James’ shot-blocking ability makes him the favorite to start at center for the Sonics. Jeff Reinking/NBAE/Getty

For James, that means a role as the favorite to win a starting job in the middle for the Sonics. For Booth, it means challenging James for playing time while at the same time recovering from surgery. And for both players, it means trying to make good on the promise that brought them to the Sonics two summers ago.

Last year, the winner in the Booth-James battle ended up being neither player. Booth was slow to shake off his rust after sitting out for ten months with the ankle injury that eventually required surgery. Meanwhile, James came to camp out of shape and was plagued by foot problems throughout the preseason. Predrag Drobnjak, who was an afterthought at best in the center battle, walked away with the position after a strong preseason.

Drobnjak would only briefly relinquish the starting position, ending up starting 69 games. However, the restricted free agent remains unsigned with just four days remaining until young players begin reporting to training camp, and may not be back this season. Also gone is veteran Elden Campbell, acquired at the trade deadline in a rental move. Where the Sonics once had five centers on the roster fighting for playing time, they are now down to a more manageable three – Booth, James and Vitaly Potapenko. One of them will start at center and at least two will be part of the rotation. Which one? Which two? Those are much more difficult questions.

There is little question that the 7-1 James has the most raw talent of the group. His combination of size and relative quickness give James the potential to be one of the league’s better centers, something he’s demonstrated on numerous occasions over his two seasons in Seattle. In just 30 minutes at Toronto in February 2002, James scored a career-high 18 points (on 8-for-12 shooting) and added a career-high 12 rebounds while blocking three shots. Last year, he proved unguardable at times in the post, dominating an outmatched Theo Ratliff in one memorable February game and forcing the Hawks to double-team him.

The problem was, there were too few games like that and too many like March 11 against Portland, when James missed two shots and committed four turnovers in a seven-minute span before being removed from the game for good. James also missed 27 games with a stress fracture in his right foot suffered early in the season. Still, there were many positives in James’ play. He was one of the league’s leading shot-blockers on a per-minute basis, blocking 5.1 shots per 48 minutes. James’ per-minute rebounding (13.5 rp48) was second on the Sonics to Reggie Evans, and his 47.8% shooting topped the Sonics.

It’s because of those skills that, barring a new contract for Drobnjak, James will enter training camp penciled in as the Sonics starter. “I think if there’s a leading guy, and Drobnjak is not here, it’s probably Jerome James,” coach Nate McMillan said last week.

In order to avoid a repeat of last year, when he was unable to make good on his opportunity, James has been working hard this summer. “I don’t know, I haven’t had an off-season,” James responded when asked how it went. By coming to Seattle early – he’s been working out with teammates at the training facility since the middle of September – James is ensuring that he will report in much better shape than he did last year, while also looking to avoid an early-season injury like he’s suffered the last two seasons. “I’m just here to get myself ready for the season, because I know it’s going to be important for me to come out of the gate strong and in shape,” James said. “I don’t want to fall to injury like I have the last two seasons, early, and have to sit out for a month. If I come in (to camp) in shape, that will help out a bit.”

Booth has the best perimeter game of the three Sonics centers. Glenn James/NBAE/Getty

McMillan agreed about the importance of arriving early. “I think it’s good,” he said. “I think it’s good for the confidence of Jerome, that he has spent a lot more time this summer working and conditioning himself both mentally and physically to be ready for the season. It’s good for his teammates to see him putting in this extra work, to give them confidence that he mentally is preparing himself to play this season. I think it’s very good. I think it will show a direct result on what he does out on the floor.”

As far as his chances of starting, James is typically confident. “The Peja situation doesn’t affect me at all – I’ll be the starting center regardless,” James said. “Me being the starting center totally revolves around my performance in training camp and preseason.” What will a consistent James in the middle mean for the Sonics? “We’ll make it to the playoffs,” he concluded.

Booth spent only five games on the injured list last season, with patellar tendinitis in his left knee. However, he felt the effects of injuries all season long. There was the ankle injury which sidelined him nearly all of the 2001-02 season and kept him from being at full strength at the start of last year’s training camp. There was also a torn meniscus in his left knee that required surgery after the season. While Booth played through that injury – it was only discovered following the season during his exit process – it may have bothered him for some time.

Known as one of the hardest-working players on the Sonics, Booth spent the summer rehabbing his knee. “Everything’s different during rehab; there’s a totally different mentality,” he said. “I’ve been pretty dedicated about doing my rehab and lifting weights, but you can’t get accomplished what you want to on the basketball court because you’re trying to get healthy.” Booth now has a clean bill of health, though he is still finishing his rehabilitation at the training facility and may be limited to one practice a day during the early stages of training camp.

Now, Booth says, he needs to perform. “I really don’t have any excuses,” he said. “This is a big year for me, and I’ve just got to try to fight through it and come to play, be ready to go. It’s a setback, definitely, to have to have the surgery during the off-season, but at the same time, I’ll be fortunate enough to be healthy at the beginning of the season and have to try to build on it when I can.” Like James, Booth believes that he alone will determine his role on the club. “I can only control what I do, and if I go out there and play well I have a feeling that they’ll play me. I just have to try to take advantage of whatever opportunities I get in exhibition games and our scrimmages, play well and go from there.”

Potapenko’s hard work rehabbing could pay off this season. Mike Bellerive/Sonics Photos

The wild card in the battle at center is Potapenko. With 476 career games and 137 starts under his belt, Potapenko is far more experienced than the other Sonics centers. However, he struggled last year, shooting 44.1% from the field – his worst mark since his rookie season. McMillan is optimistic that Potapenko will be fully recovered from 2002 knee surgery after getting back on the court midway through last December. “Vitaly, I think, will be a guy who really will surprise some people,” McMillan said. “I think with him, watching him last year, seeing some of the things he can do, with him getting a little stronger over the off-season and really allowing that knee to heal for a year, he will challenge for some minutes at that center spot.”

In the NFL, a torn ACL is generally considered a two-year injury, in that it will take that long for a player to be completely recovered. Even by the end of last season, Potapenko was just a year out, so it seems realistic to expect that he will be better this season. Potapenko is not the shot-blocker that the other two centers are, but is the best post defender and a solid rebounder, two things the Sonics need out of their center. All three players will have the advantage of working with legendary former Sonics center Jack Sikma, named last week the team’s special assignments coach. After helping forward Rashard Lewis learn the post last season, Sikma will be around throughout training camp to offer pointers to the Sonics centers, as well as rookie Nick Collison, who could also factor in the center mix. “I’m really elated to be able to work with Jack Sikma,” Booth said. “Definitely one of the NBA greats at the center position and a very skilled guy, if I can recall. I know he’ll have a lot of tidbits and knowledge. That’s two years straight – I’ve gotten to pick some things from Kareem last year, now working with Jack on a regular basis will be a real honor.”

As James alluded earlier, the center battle has implications far beyond merely who starts games. If one player can take hold of the position and make it his own, as Drobnjak did last season, the Sonics will be in good shape for the coming season. So while James and Booth may start the season in much the same place they were last season, they hope to end it in an altogether different place – the playoffs.