Ex-Tigers hope to follow Bass' summer blueprint

• By GARY LANEY
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Jul 6, 2009

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For Brandon Bass, the turning point in his pro basketball career came in the summer of 2007 when, after being cut by the New Orleans Hornets, he was invited to play for the Dallas Mavericks’ summer-league team in Las Vegas.

Bass, who had not made much of an impression in two years in New Orleans, was supposed to be an afterthought. But he played so well in Las Vegas he not only landed a two-year contract with the Mavericks, he also played his way into a key spot off the Dallas bench for the past two seasons. And that led to this summer’s free agency, where the ex-LSU star and Capitol High graduate stands to find an even more lucrative contract.

When the NBA’s summer leagues start this week in Las Vegas and Orlando, Fla., the public focus will be on stars like Blake Griffin, the No. 1 overall draft pick who will make his pro debut for the Los Angeles Clippers’ summer-league team in Las Vegas. But the vast majority of the rosters will be manned by players, who like Bass, are from the margins of the pro basketball world trying to find their way into the mainstream.

The NBA’s established players are exempt from these leagues, which are more tryout camp than spectator sport (the Orlando league is closed to the public). While top-flight rookies like Griffin usually play to get acclimated to the NBA, most of the rosters are filled with players trying to find a job.

Some are young NBA players trying to find a place where they fit, like Bass in 2007. Others are pros who have been in the minor leagues or playing overseas and are looking for a chance in the NBA. Others are undrafted rookies looking for a roster spot, if not with an NBA team, at least with the league’s developmental league or overseas.

Which means LSU’s 2009 seniors, most of whom will be active the next couple of weeks, can pick Bass’ brain about how to approach their summer.

Four members of the Tigers’ 2009 Southeastern Conference championship team are on summer-league rosters. Marcus Thornton, a second-round draft pick of the Miami Heat who was traded to the Hornets, will be on the Hornets summer-league team in Las Vegas along with college teammate Terry Martin, one of three ex-LSU players picked up as free agents.

Guard Garrett Temple will play for the Houston Rockets’ Las Vegas summer-league team, and center-forward Chris Johnson will play for the combined New Jersey Nets/Philadelphia team in the Orlando league, which starts playing games today. The Vegas league starts Friday.

None are guaranteed a spot on their respective teams the way Griffin is, though Thornton, as a draft pick, holds a distinct advantage over his college teammates. For most of the players, the five-game season is yet another in what has been a long list of auditions. Most have already been through numerous private workouts for teams before the draft.

Johnson went through a similar experience before the draft at the Portsmouth Invitational camp in Virginia.

The tryouts continue this week, and this time, the audience is bigger.

“You’re not only auditioning for the team you’re playing on, but for all 21 teams (participating in the Las Vegas league). You want to play well and show the people there what type of player you are,” said Temple, who considered several NBA teams before signing with the Rockets after the draft. “Even if you don’t make the team you’re on, somebody else is looking at you.”

Temple can not only gain inspiration from Bass, but from another 2007 free agent, Mario West of the Atlanta Hawks.