Sonics Update

Oyedeji, the team’s second-round draft pick from Nigeria, has a mild right ankle sprain. Wingate has a sore left knee.

Also, forward Rashard Lewis (sprained knee) and guard Desmond Mason (sprained ankle), both starters, are sufficiently recovered from recent injuries to be in the lineup tonight. Though neither is 100 percent, they are both “close enough,” according to coach Paul Westphal.

For those keeping score, here’s what happened to the seven players traded by the Sonics in the Ewing deal. Horace Grant and Greg Foster are still with the Lakers. Chuck Person was waived by the Lakers. So was Davis, who was then re-signed by Seattle late last week. Vernon Maxwell, Lazaro Borrell and Vladimir Stepania, all traded to New York, were waived by the Knicks. Maxwell signed recently with Philadelphia and Stepania was signed by Toronto, but then released Monday.

The 23-year-old Abdur-Rahim is coming off a season in which he averaged 20.3 points and 10.1 rebounds, an offseason in which he won an Olympic gold medal, and a preseason in which he averaged 18.3 points and 6.4 rebounds in limited time.

The Sonics got a good look at Abdur-Rahim’s talents a year ago. In the opener between the teams, Abdur-Rahim tossed in 31 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, almost single-handedly leading the Grizzlies to a rare win over Seattle.

One reason Abdur-Rahim gave the Sonics so much trouble is that he is 6 feet, 9 inches. He had too much size for Seattle’s 6-5 Ruben Patterson, but was too quick out from the basket for 6-11 Vin Baker. The Sonics hope to counter this season by assigning the 6-10 Lewis to defend Abdur-Rahim, though Westphal is realistic about the pairing.

“(Abdur-Rahim) gives everybody trouble,” Westphal said. “He’s a handful. He’s a real versatile offensive player who you’re never going to totally shut down. … He can go inside, he can go outside. They run a lot of stuff for him, so he’s going to put a lot of numbers up. The main thing is that we want to make him earn his points, and I think Rashard is probably the best physical match we have for him.”

In Westphal’s opinion, better stats should not necessarily be Payton’s aim this season.

“I think Gary knows what kind of player he is perceived as, which is as one of the all-time great backcourt players in this game,” Westphal said. “Whatever numbers he might put up this year, good or bad, won’t change that perception of what he’s done in his career.

“The thing that will help him move to the next level in the way people see him is how well he’ll help the team win this year. That’s the only thing he can really do to add to this resume. I think he really understands that and is focused really toward nothing else other than to help the team win.”