By Rich Myhre
Herald Writer
SEATTLE – The injury bug usually bites NBA teams most severely along about midseason.
Which means the Seattle SuperSonics may already be in midseason form. Medically speaking, that is.
“We’re banged up,” sighed coach Nate McMillan on Wednesday, six days before the Sonics open the 2001-02 regular season.
The latest casualty is forward Vin Baker, who will skip Seattle’s two-game exhibition road trip to Utah and Sacramento after suffering a lower back strain in Tuesday’s team practice.
“He went for a ball, twisted the wrong way and his back locked up,” McMillan said of Baker, who was off seeing doctors during the team’s Wednesday workout.
Rather than traveling with the team for games tonight and Friday, Baker stayed behind to receive treatment aimed at having him fit for the regular-season opener Tuesday in Sacramento. “He should be ready,” McMillan said.
Questionable for tonight’s game is free-agent center Jerome James, who sprained an ankle during Tuesday’s practice. He did accompany the team to Salt Lake City.
Also hurting is rookie center Predrag Dobnjak, who suffered a sprained ankle at practice last week. He is not expected to be ready for at least another week.
“We’re losing our big guys,” McMillan said. “Now we just want to go (on this road trip) and work on some execution with a smaller unit.”
With backup guard Shammond Williams out for a few weeks with a broken ring finger on his left (non-shooting) hand, Seattle’s goal “is to try and get out of these next few games without any serious injuries to anyone,” McMillan added with a wry grin.
Roster move: The Sonics made a roster move on Wednesday, trimming 6-foot-6 rookie forward JaRon Rush. The cut leaves Seattle with 14 players, which could be the final number for the regular season (allowing for two players on the injured list).
If so, the Sonics would have a squad with three rookies in Vladimir Radmanovic, Earl Watson and Drobnjak; four free agents in Calvin Booth, Antonio Harvey, Art Long and James; and seven returning veterans in Brent Barry, Rashard Lewis, Desmond Mason, Olumide Oyedeji, Gary Payton, Baker and Williams.
Stepping in: With Williams on the sidelines, Watson (Seattle’s second-round pick) is likely to have a more prominent role in the team’s regular rotation to begin the season.
How will he fare once the Sonics start to play for keeps?
“We don’t know yet because the season hasn’t started,” Payton said. “We have to put him in against (Utah’s) John Stockton, (Phoenix’s) Stephon Marbury and guys like that, and then we’ll see. But (at practice) he’s been playing very well. He’s been doing the things he’s supposed to do. He’s running the offense, he’s being aggressive and he’s hitting his shots.”
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