RELATED CONTENT

Training Camp Homepage Sonics Ask More of Ridnour Allen is Sonics Consistent Star Lewis Looks For All-Star Repeat Sonics News Archive

For three years now, a trio of Seattle SuperSonics players have competed for playing time at the power forward position. Two years ago, the shoulder surgeries that ended Nick Collison's season made playing time decisions easy, but with Collison healthy last year and Reggie Evans and Vladimir Radmanovic having established themselves at power forward, there was a positive competition for playing time. With Evans and Radmanovic accepting one-year qualifying offers to stay with the Sonics as restricted free agents and Collison's growth going into his second season, finding minutes for all three players will only become more challenging this season.

"That is a good problem to have, a lot of talent at a certain position, but there are going to be nights when a person you would like to be playing more doesn't get as many minutes as you would like him to." Jeff Reinking/NBAE/Getty

"That is a good problem to have, a lot of talent at a certain position," Sonics Coach Bob Weiss said yesterday, "but there are going to be nights when a person you would like to be playing more doesn't get as many minutes as you would like him to. That's just going to be a game-to-game situation. Injuries are going to play a part in that. Who you're playing against is going to have a part in that."

Last October, Evans established a firm hold on the starting position with a strong training camp and preseason. He ended up starting all 79 games he played and had a career year, particularly on the boards. While Evans' average of 9.3 rebounds per game was the best recorded by a Sonics player since Shawn Kemp, it understated his yeoman's work on the glass because of the Sonics depth at power forward and the slow pace at which the team played. When he was on the court, nearly one out of every four rebounds was grabbed by Evans - 23.9%, to be exact - the best mark in the league.

While the subjective reviews of Evans' defense were occasionally mixed, the Sonics performance with and without him on the court revealed his success. A system created by statistics expert Dan Rosenbaum and published on 82games.com put Evans amongst the NBA's ten best defensive power forwards.

This year, Evans has again impressed during camp and has done nothing to lose his starting role. In five preseason games, Evans has averaged 5.8 rebounds - 11.7 per 40 minutes.

However, whether Evans is in the Sonics starting five on Opening Night will probably depend on the health of center Vitaly Potapenko. Weiss has favored pairings of his power forwards and centers designed to blend each player's strengths and weaknesses and give the Sonics the most balanced lineup possible. In particular, Weiss is looking to keep four shooters on the court at all times.

Evans has been paired with Potapenko in what will likely be the Sonics starting lineup when the team is at full health. Potapenko is the Sonics best shooter at center and gives the team an ability to stretch the floor even with Evans in the lineup, while Evans' active defense and presence on the boards helps out Potapenko. In the long term, this is a favorable pairing for Evans, but while Potapenko remains sidelined by a strained left hamstring, that may keep Evans out of the starting five.

Radmanovic

In Potapenko's absence, Weiss' favored starting pairing has been Radmanovic and rookie center Johan Petro. That lineup has proven reminiscent of the Sonics success starting Radmanovic alongside Jerome James during the 2001-02 season (the Sonics went 10-4 starting that combination that season).

Radmanovic is unquestionably the Sonics best offensive option at power forward. When playing the position, he stretches defenses and forces opposing teams to think twice about double-teaming pick-and-rolls involving the Sonics center and any of their three perimeter players. Last year, Radmanovic proved more dangerous for opposing defense because he mixed in the drive better when opposing defenders came flying out at him on the wing.

According to 82games.com, Radmanovic's presence on the court improved the Sonics Offensive Rating by 11.7 points per 100 possessions, one of the most positive impacts throughout the league. Not only was Radmanovic effective himself, he made his teammates more effective as well by opening up the floor.

"I think he'd have a great crack at being the starter, but I would rather bring him off the bench right now." Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty

After missing much of training camp with inflammation and pain in his left foot, Radmanovic has had a slow preseason, shooting 27.6% from the field and 26.7% from beyond the 3-point line. There is little doubt, however, that Radmanovic will be hitting from downtown when the season starts. Despite being limited to 63 games last season by injuries, Radmanovic still finished in the NBA's top 25 in made 3-pointers.

Over the summer, it was anticipated by observers that Collison would likely open training camp at the front of the line to start at power forward. Weiss challenged that assumption at Media Day, when he explained that he would prefer Collison coming off the bench in tandem with Danny Fortson. (Collison has started two preseason games, one at center and one alongside Fortson.)

"To me, it's more about putting pieces together and blending them, substituations," Weiss explained. "I think he'd have a great crack at being the starter, but I would rather bring him off the bench right now."

Weiss finally got the opportunity to bring Collison and Fortson off the bench together last Saturday at Golden State, and the duo paid immediate dividends. Collison had easily his best game of the preseason, posting a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds on 6-for-9 shooting from the field. While Collison has had a relatively quiet preseason, his overall line is typically strong - 7.8 points and a team-best 6.5 rebounds (14.9 and 12.4 per 40 minutes) on 52.8% shooting.

Collison is the Sonics best all-around power forward, and while he might not start games this season, he'll likely finish them, at either power forward or center.