Former Baylor four-year point guard, Aaron Bruce has been announced as part of the Seattle SuperSonics' final ever Summer League roster, before they are whisked off to Oklahoma City.
The 6'3" floor general from Horsham in Australia failed to attract the attention of GMs in the 2008 NBA Draft and hopes to use this opportunity as a stepping stone to an NBA contract.
Bruce should have an opportunity to impress in the next weeks, as the only other pure point announced on the roster is draft standout, Russell Westbrook. Bruce was known as a sharpshooter at Baylor, a talent that the Sonics will be looking for, as they finished last season as the league's third worst three-point shooting team (on percentages) at 33.3% and second last in threes made.
The Sonics, according to this OKC news radio report are expected to "wear Sonics practice gear then switch to practice uniforms that have the NBA OKC logo. We expect the new name of the franchise to be announced either later this week or early next week." They will play their first match today against the Indiana Pacers at 2pm Central, as part of the Orlando Pro Summer League. Other teams involved are the Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, New Jersey Nets and host Orlando Magic.
2007 lottery pick Jeff Green will participate, whilst last season's Rookie of the Year, Kevin Durant will not. With the majority of the team being relative unknowns, Bruce who was named to Baylor's All-Centennial Team as one of its top 17 players of all time, will have plenty of opportunity to display his all-round skills in the backcourt. The recent injury to Earl Watson which potentially puts his start to the season in doubt, would presumably only increase their desire for an additional PG on the roster. Bruce is just one of four players in school history to finish with 1,000 career points and 300 assists, in a tradition that includes NBA greats such as Vinnie the Microwave Johnson and Terry Teagle.As Bruce said in this recent interview with Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper, he has strong beliefs that he can make it in the NBA. "It seems strange that here I am, that I have a really legitimate chance to make that dream come true. I know once I'm thrown out there I know I can play basketball."
The Sonics Summer League roster, coached by former NBA guard Scott Brooks, is as follows:
SUMMER LEAGUE ROSTER
No Name Pos Ht Wt Birthdate From 2007-08
0 Russell Westbrook G 6-3 190 11/12/88 UCLA UCLA
2 Devin Green F 6-7 210 10/25/82 Hampton D-League/Italy
3 D.J. White F 6-9 250 8/31/86 Indiana Indiana
5 Mykal Riley F 6-6 185 7/14/85 Alabama Alabama
8 Ndudi Ebi F 6-9 200 6/18/84 Westbury Christ. HS Israel
11 Aaron Bruce G 6-3 185 12/19/84 Baylor Baylor
12 Ronald Dupree F 6-7 210 1/26/81 Louisiana State Sonics/Detroit/D-League
22 Jeff Green F 6-10 235 8/28/86 Georgetown Sonics
23 Ronnell Taylor G 6-5 200 7/26/82 UAB Slovenia
30 Justin Williams F/C 6-10 260 5/12/84 Wyoming Sacramento/Houston
42 Brian Randle F 6-8 220 2/8/85 Illinois Illinois
44 Nick Lewis F/C 6-10 235 4/20/83 San Diego D-League
50 DeVon Hardin C 6-11 250 6/3/86 California California
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