Despite his upcoming free agency, Allen is focused on getting the Sonics to the playoffs. Layne Murdoch/NBAE/Getty

At times a year ago, there was confusion about whether the Sonics were primarily focusing on winning games or developing players, and the fact of the matter is the two are not entirely inconsistent. The relationship is best described as a balance beam with weights on both sides, but one typically stronger than the other. Last year, developing youngsters like guards Luke Ridnour and Ronald "Flip" Murray and forwards Rashard Lewis and Vladimir Radmanovic held slight precedence. This year, the Sonics are looking at a playoff berth, and they feel it is within their grasp.

"Our goal, make no mistake about it, is to make the NBA playoffs," said Sonics Chairman Howard Schultz, who held court with the media for a half-hour at the start of the day and squashed rumors that he is considering selling his share of the team. "We believe we're capable of doing that. The players, the coaching staff, we're all in alignment that we think we're good enough to make the playoffs. That's our goal."

"We've said from the beginning, across the board, that we want to make the playoffs," concurred General Manager Rick Sund. "We have just about everybody back from last year, we've filled some holes, and the guys we've got coming back from last year are young, we're hoping that one year later, they've got more experience."

A lot of that will still come down to the young players - now add forward Nick Collison to this core after he missed all of last season following surgery on both shoulders - and how ready they are to carry the load. Ridnour is in the mix to start at point guard, Collison at power forward.

"As much as I want it for them, and as much as the organization and the fans want it for them, they have to want it for themselves," noted All-Star guard Ray Allen.

The departure of Brent Barry, who spurned the Sonics offer to sign with the San Antonio Spurs as a free agent, will force Allen into more of a leadership role this season. Along with center Vitaly Potapenko, Allen is the most experienced player on the roster as he enters his ninth NBA season.

"Brent was the glue; he kept a lot of stuff going, just his presence in the locker room," Allen said. "AD (Antonio Daniels) is here still, but Brent was a guy that played on different teams, he knew players, he knew referees, and there is nobody outside of myself on the team now that has that same experience."

Allen is entering the last year of his contract and his agent, Lon Babby, has been negotiating with the Sonics on an extension. Allen indicated those discussions have "gone according to plan" and will continue through the season, dismissing the notion that his status will affect his performance.

"When I walk on this floor, I see my teammates and we go shoot, we start practicing, I've said for a long time when I play basketball I never worry about how much money I make, how much money's in the bank," Allen said. "When we come on the floor, we don't talk about our contracts. If somebody signs a contract with whatever team I'm with, I come in the locker room and congratulate them and then we play basketball and don't worry about those things."

The perception around the league is that the Sonics were relatively quiet during the summer for a non-playoff team, but the front office and coaching staff believe that they've made two critical additions in forward Danny Fortson, picked up in a trade with Dallas, and Collison. There is no avoiding the fact that the Sonics were weak on the glass last season, and both players should help in that regard as well as defensively.

"He has had a really good summer," McMillan said about Collison. "Summer league was good for him. I had an opportunity to see him do a number of things the last two months. I don't see any problems with his shoulders. Even though he missed all of last season, watching him the last two months, he will be challenging for that starting power forward spot. He brings a lot to the floor and has good feel for the game."

Coming off of a strong summer-league effort, Collison will challenge for a starting role. Kent Horner/NBAE/Getty

It will be a crowded battle for the starting role at power forward. In addition to Collison and Fortson, holdovers Reggie Evans and Radmanovic are also in the mix. The expectation is that Collison will eventually win the job, but any of the four players could seize the lead with a strong training camp.

"They all do bring something a little different," said McMillan. "I've used most of them, and I see ways of using the other two, the new additions."

Adding the physical Fortson to Potapenko and Evans, as well as Collison, gives the Sonics a physical dimension they've lacked in recent seasons.

"We've become one of the most physical teams in the league," Sund said.

While Potapenko started 38 of the final 40 games of the season, McMillan indicated the center position will also be decided in training camp, giving Jerome James a chance to win the job. McMillan said he was pleased with James' conditioning at the start of training camp.

The third spot up for grabs is the point, following Barry's departure, and again there are multiple players who are in the running.

"Brent Barry left us and went to San Antonio, and that will give two guys, Luke and Ronald Murray, an opportunity to play this season," McMillan said. "(Luke) will get that shot. He has a shot at being a starter for us. I'll go through camp with all of those guys - Ronald, Antonio and Luke - playing the point guard position and come up with a starter."

Beyond personnel changes, the Sonics will also try to improve on last year's 37-45 performance by changing tactically. The Sonics trademark dating back to the early 90s has been using the trap on defense, but that has hurt them in recent years and it will not be as prominent this season.

"We're going to tweak it a little. One thing I want to get away from is trapping as much as we have in the past. Defensively, we want to play our man a lot more, and we will trap occasionally. We don't want to be, basically, predictable, as we have been in the past with double-teaming every night. I think defensively we're going to hold guys a little bit more accountable for their man. The reason for that is we want to improve our rebounding."

Associated Head Coach Dwane Casey added later that the Sonics are looking to force opponents to beat them by shooting contested twos instead of by getting layups or three-pointers off of double-teams, which present a greater amount of risk, which had outweighed the higher reward.