Of course for those of us in Phoenix, the five hour drive north will actually mean a few degrees of relief. For those coming from elsewhere, bring your sun screen.
We are talking of course about the Vegas Summer League. The annual debut of new faces, some we've gotten used to and many we've never heard of but are hoping to battle their way off a Greek or Russian team and eek their way on to the end of the Suns' bench.
For the basketball enthusiast its a great opportunity to watch a lot of basketball in near empty arenas.
For me, its four days at the classiest hotel in town chosen only for its proximity to the T&M center and of course for the great wings.
I had grand plans to preview the Suns SL roster but that bastard Coro scooped me again, Here's the line-up:
+ Forward/center Rod Benson. He's 22, 6-10, 225 pounds and out of California. He was the D-League's rebounding champ.
+ Guard/forward Justin Cage. He's 23, 6-6, 225 pounds and out of Xavier. He was one of Chicago's last cuts last year.
+ Point guard Taquan Dean. He's 24, 6-4, 190 pounds and out of Louisville. He played last year for former Suns scout Marco Crespi in Italy, trying to learn the point guard spot.
+ Forward/center Jiri Hubalek. He's 25, 6-11, 225 pounds and out of Iowa State. He made 57 percent of his 3-pointers in the Portsmouth Invitational.
+ Forward Ekene Ibekwe. He's 22, 6-9, 220 pounds and out of Maryland.
+ Point guard Jared Jordan. He's 23, 6-2, 187 pounds and out of Marist. He's a pure point who theoretically could push D.J. Strawberry, who isn't guaranteed a roster spot next year.
+Center Robin Lopez. He's 20, 7-0, 255 pounds and out of Stanford. He was the Suns' first-round pick.
+ Forward Ivan McFarlin. He's 26, 6-8, 232 pounds and out of Oklahoma State. He spent some of the 2006-07 season with Philadelphia and Denver.
+ Guard D.J. Strawberry. He's 23, 6-5, 201 pounds and out of Maryland. He was Phoenix's 2007 second-round pick and played in spots for the Suns last season.
+ Forward Alando Tucker. He's 24, 6-6, 205 pounds and out of Wisconsin. He was Phoenix's 2007 first-round pick and played in only six games for the Suns last season. He'll put up some big scoring nights in this league.
+ Forward Marcus Vinicius. He's 24, 6-8, 225 pounds and out of Brazil. He played 13 games in each of the past two seasons with New Orleans. HIs versatiltiy and shooting gives him the best shot at sticking.
+ Forward/center Judson Wallace. He's 25, 6-10, 220 pounds and out of Princeton. He led a first-division Italian league in rebounding.
The schedule for Suns games has four out five conveniently bunched in the final four days and that's when I will be going.
Tickets are cheap. The beer should be flowing. And the wings will definitely be tasty. Drop a line if you plan on attending.
Otherwise prepare yourself for an awesome blogoriphic experience which should be the next best thing to being there without the heat (...or the wings).
Oh, and I want to be prepared for the experience so I plan on learning more about all these fellas who we fans quickly forget are only a hair's breadth away from being the top performers in the world in their chosen profession. So, anything you know or can google about them and post in the comments will be most appreciated by your lazy host.