By 808HornetsFan

A lot of fans are still not sold on the Hornets 13th overall selection Julian Wright(including noballer07), but Wright is ready to prove he was worth the pick as he joins 12 others on the Hornets Summer League roster. Second-round pick Adam Haluska will also be watched closely by fans and coaches alike. However, the main concern for the team will be developing these young prodigies into exceptional performers both on and off the court.

Last summer, many saw rookie Hilton Armstrong dominate the competition in each of the Hornet’s contests, but he was unable to do so in the regular season and could not earn enough minutes to produce. Armstrong will return along with the other first-round pick from the 2006 NBA Draft, Cedric Simmons. Both Armstrong and Simmons will be playing at their best in order to climb the depth chart and receive more playing time on the floor.

The Hornets named assistant Kenny Gattison the squad’s head coach for the tournament, if anyone know what it’s like to compete for a roster spot on a team, it’s definitely Gattison. Drafted in the third round by the Phoenix Suns in 1986, Gattison had to battle for playing time with his respective team. After just two seasons in Phoenix, Gattison was released and was unable to find work elsewhere. He later signed with the Charlotte Hornets and played six seasons for the team, there is no doubt that those were the best years of his short NBA career.

With coach Gattison’s leadership, some of these youngsters can really improve their game, but very rarely does a player achieve success by outperforming his teammates in Summer League games. Let’s just hope that whoever does dominate for team can play just as well against much tougher NBA veterans.

Others on the Summer League roster includes F Jerald Fields, G Justin Gray, G Chris Hill, C Yemi Nicholson, F Milt Palacio, F Anthony Richardson, G Anthony Robertson, F Marcus Vinicius and G Ezra Williams. Gray is a personal favorite of mine, and a favorite of Chris Paul as well.

CP3 started alongside Gray for two seasons at Wake Forest, and they both endured much success during that span. Although Gray is considered a PG, he was able to play a fair amount of minutes at SG while at Wake Forest. If Gray can develop into a solid combo guard that can play a decent amount of minutes, we could see the Hornets sign him to a small contract and allow him to compete for a roster spot during training camp.

The numbers don’t lie… Gray averaged 18.2 ppg, 3.6 rpg and 4.3 apg during his senior season in college, and like I said before, he knows how to handle things at both PG and SG. Whether or not he’s been able to stay in shape and continue to develop is the question.

If you have NBA TV, or a high-speed computer to watch the live webcasts available on NBA.com, I suggest you tune in to the Hornets five games this July… Why? Well, if you’re anything like me you’ll want to enjoy any basketball you can find during the summer, because we all know it’s going to be a while before the ‘07-08 season tips off.

Full Roster

Pos.     Name                 HT     WT         EXP

G        Justin Gray         6-3    194lbs     N/A
G        Adam Haluska     6-5    210lbs      R
G        Chris Hill            6-3    190lbs     N/A
G        Anthony Roberson 6-2  180lbs       2
G        Ezra Williams      6-4    190lbs     N/A
F         Jerald Wallace     6-7    260lbs     N/A
F         Milt Palacio         6-4    210lbs       7
F         Anthony Richardson 6-9 210lbs    N/A
F         Cedric Simmons  6-10  235lbs       1
F         Marcus Vinicius   6-8    225lbs       1
F         Julian Wright      6-8    225lbs       R
F/C     Hilton Armstrong 6-11  235lbs       1
C         Yemi Nicholson   6-11  258lbs      N/A

Hornets Summer League Schedule 

Sat. 7/7    GS    4:00pm ET
Mon. 7/9   MIN   8:30pm ET
Thu. 7/12  MIL   8:30pm ET
Fri. 7/13    PHX  4:00pm ET
Sun. 7/15  HOU  8:30pm ET

* All games will be available on NBA.com as part of their exclusive webcast coverage.

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