Nic Wise is home in Houston while 54 rookie point guards show their skills in front of NBA and international scouts in Las Vegas (US Presswire photo/Steve Mitchell)

LAS VEGAS — Approximately 70 point guards comprise the 22 NBA teams that are fielding a roster in the 2010 Summer League at Thomas & Mack over the next week.

Of that lot, 54 are rookies. Breaking it down further, nine of the 70 or so point guards are listed under 6-feet tall (meaning a diminutive size is not a deterrent). Seven of those nine are rookies.

Not one of them is Nic Wise.

The former 5-10, 180 playmaker for Arizona is at home in Houston. Jeremy Wise (no relation), a 6-1 rookie point guard from Southern Mississippi, is here with the Golden State Warriors. But not Nic Wise.

NBA scouts like it that a player performed at the highest level, such as Wise did at Arizona in the Pac-10 and in the NCAA tournament before his senior season. However, looking at the NBA Summer League rosters indicates that high-level experience is equal in worth to a LeBron James Cavaliers jersey right now.

Undrafted rookie point guards are here from programs such as Portland (Pooh Jeter, 5-11, Cavaliers), Illinois-Chicago (Josh Mayo, 6-0, Mavericks), College of Charleston (Dontaye Draper, 5-11, Nuggets), Wright State (Dashaun Wood, 5-11, Clippers) and Utah State (Jaycee Carroll, 6-1, Knicks).

In the initial NBA Summer League game between Denver and Dallas, Mayo and Draper were on the court along with Harvard rookie point guard Jeremy Lin with the Mavericks. Draper (who had three steals in the first half) and Lin (four points on 2-of-4 shooting) are credible, but Mayo looks out of his element.

The Suns, who interviewed and treated Wise to dinner the week of the NBA draft last month, have four rookie point guards on their summer-league roster. San Diego’s Brandon Johnson, 6-0, and Northeastern’s Matt Janning, 6-4, are among them.

Wise has been through a lot more pressure-filled games on national television and filled arenas than this sample of mid-major guards who are in Las Vegas. None of these guys can claim they averaged 21.3 points a game in a three-game NCAA Tournament run, like Wise did in 2009. But Wise is not here.

Why?

Some rumblings among NBA scouts and front-office personnel include Wise lacking in size, decision-making skills, finishing ability and health in his knees. The 54 rookie point guards here apparently do not have similar concerns.

Wise’s career is not over. He will likely sign with a professional team overseas. He is about to embark on a similar path as the two regular starting point guards who played before him at Arizona — Jason Gardner and Mustafa Shakur.

The last regular starting point guard for Arizona — which is dubbed “Point Guard U” — to sustain an NBA career is Jason Terry, who was drafted in 1999 and will be in his 12th NBA season in 2010-11. Jerryd Bayless is transitioning into playing point guard now in the NBA after playing mostly at the off-guard position at Arizona and in his rookie season with Portland in 2008-09.

Gardner and Shakur are still ticking. With the way Shakur has played in Orlando’s summer league, he is in position to be a backup guard in Oklahoma City or elsewhere next season. Gardner, a standout in the German professional league, is reportedly competing in the Indy Pro-Am league that runs into August.

Expect Wise to follow the lead of Gardner and Shakur and keep his NBA dream alive for as long as he works toward that goal.

Chase Budinger will try to create more offense off screens and penetrations toward the basket during the NBA Summer League in Houston (US Presswire photo/Brett Davis)

Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill are not in Las Vegas this week to earn a spot on Houston’s roster — a better spot in the Rockets’ rotation is more like it. Consider this a business trip for the former Arizona duo.

Last year, Budinger slipped to the second round of the NBA draft, his future in the league was a mystery. The NBA’s Developmental League seemed more reasonable for Budinger, who turned scouts off with his perceived lack of aggression. He was selected by Detroit with the 43rd pick after five other players at his position as a wing were picked ahead of him. Wayne Ellington, Christian Eyenga, Omri Casspi, Victor Claver, and DeMarre Carroll were all among the top 30 picks.

RELATED LINK:

• Houston’s 2010 NBA Summer League schedule

Houston included the former Arizona duo of Budinger and Jordan Hill on its NBA Summer League roster to see how each can work into the Rockets’ rotation next season, according to the Houston Chronicle. The five games Houston plays in the next week, starting Friday at the Thomas & Mack’s Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, are almost like in-season scrimmages for the Rockets’ coaching staff to see how Budinger and Hill can fill certain roles.

Budinger, 6-foot-7 and 218 pounds, will be tried more as a ball-handler. The Rockets’ brass want Budinger to create more offense for himself and his teammates off the dribble. They tried the same thing last summer, but Budinger played so well on the wing, they did not try to force him to do too much.

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Former UA wing player Marcus Williams is trying to show his playmaking abilities with Indiana but he was most impressive with his defense in rebound in the Pacers' first NBA Summer League game in Orlando on Monday (Photo by US Presswire/Rick Scuteri)

Former UA wing player Marcus Williams did not get a chance to show his skills in an NBA summer league last year, which adversely affected his 2009-10 season.

He slipped under the radar — or is it slipped Far East of the radar? — to the point that he played professionally in China last season. Williams tried to land a spot with the Spurs again after he was cut the year before, but he was waived during preseason camp. He played in China before ending the season with the Spurs’ NBA D-League affiliate Austin, where he averaged 24.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists in eight games.

Indiana contemplated signing Williams in April before the season ended, although the Pacers did not plan to use him in games. Williams reportedly balked at the idea in order to keep his options open heading into the summer. Evidently, the Pacers came calling again after the season and Williams agreed to show the Pacers his value this summer in Orlando.

So far so good for Williams, a 6-7, 205, player who has added some muscle to his frame since leaving UA after his sophomore season in 2007. In the Pacers’ first game Monday, Williams led the team with six rebounds to go along with six points in 27 minutes against Orlando.

And get this: He blocked two shots. Is this the same Williams who was a liability on defense with the Wildcats? We will see through the next four days if Williams can play consistently well. Some reports indicate Indiana wants to try Williams at point guard, but he is more suited to play on the wing. He played some minutes at the point for Austin. He did not record an assist Monday.

Other Arizona angles of note in the summer leagues: Former UA recruit Ndudi Edi, who spurned the Cats in 2003 by declaring himself for the NBA draft out of high school, is on Philadelphia’s summer-league team in Orlando. He did not play Monday in the 76ers’ 84-74 win over the Nets. After failing to find his niche after Minnesota drafted him in the first round, Edi has played professionally in Italy and Israel. The D-League will not accept him because he has spent two years in the NBA, albeit briefly. … Damon Stoudamire is returning to the Las Vegas summer league as a coach of the Memphis Grizzlies’ team. … Mustafa Shakur is in Orlando with Oklahoma City, which owns his rights. He played almost seven minutes and recorded one assist in the Thunder’s 87-82 win over Boston.