Sonics guard Ronald “Flip” Murray is proving to be one of the best throw-ins in basketball history. Acquired as a seemingly minor part of last season’s deal that brought Ray Allen and Kevin Ollie to Seattle – “He was pretty much thrown in as a contract to make the deal work. We had scouted him out of college and we liked him, but to say that we had counted on him doing this would not be close to the truth,” Sonics President Wally Walker recently told the New York Times - Murray is now in the NBA’s top five in scoring and has netted 20 or more points in eight of nine games this season.
Murray has been a major find for the Sonics.
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In Murray’s honor, SUPERSONICS.COM takes a look at the top ten other players (in alphabetical order) the Sonics acquired on the cheap, whether with small contracts in free agency, by giving up little in trades, or drafting them in the second round.
One of
George Karl’s favorite reserves during much of the mid-90s Sonics run, Askew was a journeyman averaging just 3.0 points per game with the Sacramento Kings when the Sonics acquired him for a second-round draft pick in 1993. Karl, who had coached Askew in the CBA when Askew was the league’s MVP, wanted to bring him back in the NBA. Giving up a second-round pick (the Kings selected the immortal Mike Peplowski) was a minor inconvenience. Askew’s defense and high-percentage shooting had helped him become a regular, and he served as the team’s top backup swingman through the 1995-96 season, when, following a falling-out with Karl, he was traded to New Jersey.
Unlike Murray, Ellis was hardly an unknown quantity when the Sonics acquired him from the Dallas Mavericks for guard Al Wood. Ellis had been the ninth pick of the 1983 draft, but his path to minutes in Dallas was blocked by players like Mark Aguirre and Rolando Blackman. As a result, the Sonics were able to get Ellis for just Wood, who had averaged 11.6 ppg as the starting shooting guard the year before. Ellis more than doubled that during his first season in Seattle, scorching the nets to the tune of 24.9 ppg. For his efforts, Ellis was named the NBA’s Most Improved Player. Ellis played three and a half more seasons for the Sonics and remains third in team history in scoring average. Wood, meanwhile, lasted just one more season in the NBA, averaging 6.6 ppg for the Mavericks.
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Johnson was taken in the second round.
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According to Johnson, only two NBA executives knew who he was when he entered the 1976 Draft – Sonics Coach/GM Bill Russell and Jerry West of the Lakers. Fortunately for the Sonics, they had a higher pick than L.A.’s in the second round, allowing Russell to snag Johnson with the 29th pick. By his second season, Johnson had established himself as a starter, and he was MVP of the 1979 Finals as the Sonics brought home their only championship. Though Johnson lasted only four seasons in Seattle and experienced some of his greatest glory elsewhere, he was most certainly a steal for the team, and it has the championship banner to prove it.
John Johnson (trade, 10/24/77)
On the backs of steals are championship teams built, and the late-70s’ other Johnson was also picked up on the cheap, acquired from the Houston Rockets for a pair of second-round picks. A key player and big scorer during his early years with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Portland Trail Blazers, Johnson had played a limited role in Houston. With the Sonics, Johnson became the starting small forward and lead distributor, allowing Johnson and Gus Williams to look to score. Johnson’s numbers during five seasons with the Sonics, four as a starter, weren’t huge, but he made a major impact when he stepped on the court.
Lewis was crying on draft night, but the Sonics were smiling. Expected to be a first-round pick, likely by his hometown Houston Rockets, who held a trio of first-rounders, Lewis slipped to the second round and was the last player left in the “green room” by a wide margin. The Sonics selected Lewis with the first of two consecutive picks, and the rest is history. After breaking into the starting lineup at the end of his third year, Lewis has become one of the NBA’s top small forwards and a go-to guy for the Sonics.
As a coach, McMillan took the Sonics to the playoffs in 2002.
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Ellis wasn’t the only steal the Sonics made during the summer of 1986. They also added a starting point guard and team legend in the draft with their only pick, the 30th overall. McMillan had averaged just 9.4 points as a senior at North Carolina State (though he did add 6.9 assists), but the Sonics saw that his playmaking and defensive ability could make him an excellent contributor. McMillan started for four seasons, leading the Sonics in assists each year, before giving way to
Gary Payton. He remained a steadying force and disruptive defensive influence off the bench before retiring after the 1997-98 season. McMillan moved directly down the bench, taking a role as an assistant coach, and was promoted to Head Coach during the 2000-01 season. As just a player, McMillan was a steal. As a player, coach and legend, he was a criminal heist.
Taken the pick before Lewis in the 1998 Draft, Patterson saw limited action as a rookie with the L.A. Lakers. The Lakers showed little interest in the free agent after the season, but the Sonics saw Patterson’s potential and signed him to a two-year deal. Patterson paid immediate dividends, taking the starting small forward job and averaging 11.6 points and 5.4 rebounds while shooting 53.6% from the field and playing the defense that caused him to nickname himself “The Kobe Stopper”. Patterson lost his starting role to the quickly-developing Lewis the following season, but improved his scoring average as the team’s sixth man before departing as a free agent for Portland.
Dick Snyder (trade, 10/25/69)
One of the Sonics best players during the early years of the team, Snyder was stolen in a “challenge trade” with the Phoenix Suns, swapped for another shooting guard, Art Harris. Harris, selected by the Sonics in the second round in 1968, had averaged 12.1 ppg for the second-year Sonics, but his career was short-lived. He played three more seasons with the Suns, including just 21 games in 1971-72. Snyder, meanwhile, was consistently one of Seattle’s leading scorers before being traded to Cleveland following the 1973-74 season, bringing the Sonics a first-round pick. Snyder remains in the all-time Sonics top ten in games, minutes, field-goal percentage, free-throw percentage, field goals made and assists.
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Watts – and the headband – are still ubiquitous at Sonics games.
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Slick Watts (free agent, 1973)
Like Murray, Watts played small-college basketball at Xavier of Louisiana. With college scouting not nearly so extensive in those days, the Sonics were probably the only team to know of Watts – and that only because Bob Hopkins, later a Sonics assistant as well as Russell’s cousin, had coached Watts. Amazingly, Watts not only made the team but developed into one of its best players. During the 1975-76 season, Watts had his best year as a pro, leading the NBA in both steals (3.18 spg) and assists (8.1 apg) and being named First-Team All-Defense. Watts remains a Sonics and Seattle legend who is a regular fixture at KeyArena (as is John Johnson) and a huge crowd favorite.
Gus Williams (free agent, 10/17/1977)
As a free agent, Williams probably didn’t come as cheap as Patterson – salary data from the 70s is basically non-existent, but Williams had averaged 9.3 ppg the previous season for the Golden State Warriors – but he also achieved much more. Few could have expected Williams to quickly become one of the league’s top guards, forming a lethal backcourt with Johnson as the Sonics made two straight Finals appearances and brought home the trophy in 1979. Williams never averaged less than 18 points per game in six seasons with the Sonics and was twice named All-NBA (second team in 1979-80, first team in 1981-82). He also made a pair of All-Star appearances with the Sonics, making him the best free agent pickup in team history.
