By Rich Myhre
Herald Writer
SEATTLE – Last spring, the Seattle SuperSonics missed the NBA playoffs for the second time in three seasons.
Last summer, the Sonics listened.
After soaring to NBA prominence in the mid- to late 1990s, then sagging to league mediocrity early in the new decade, Seattle vowed to consider all options for rebuilding itself into a perennial playoff team. That included trade proposals for every player on the roster, including superstar point guard Gary Payton.
“We were not shopping Gary,” emphasized Rick Sund, Seattle’s new general manager. “We were not shopping anybody on the club. But we had reached the point where two of the last three years we hadn’t made the playoffs. And if the right thing had could come along, we’d have to pull the trigger.”
In the end, there was no Payton trade. Nor was there a deal for overpriced, underachieving forward Vin Baker. In fact, with Brent Barry, Rashard Lewis, Desmond Mason and Shammond Williams also back, Seattle’s regular rotation will look very much like last season.
The only players of prominence missing are forward Ruben Patterson, who helped earn his way out of town with a succession of legal problems that irked new owner Howard Schultz, and center Patrick Ewing, whose sizable salary and the space it created under the NBA’s salary cap were more valuable than his obviously waning talents. Also gone are two peripheral players, guard Emanual Davis and forward Jelani McCoy, and two end-of-the-bench reserves, center Ruben Wolkowyski and guard David Wingate.
Still, the returning players – four of them were starters for much of last season – should give the Sonics a decidedly familiar appearance.
And this begs an obvious question – if the team is mostly unchanged from a year ago, won’t the results be much the same, too?
Not necessarily, said Nate McMillan, who is returning for his first full season as Seattle’s head coach.
“The game will be played at a higher level than it was last year,” McMillan said. “I really want us to be a high-intensity team. I want us to be scrappers. We want to have the identity that when we take the floor. I want our young to learn how to play the game and how to compete each and every night.
“If we bring an energy, a focus, and a passion for the game, and if we are unified and compete together each and every night, then we’ll have an opportunity to win.”
There is, without question, excitement among the Sonics about some of the new faces. Free-agent Calvin Booth, Seattle’s fifth starting center in as many seasons, is pegged as the team’s big man of the present and the future. Vladimir Radmanovic, a 6-foot-10 forward and the top draft pick in 2001, and 6-11 center Predrag Drobnjak are European players the Sonics hope will be in the mold of, say, Dallas’s Dirk Nowitzki, Atlanta’s Toni Kukoc and Sacramento’s Predrag Stojakovic.
In fact, assuming the Sonics get more of the same from Baker – occasional moments of brilliance, but mostly inconsistency and disappointment – Seattle’s fortunes this season will hang greatly on the play of the three front-line newcomers. If Booth, Radmanovic and Drobnjak struggle, as young players sometimes do, the Sonics may have trouble making the playoffs. On the other hand, if the threesome blossoms as the season progresses, Seattle could emerge as a conference darkhorse in the postseason.
Seattle’s fortunes will also depend on the progress of youngsters Lewis and Mason. The 22-year-old Lewis, a 6-10 small forward, is beginning his fourth NBA season after skipping straight from high school to the NBA. The 24-year-old Mason, a 6-5 guard-forward, was one of the NBA’s top rookies a year ago.
Overall, what do the Sonics have in their favor?
First there is Payton, still one of the NBA’s premier players. Lewis is a budding star, and Mason might be, too. And collectively, the Sonics could be one of the league’s better shooting teams, which should be a significant asset with the rule change permitting zone defenses this season.
“There’s no question in my mind, the strength of this team is shooting,” Sund said. “Our team is a really, really good shooting team. Even the players we have added, with Radmanovic, Drobnjak and Calvin, are all really good shooters.”
On the downside, the Sonics continue to be less than a strong rebounding team. Neither are they expected to be a strong interior defensive team, though the addition of Booth should bring some improvement. Lastly, there is the Baker factor – will he ever return to his status of being a four-time NBA All-Star, or will his career continue in its downward path?
Some of these questions are perplexing even to McMillan.
“We have to establish an identity,” he said. “Who are we? It’s a question fans are asking, and I’m asking that question, too. Right now, I don’t have the answer. But I like my team. I like the intensity they’re capable of bringing when they play and commit to playing hard.”
“We have a really young club,” Sund said. “And with young guys, who knows in terms of wins and losses. But in terms of expectations to competing, we expect to compete every night. And if you compete every night, you’ll get your share of wins along the way.”
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