Friday against Atlanta at 7 p.m. at Salt Lake Community College.