Former UA guard Nic Wise knows how much of a business professional basketball is as he will not be included on any of the NBA Summer League rosters in Las Vegas later this week.

Nothing is guaranteed.

The summer league, which comprises of 22 NBA teams and another with the NBA’s Developmental League, will include roughly 276 players and not one of them is Wise. The Orlando summer league, which started Monday, has eight NBA teams. So, combined, the leagues have approximately 372 roster spots.

The 5-10 point guard hoped to be signed to the summer league to show his skills to at least the European scouts on hand at the Thomas and Mack Arena.

Summer league rosters are subject to change. Last year, for example, former UA guard/forward Hassan Adams was slated to be on Houston’s roster but he was bumped at the last minute because of roster moves.

Wise has been unavailable for comment. He tweeted earlier today on his Twitter page that he, “Just got jipped out of Summer League wow.”

The only known former UA players to be in the summer league in Las Vegas, which starts Friday, include Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill with Houston. Former UA guard Mustafa Shakur is reportedly on Portland’s roster.

One interesting side note is Budinger will not play Aubrey Coleman again, although it was a possibility in the summer league. Coleman is the former Houston player who stepped on Budinger’s face in the 2008-09 season, resulting in Coleman’s ejection from the game at McKale Center. Arizona rallied from 10 points down with less than a minute remaining to win in overtime.

Coleman is on New Orleans’ roster. Houston and New Orleans are not scheduled to play each other in Las Vegas.

Former UA forward Chase Budinger will look to refine his ball-handling skills in another NBA Summer League appearance in Las Vegas starting July 9 (US Presswire photo/Thomas Campbell)

Reports out of Houston suggest the Rockets will include former UA teammates Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill on their roster for the upcoming NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

However, a reunion among Hill, Budinger and Houston native Nic Wise on the Rockets’ roster does not seem likely for the summer league, which starts July 9.

Former UA point guard Mustafa Shakur, who landed a 10-day contract with Oklahoma City last year after toiling in Europe for parts of three seasons, is reportedly on Portland’s NBA Summer League roster. This will be the fourth time that Shakur has played in the summer league.

Last year, Shakur played well enough for the Lakers’ team in Las Vegas that the Thunder signed him to a D-League contract. He became an NBA D-League All-Star with Tulsa.

At this point, six rookies, including USC’s Dwight Lewis, are on Houston’s roster, but not one of them is Wise. According to Kevin Grigg, the media-relations director of the Detroit Pistons and a UA grad, there is no deadline for NBA Summer League rosters to be set.

Not all the teams have announced their rosters. Wise had an encouraging pre-draft workout with the Rockets. He also visited Milwaukee and Indiana. Milwaukee does not include Wise in its roster. Indiana plays in the Orlando summer league from July 5-9 and has yet to release its roster.

Budinger had a credible rookie season with Houston, averaging 8.9 points and 3 rebounds per game. He started four games and averaged 20 minutes a game. He emerged in last year’s NBA Summer League after dropping to a second-round selection in the 2009 NBA draft.

Budinger made the All-Summer League team making 8-of-11 (72.7 percent) from three-point range, shooting 68.1 percent overall and averaging 17.8 points in five games.

Hill, the ninth selection overall last year taken by the Knicks, was traded to Houston in the middle of the season in a swap that included Tracy McGrady. The NBA Summer League will be particularly important for Hill, who will be working out against Houston’s first-round draft pick Patrick Patterson of Kentucky.

Hill averaged 6.4 points, 5 rebounds and 16:11 of playing time in 23 games with Houston last season after averaging 4 points, 2.5 rebounds and 10:30 of playing time in 24 games with New York.

Nic Wise was not seleced in the NBA draft Thursday night, but his career is far from over (US Presswire photo by Chris Morrison)

The NBA Summer League is a chance for borderline prospects to improve their standing in the eyes of scouts, not only those from the NBA.

The league last year in Las Vegas included an entire section in the bleachers roped off for international scouts. While Wise tries to impress the NBA team he’ll represent in the summer league — his hometown Houston Rockets are a likely team — he will audition for every single scout in attendance at the Thomas and Mack facility.

The NBA’s Developmental League also features a team and will also have plenty of scouts and coaches in attendance.

Wise’s agent, Andre Buck, is the same person who represents former UA guard Mustafa Shakur, who before this year toiled overseas for three years. Shakur opted to play in the D-League for the Oklahoma City affiliate after an impressive showing in last year’s summer league, in which he outplayed ASU sensation James Harden in one game.

Shakur and Wise worked out together last summer before Shakur played in Las Vegas. Shakur’s path to prosperity this year most likely interested Wise into acquiring the services of Buck (attempts to reach Wise tonight were unsuccessful). Shakur went from playing overseas to getting a taste of the NBA this year with a 10-day contract with the Thunder following a D-League All-Star season. Despite not playing a minute for Oklahoma City, Shakur took home $127,707 from that franchise this year.

According to EuroBasket.com, Buck represents 41 professional basketball players, 26 of them international talents. He has a strong working relationship with many pro teams in many different countries, with players competing in Ukraine, Serbia, Argentina, Greece, Montenegro, Israel, Estonia, Mexico, Turkey, Germany, Italy, Slovenia and Portugal.

Wise’s lifelong dream of getting drafted by an NBA team did not come to fruition. He may be down like fellow undrafted diminutive guards Sherron Collins of Kansas and Jerome Randle of Cal. But Wise, 5-10, 180, is certainly not out of the NBA picture. We can read about Wise playing at that level someday.

Why not? Former UA guard Will Bynum, also once considered too small to play in the NBA at 5-11, 180, went undrafted after leading Georgia Tech to the Final Four. He first played professionally in Israel in 2005 before Detroit gave him a chance in 2007. He played in 63 games with the Pistons this season, starting 20 games and averaging 26.5 minutes and 10 points per game.

Wise is wise enough to not give up. The biggest question is whether his knees will hold up.