C BRAD MILLER
Brad Miller is one of the NBA's top centers … when he's healthy. And while that caveat might not be very important in the long term, it is in this series. Miller fractured his left fibula in practice in early March and missed the last 19 games of the regular season. While he's begun doing some work with the team, it's still uncertain whether he will be ready for the start of the series. Even if he does return, Miller will be playing himself back into shape. This is good news for the Sonics, because Miller is a fine player who had a two-year All-Star streak snapped this January. Offensively, Miller is as skilled as any center outside of
Shaquille O'Neal and
Amaré Stoudemire. He averaged 15.6 points this season, shooting a fine 52.4% from the field (good for eighth in the league). He's also averaged around four assists each of the last two seasons, playing the high post in the Kings offense to perfection. Miller is a quality rebounder as well who averaged a double-double in 2003-04. On defense, Miller plays solid post defense but is not particularly quick or a high jumper, meaning he can struggle on the perimeter and doesn't block a lot of shots. Something to watch in this series is that Miller has been frustrated by the Sonics physical play against him defensively. Over the course of a lengthy series, Miller's temper is a definite wild card.
C BRIAN SKINNER
The third and final player acquired from Philadelphia in the Webber deal,
Brian Skinner became the Kings starting center after Miller went down. Buried with the Sixers behind
Samuel Dalembert and
Marc Jackson, Skinner has reminded everyone why he was considered a coveted free agent last summer since coming to Sacramento. With the Kings, Skinner has averaged 7.4 points and 8.7 rebounds, shooting 55.4% from the field and adding 1.7 blocks and 1.0 steals at the defensive end of the court. Skinner isn't a star, but he can capably start at center. He's enough of an offensive threat to keep defenses honest and shoot a high percentage, while doing fine work on the glass (14.3 rebounds per 48 minutes this season) and with his help defense. Skinner's one major weakness is defending the post; he's only 6-9 and not particularly big, so Sonics center
Jerome James can beat him down low. James scored 13 points on 6-for-9 shooting in the one matchup with the Kings after the trade. Skinner sprained his right foot in Sacramento's regular-season finale, but is expected to be healthy for this series.
C GREG OSTERTAG
The Kings haven't gotten the kind of production they hoped for out of
Greg Ostertag when they signed the long-time Utah Jazz stalwart as a free agent last summer. Ostertag saw action in only 56 games, averaging 1.6 points per game. Ostertag does enter this series on a little bit of a roll, coming up with 26 rebounds, five blocks and a startling nine assists in his last three games. But generally, he's struggled to fit into a Kings system that emphasizes versatility in its big men. Ostertag isn't a versatile player; his offense generally consists of dunking feeds from other players and putbacks. He can still be valuable nonetheless because of his work on the glass and defensively. During his final season in Utah, Ostertag averaged 7.4 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. Entering this season, Ostertag had averaged at least a block per game all nine seasons of his career. Depending on the health of the Kings other centers, Ostertag may not see very much time in this series.
