Bozeman and Fey To Play For Lakers SPL Team

By Bruin Basketball Report

The 37th Annual Summer Pro League (SPL), the country’s premier summer professional basketball league, is ready to kick off another season at the Pyramid on the campus of the Long Beach State University from July 8th through July 22nd.

To date, participating NBA teams include the Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks, Washington Wizards, and Memphis Grizzlies.

NBA teams usually have rookies, second-year players, and prospective free-agents play on their respective summer league teams.

The Lakers' first round draft pick, UCLA's Jordan Farmar, is expected to play in the SPL, and according to DraftExpress, he will be joined by two former Bruin teammates - Cedric Bozeman and Michael Fey.

Both free-agents, Bozeman and Fey were invited by the Lakers to play on a team which will include; Andrew Bynum, Sasha Vujacic, Devin Green, Von Wafer, Marcus Douthit, and Danilo Pinnock (Laker's 2006 2nd round pick).

Along with other Lakers SPL invitees, Bozeman and Fey will be vying for coveted spots on the Lakers Preseason Camp roster which convenes later in October at Maui.

A former point-guard who played primarily small forward last season, Bozeman has the size and ball-handling skills to play the role of the "initiator" on the Lakers triangle offense, a position which big guards, Ron Harper and Brian Shaw, played similarly for the Lakers during their championship years.

Fey will back-up Andrew Bynum at center during SPL. The former Bruin center is not expected to go beyond summer league play for the Lakers, but the SPL will certainly give Fey an opportunity to gain experience at the next level.

One player notably missing from the Lakers' SPL roster is Smush Parker, a player who will likely be competing with both Vujacic and Farmar for minutes at the point-guard position next season.

Although Parker is not required by his contract to play in a summer league since he is a third-year player, one would think it would be beneficial for him to play in front of Laker coaches at SPL rather than be elsewhere.

It was at last year's SPL where Parker shined during summer play and earned a roster spot at the Lakers' Preseason Camp.

For more information on the SPL , visit the Southern California Summer Pro League site for game schedules and scores/results.

(BruinBasketballReport.com)