Four Vipers alumni to play in NBA Summer League

McALLEN - The NBA D-League Rio Grande Valley Vipers announced today that Joey Dorsey will play for the Houston Rockets, Jawad Williams will play for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Smush Parker will play for the Toronto Raptors and Cedric Simmons will play for the Denver Nuggets in the NBA Summer League presented by EA Sports July 10-through-19 at the Thomas & Mack Center and COX Pavilion in Las Vegas.

Fans can follow their progress online at rgvipers.com.

This announcement brings the total number of Vipers to take part in an NBA Summer League to 12, including Trent Strickland (Dallas Mavericks), Jared Jordan (Golden State Warriors) and Kurt Looby and Marcus Hubbard (NBA D-League Select Team). Last year, Aaron Brooks played for the Houston Rockets, C.J. Watson played for the Golden State Warriors and Desmon Farmer played for the Toronto Raptors.

Dorsey played for the Rockets in the NBA Summer League last year as well, averaging 10.0 points and 9.0 rebounds in three games. As a second-year player, Dorsey will be eligible to be assigned to the Vipers during the 2009-10 season after spending seven games with the team during the 2008-09 season. Dorsey averaged 9.7 points and 9.0 rebounds for the Vipers while shooting 62.8% from the field.

Williams played in the NBA Summer League last year, averaging 6.3 points and 2.7 rebounds in three games for the Cavaliers after scoring two points and grabbing four rebounds in one game for the Raptors.

Williams became the Vipers’ second GATORADE Call-Up after signing with the Cavaliers. Williams came to the Vipers after spending much of the season with the Cavaliers. He had only played ten minutes over the course of nine games. Williams showed no rust, however, scoring a Vipers’ season-high 43 points in 44 minutes of action in his debut on February 18 at Anaheim. It was the third-highest single-game points total in franchise history.

Williams played in 19 games (18 starts) for the Vipers, averaging 25.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. He was named NBA D-League Player of the Month for March after scoring 20 or more points in ten of the Vipers’ 11 games and leading the team to a 7-4 record. Williams became the third Viper to receive that honor and the only one during the season.

Parker started the season with the Vipers, playing in 18 games (16 starts) while averaging 17.2 points, 7.5 assists and 1.7 steals per game.

Simmons played for the Vipers during the 2007-08 season as an NBA-assignee from the Cleveland Cavaliers, averaging 9.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.3 blocks in three games.