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Seattle SuperSonics
By Bryan Williams, NBA.com
SEASON OUTLOOK: No one expected anything from the Sonics a year ago, but they became the surprise team in the West, making the postseason as the No. 7 seed on the strength of outstanding outside shooting. With no real offensive threat in the post, Seattle led the the league in field-goal percentage (.469) and ranked second to the Wizards in three-point percentage (.378). As he has for more than a decade, All-Star point guard Gary Payton sparked the Sonics on both ends of the floor, starting all 82 games, leading the team in scoring (22.1 ppg), assists (9.0) and minutes (40.3 mpg) and making the NBA All-Defensive First Team. He also changed his attitude with respect to his teammates, becoming less contentious and more of the veteran leader Seattle needs him to be. Forward Rashard Lewis -- who re-signed with the Sonics this summer -- continued to improve his game in his fourth season, establishing career highs across the board statistically while ranking second to Payton in scoring at 16.8 ppg. Brent Barry, perhaps, wasn't aggressive enough offensively, averaging 14.4 points on .508 shooting, a field-goal percentage second only to John Stockton among NBA guards. However, as good as they were on the perimeter, the Sonics continued to have problems down low. Vin Baker underachieved again, posting just 14.1 points and 6.4 boards in 55 games, and center Calvin Booth -- acquired before the 2001-02 season as the team's center of the future -- missed all but 15 games with an ankle injury. This year, Seattle finally hopes to see some stability and consistency from the power forward and center positions. The Sonics traded Baker to Boston, have Booth healthy, and they like the potential they have in a trio of youngsters, Vladimir Radmanovic, Peja Drobnjak and Jerome James. As Radmanovic moves into the starting lineup, the pressing question is how well he'll be able to defend bigger, more athletic power forwards, but the team expects he'll be able to develop and mature more quickly now with Baker out of the lineup. What Seattle gets from Radmanovic and Booth will be key to its playoff hopes.
WHO'S IN: In the Baker trade, Seattle acquired Kenny Anderson, Vitaly Potapenko and Joe Forte from the Celtics. Anderson, backing up Payton, will be coming off the bench for the first time in his career, while Potapenko will see minutes at the center and power forward spots. Second-year guard Forte has played in only eight career games and won't see much time. WHO'S OUT: Guard Shammond Williams was shipped to Boston with Baker. Guards Earl Watson and Randy Livingston and center Olumide Oyedeji were lost to free agency. BENCH: Certainly the Sonics will try to get Anderson (9.6 ppg, 5.3 apg) in the game as much as possible -- both for his skills and in the interests of team harmony -- and given that he's the only legitimate guard they have on the bench, they should be able to pull it off even with Payton and Barry getting big minutes. Swingman Desmond Mason (12.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg) has shown his incredible athleticism on drives and dunks; he'll continue to round out his game and improve in his third season. Up front, the 6-11 Drobnjak (6.8 ppg) showed nice medium-range touch for a big man in his rookie year, while 7-1 James was a defensive stopper, leading the team in blocks despite limited minutes (1.54 bpg, 16.9 mpg). THE SONICS MAKE THE PLAYOFFS IF ... : They get quality play from their big men, both starters and reserves, on both ends of the floor. THE SONICS MISS THE PLAYOFFS IF ... : They don't. |
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