Seattle SuperSonics General Manager Rick Sund and Coach Nate McMillan weren’t offering any firm answers Monday afternoon in their final meeting with the media before Thursday’s NBA Draft – not even to Sund’s daughter, acting as a reporter for Fox Sports Northwest. While a certain degree of opaqueness is to be desired at this time of the year, the Sonics braintrust was probably being honest. After the top three picks of this year’s draft – widely assumed to be high schooler LeBron James, Yugoslavian big man Darko Milicic and Syracuse forward Carmelo Anthony – the 2003 Draft has become entirely unpredictable, with players shooting up and down every half-hour, if various websites are to be believed. (“You guys read the mock drafts,” Sund said. “They change from day to day. Some guys will go from eight and the next day they go to 14, 15.”) Indeed, Sund could only name a handful of other players he was certain would be gone by the Sonics 12th and 14th picks – Texas guard T.J. Ford, Kansas guard Kirk Hinrich and, after prodding from the media, Georgia Tech forward Chris Bosh.

The Sonics are considering Collison because of his versatility. Jeff Jacobsen/KUAC

Additionally, the Sonics have not yet completed their preparations for the draft. They will have Turkish center Zaur Pachulia in for a workout today. Sund also emphasized that he doesn’t want the team to come to a premature decision on what to do. “One of the things I try to preach to our staff is, try not to be in a position of making a decision too soon. Be as objective as you possibly can,” he said. “Come Wednesday, it’s time to really start doing that.”

Sund did identify a handful of top prospects that the Sonics are likely to consider, should they stay in their current position of having the 12th and 14th picks. “We’re looking at (Reece) Gaines. We like Gaines. . . . We’re looking at (Luke) Ridnour. We’re looking at (Leandrinho) Barbosa some. Outside shot we’re looking at (Marcus) Banks. We’re trying to do all our homework and look at all of them. At the forward spot, we’re looking at (Mike) Sweetney, if he slides to us. We’re looking at (Nick) Collison. We looked at (Maciej) Lampe.”

In particular, both McMillan and Sund discussed Collison and Sweetney at length. “Collison is versatile,” McMillan said, concluding that he was “a solid guy” and comparing him to Philadelphia’s Keith Van Horn. Sund sounded a similar note, saying, “A very versatile player who can play some five and some four.” If the key word for Collison is versatile, for Sweetney the key phrase is back-to-the-basket. “Back-to-the-basket, more of a finesse player,” McMillan described the Georgetown forward. “He doesn’t jump over you or anything like that. I see why he gets to the free-throw line about ten times, because he has great footwork. His work in the paint is really good.” Sund emphasized Sweetney’s statistics. “Big numbers. Boards very, very well. Averaged double figures in rebounds, and I’ve always felt that if you can average double figures in college – good rebounders in college for the most part, historically and traditionally, are good rebounders in the NBA.” Which of the two the Sonics prefer remains a mystery, with Sund joking in response to the query, “You can ask me that question Thursday evening, probably about 7:00.”

Sund also cited Lampe as a player who impressed during his workout with the team. “Lampe played pretty well yesterday,” Sund said. “He’s a difficult one to analyze because obviously he’s playing overseas, and he’s with the minor-league club, he’s not with their A-team, he was with their B-team. I was fortunate enough to see him play. Dave (Pendergraft), our Director of Player Personnel, saw him play.”

At the same time, Sund indicated the team would take a player it has not yet worked out. “Oh, absolutely,” he responded to the question, adding, “Some of the best drafts of the teams I’ve been with have been when we’ve drafted people we haven’t worked out.” McMillan concurred, saying “Sometimes it’s better if they don’t (workout).” Those answers leave open the possibility of the Sonics trading up for a player like Bosh, as has been suggested recently by ESPN Insider. The openness runs together with the team’s mantra over the last two months of the flexibility provided by having two high picks. Sund continued to say the Sonics would definitely consider a trade, but are happy to stay where they are if no deal materializes. “If I had to say today, ‘Are we going to do a trade?’ . . . who knows?” he said. Discussing the possibility of a trade for a veteran player, he added, “It has to stay within our time frame,” meaning the Sonics probably wouldn’t consider a player any older than 27-year-old Ray Allen.

Mike Sweetney would give the Sonics the back-to-the-basket player they need.

That flexibility also relates to positions. “Is there a chance that we’ll take a point guard? Yeah. Is there a chance we’ll take a swing player? Yeah. Is there a chance we’ll take a forward? Yeah,” Sund said. He also indicated that the Sonics would be looking at the best player available as much as, if not more so, than their needs. “If the best player is significantly better than that player that might fill a need, and that player who fills a need happens to be in the rotation as the 10th or 11th man, it might not make sense (to draft for need). If you think that need can be a player who can help you in two or three years, you look at it.”

Both Sund and McMillan discussed a long-term orientation in planning for the draft. “In a year or two, you’d like the guy to be a big part of what you’re doing,” McMillan said. Sund echoed that, saying, “I think it would be pretty hard for 12 and 14 for anyone to come in and jump into the starting lineup.” Still, McMillan admitted that, as a coach, his focus is more on the present than the front office’s is. “The bottom line is to win games,” he concluded.

A major topic of discussion throughout the press availability was the point guard position. Sund re-asserted his belief that the platoon of Brent Barry and Kevin Ollie can successfully hold down the point guard position, saying, “I’ve tried to emphasize in a casual setting here that whoever we take as a point guard is not going to come in here next year and take down Ray or Brent or Kevin, if we re-sign Kevin, but I think he can get some playing time.” While Sund reasserted his openness to non-traditional point guards, he also agreed the sentiment had been overplayed in the media. “I like guards. If a guard happens to be a point – Stephon Marbury, T.J. Ford in this draft, Steve Francis in other drafts, or Jason Kidd – they’re point guards,” Sund said. “If we get a point guard and he’s a one-position player, then that’s fine.”

In addition to talking about the Sonics picks, the braintrust was asked about the rest of the draft. Sund was effusive in discussing the top three prospects in the draft. “The best example I can tell you on LeBron,” Sund said, “is when I saw him play. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. He’s one of those type of players – like Michael and Kobe, and I’m not saying he’s going to be that good – so he’s exciting.” Sund indicated that the Sonics scouts “really like” Milicic before concluding of Anthony, “He was the most dominant freshman in basketball last year, certainly the catalyst to Syracuse’s national championship.”