The Seattle SuperSonics entry in the Southern California Summer Pro League finished up at 6-1, the best record amongst the nine NBA teams who took part in the league. The Sonics dominated their opposition throughout its week and a half of play, finishing with a scoring differential of +15 points per game. The Sonics, under the tutelage of assistant coach Dean Demopoulos, held opponents to 42.3% shooting overall and just 20% from three-point range while forcing nearly 20 turnovers per game. Of course, in summer-league action the team’s performance is not nearly so important as the development of individual players. While it’s always nice to win, the goal of playing in summer leagues is to get ready for when it counts.

Murray impressed the Sonics with his ability to score almost at will. NBAE/Getty

Because of the disparate level of competition, summer-league stats need to be taken with an enormous grain of salt, but unquestionably the numbers put up by Sonics guard Ronald Murray are very impressive. The 6-4 second-year guard, who played in just two games with the Sonics after being acquired at the trade deadline as part of the team’s blockbuster deal with Milwaukee, led the Sonics summer-leaguers in scoring six out of seven games. He really got hot late last week, torching former Sonics guard Earl Watson for 37 points and following that up with a 32-point performance against the L.A. Clippers.

Murray finished up with an average of 22.9 points per game, tops on the Sonics, and did not do it by throwing up 25 shots a night. He shot 50.9% from the field and 47.4% from three-point range. With his performance, Murray has clearly helped himself with a Sonics front office that previously had seen little of him in action. “I’m going to have to see him this summer in the summer league, because I don’t know him,” Sund told SUPERSONICS.COM about Murray early in the off-season. By the time he returned to Seattle last weekend, Sund had gotten a very good look indeed at what Murray can do. “In some ways he’s like (former Sonics guard) Vinnie Johnson when Vinnie played the point, where he can pretty much go where he wants to go with the ball and score,” Sund said to the media. In order to play point guard, Murray will have to look to set up teammates more. Though he led the Sonics in assists, he averaged just 3.1 per game and registered an assist/turnover ratio below 1.5.

The biggest question mark going into summer-league play was how lottery pick Nick Collison would perform. Collison struggled with foul trouble, limiting him to just 27 minutes on average. Collison played well when he was in, scoring in the low post and getting on the boards. Collison made 54.1% of his shots while finishing third on the team in scoring at 13.0 points per game. He led the Sonics in rebounding, grabbing over seven boards on average. Collison matched up against a pair of other rookie big men drafted in the first round this year, Chris Bosh of the Toronto Raptors and Brian Cook of the Los Angeles Lakers. Collison scored just nine points against Bosh, but outrebounded him 7-4. Against Cook, Collison again won the battle on the boards (11-6) and scored 13 points.

Third-year forward Vladimir Radmanovic was one of the most experienced players participating in the Summer Pro League. As a result, Radmanovic was looking more to develop his skills than to put up numbers. After a slow start, he did finish second on the team in both scoring (15.9 ppg) and rebounding (6.4 rpg). As promised, Radmanovic spent more time handling the ball and finished with an impressive average of 2.6 assists per game against just 1.9 turnovers. Radmanovic also did a good job defensively against bigger players like Bosh, holding them in check down low.

Collison led the Sonics summer squad in rebounding. Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty

The final Sonics veteran on the squad was Ansu Sesay, who provided a versatile presence from the small forward position. Sesay shot just 39.4% from the field, but averaged 11.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists.

The schedule of the other Sonics rookie participating in summer-league action, second-round selection Paccelis Morlende, was shortened by a hamstring injury suffered early in the team’s fourth game. Through his first few games, Morlende had impressed with his play. Sund reported that scouts from around the league were talking about his performance. Morlende was starting to get going when he was injured, coming off of a 13-point, five-assist, three-steal performance where he made six of ten shots. After adding Antonio Daniels as a free agent, however, the Sonics are already full in the backcourt and will likely allow Morlende another year of development in Europe.

Gonzaga guard Richie Frahm replaced Morlende in the starting lineup. Frahm couldn’t make a basket early on, shooting 24% over the first five games before rallying over the final weekend. He made eight of 12 shots in those games, including an impressive six of seven from three-point range. Frahm displayed an impressive ability to take care of the basketball, posting a five-to-one assist-turnover ratio.

Corsley Edwards and Mikki Moore split time as the Sonics reserve big men. Moore, a five-year NBA veteran, played like the man amongst boys that he was. He shot a team-best 58.3% from the field and also led the Sonics in rebounds per 48 minutes, with 13.3. Edwards shot a solid 51.3%, but was largely a non-factor on the boards. He and Collison were co-leaders in blocked shots, with five apiece. Jefferson Sobral played backup small forward and put his athleticism on display, but needs to improve his shooting. Sobral made a team-low 37.5% from the field.

Malik Moore opened summer-league play as the backup point guard for the Sonics with rookie Luke Ridnour out because of a pelvic fracture, but quickly found his job usurped by the surprising Quannas White. Moore did a poor job of distributing the ball, finishing with an assist/turnover ratio before one and looking for his own shot too much. White impressed the front office, which wasn’t sure at first he’d even make the trip to Long Beach after the team’s four-day camp in Seattle. After sitting out the first game, White came on and finished as the Sonics second-leading assister. Not known for his scoring ability, White shot 61.6% from two-point range and 35.7% from three. White is probably not ready to play in the NBA just yet, but keep his name in mind as a player who could someday develop into a Kevin Ollie-style backup.