Ridnour is now firmly in control of the Sonics offense. Jeff Reinking/NBAE/Getty

Hoping to take a look at how Ridnour would perform with the Sonics starters, Coach Nate McMillan elevated him to the starting lineup for the final three games of the season. Ridnour got his first opportunity in that role last Saturday when the Dallas Mavericks visited KeyArena. Playing against the player whose name is most frequently used as a comparison for him, Steve Nash, Ridnour responded with the best game of his career.

Displaying court intelligence well beyond his 23 years as well as his typical high-octane style of play, Ridnour scored 16 points (making eight of his 11 shots) and handed out a career-high 13 assists in 32 minutes of action as the Sonics crushed the playoff-bound Mavericks, 119-99, shooting a season-high 58.2% from the field.

Ridnour's performance was enough to make one forget that he was still a rookie, that it was still only seven months ago that observers were wondering whether Ridnour would play at all and whether a summer injury would make this a lost season for him.

Ridnour was kind enough to provide a reminder of his youth on Monday, in the Sonics home finale. With Steve Francis on the sidelines, befallen by an inflamed left elbow and a sprained right wrist that didn't seem to bother him as he cheered on his teammates, Ridnour was matched up with Houston reserve Mark Jackson, finishing up his 17th and possibly final NBA season.

When Jackson won the 1987-88 Rookie of the Year award, Ridnour was seven. Jackson quickly served notice that along the way he's learned a trick or two, drawing two early fouls on Ridnour, who hit the bench minutes into the first quarter. Ridnour returned to the court for the third quarter, but the calls repeated themselves, and Ridnour's night was finished. Final line? Five minutes, zero points, zero assists, one turnover, four fouls.

As frustrating as the evening might have been for Ridnour, it will serve as a learning experience for him over the long run.

"That helps you, teaches you how to defend, how to play against that type of player," said McMillan, who should know after his own 12-year career, at today's practice. "There's not a lot of guys in this league who can walk you down or will walk you down to the block and shoot over you or quarterback (the team)."

There have been plenty of learning experiences for Ridnour this season, and he's experienced virtually every role a player can play at some point during the season - hero on several occasions, starter, rotation reserve, change-of-pace reserve and watching from the bench.

"Going through a whole season and figuring out what you can do and what you can't do," Ridnour cited when asked about his biggest lessons this year. "Getting mentally ready for all 82 games that you have, and just seeing what it takes, watching the good teams, seeing what it takes for them to get to the playoffs so we can get back there."

That learning, that development, is more important at this point than what Ridnour does or does not do on the court. When the Sonics selected him, it was with an eye to the future, not because of his immediate impact, a point driven home when the team signed veteran Antonio Daniels to serve as the backup to Brent Barry. It was also granted that Ridnour would have to put in work in the weight room to get stronger, something that became even more important when he was sidelined virtually all of the summer by a severely pulled abdominal muscle.

Ridnour has driven the lane with youthful abandon. Jeff Reinking/NBAE/Getty

When viewed in that context, what Ridnour has achieved this season on the court - averaging 5.5 points and 2.3 assists per game, including 10.0 points and 5.3 assists on 55.3% shooting in five starts, and playing more than 1,000 minutes - has to be considered a successful rookie season.

"It's been a lot of fun and I've got to play a lot and then I've got to sit and learn and play some more," said Ridnour when the question was put to him. "I definitely consider it a success and I'm excited about the future."

"Luke's a young guy," said McMillan. "Coming in, his rookie year, he's going to play over a thousand minutes. Basically, what he has done this season is kinda what I expected . . . . I think he's shown that he can play in this league."

Now, the challenge is for Ridnour to build on his rookie campaign with a strong summer of work with the coaching staff, including a chance to play summer-league ball after watching from the sidelines last July. The effort to get stronger to defend players like Jackson will continue.

"Just getting a chance to play and work out hard this summer and get ready for this next year is going to be good and it's big for me to go into training camp ready to go," Ridnour said.

It's still far too early to say what kind of role Ridnour will play next season. That will depend, in large part, on what happens with Barry, who will become an unrestricted free agent this summer. No matter the resolution of that situation, it appears Ridnour has proven enough that he will be part of the rotation next season in some capacity.

That's exactly where he should be.