On contacting 12th pick Robert Swift:
I haven’t spoken to Robert at all. We did talk to his father and we wanted to try to get down and see him. We tried several times. We tried to get him up for a workout and just couldn’t do it. We did our homework, we talked to a lot of people, that really felt that this guy had pretty good potential to be a pretty good center one day in this league. We felt that his skill level at this young age, he showed too much to pass him. This is a young guy that in the future should be a solid player.

On drafting him without a workout:
We’ve had a number of guys in the lottery that we couldn’t get in for various reasons. A lot of times the agents are controlling that. Agents tend to hold guys back. The fact that our scouts have seen him play several times, they are very high on him. Basically, the rest of us are going on videotapes and just conversations with other people. I talked to Tim Grgurich and he really felt that this guy would be solid, he likes to play in the paint, he likes to play with his back to the basket and he’s a tough kid. He’s 7-0 and very skillful. He really praised the kid and he’s been working with this kid for two years. I have a great deal of confidence in Coach Grg. Any young player who Coach Grg is praising like that, I believe him.

On taking a high schooler:
I felt like a lot of these guys in the draft are similar to Robert. They aren’t ready to play next season and I think that we will have to find some players in free agency this summer. You try to draft the player with the highest potential and I think we did that today. Watching him in the All-Star games, watching his footwork, some of the things he was doing as a youngster. He really hasn’t had a lot of work other than a year of two with Grgurich in the summer time. He showed potential to one day, I think he’s years away, to be a solid player.

On the possibility of trading Swift:
No. Not that I’m aware of.

On what the Sonics know about Swift:
We talked to his father. Lonnie Shelton really endorsed this kid. His son plays on the same team with this kid. He has seen him play several times. He spoke highly of the kid and thought that if we did select him it would be a good choice.

On whether Swift can contribute next season:
I feel that he will take some time to develop. I think the potential is certainly there but with the guys we have on our roster right now it will be tough for him to break into that rotation. He will have that opportunity. I’m not saying he won’t play next year but once camp starts, he will have the opportunity to play with our guys this summer.

On improving next season:
I think we’re really focused on free agency. This summer we still want to find a perimeter player, a perimeter defender, rebounding. We will now be focusing on Brent Barry and free agency.

On when he realized there wouldn't be players available at 12 who could make a significant impact right away:
Pretty early. I felt comfortable with about three players that if we had the opportunity to draft them could compete for minutes on the floor. After that I just felt that this would be a young draft, we were drafting on potential, and for the future. So very early, looking at the guys we’ve had on the roster and possibly bringing one of these guys on board, who would have an opportunity to break into the rotation? Probably three of those guys.

On David Young, the Sonics 41st pick:
He is a tough defender and good scorer, he averaged 22 points. He really competes when he’s out on the floor. His strength is just his mental toughness. He was all about business (when he worked out here). A few teams had him in twice to look at him and his workouts for us were really good. He was all business. Defensively, he can hold his own, and offensively, he’s a scorer. Looking at those factors and knowing we’re looking for that kind of toughness at (pick) 41, we felt like that was pretty good.

On whether Young has a chance to make the team:
Yeah, I think he does. That was part of the reason for just taking one second-round pick. He does have an opportunity to make our team. We’ll look at him in summer league.

ASSISTANT COACH JACK SIKMA:

On what he saw in Swift:
He’s not going to be a help for us this next year. It will take a while in fairness to him. He’s an 18-year old young man that has a lot to learn. We like his approach and his innate skills at this point.

On Swift's development:
I think the best example we can use is Rashard (Lewis). Rashard in his rookie year played 500 minutes or so. Second year, he doesn’t play much early but late in the year he is in the rotation and played pretty good in the playoff series. When you look at our team, two of our bigs, Jerome (James) and Vitaly (Potapenko), have just one year left in their free agency. Our center position is going to change anyway, so he’ll have one year under his belt. There will be a change in our center position but we thought it was important to grab him and I look forward to working with him.

On individual workouts vs. game scouting and tape:
In individual workouts you don’t see five-on-five. We see two-on-two at the most and most of the time it’s just one-on-one. You try to get a feel to what his nature is. This kid has been playing for 18 years and a number of these guys have been playing for 22 years, so if we make our decision based on a 10-minute workout with somebody else, that doesn’t make sense. He’s got to get stronger for our league and most 18-year old kids do. We talked to his AAU coach and talked to (Washington Coach) Lorenzo (Romar). He said this kid has good skills and is well advanced for his age. A number of basketball people, although he was a little bit off the radar screen, a number of basketball people liked him. He’s got a good feel for the game. A lot of times, kids get big and then have to learn how to play but it looks like Robert has been playing for a long time.

On what Swift can do:
I think this young man has some innate things he can do on the basketball court. He seems to be in the right position all of the time. When you watch him play he seems to have good feet and he works hard. He’s a guy that can also play away from the basket. We saw him hit a high school three-pointer. He pulled up and looked comfortable there and he also works the elbows. But where he spends most of his time is down low in the paint with his back to the basket, and seems to react really well to the ball.

On what Swift needs to improve upon:
I think strength will add to his ability to run the court. And stamina and being able to hold his position, that kind of thing. For most players, even if they come to the league from college, they still need more definition and the ability to hold position. You look at my rookie picture and three years later, you look at Rashard and six years later, you look at Nate and three or four years later. It’s just that physical maturity. I think for bigs especially, it adds to their ability to run the court. Just more of a power factor that comes with age.

12TH PICK ROBERT SWIFT:

On his reaction to being picked by the Sonics:
Relief. I’m excited. I get to stay close to home, so hopefully my family will be able to watch me play.

On why he did not work out for any teams:
Workouts started when I was still in school, so I didn’t have a lot of time. And then I was advised by my agent to take the last week and a half off.

On his game:
I’m a post player, so I play with my back to the basket. I do whatever I can do to help my team win.

On when he can contribute in the NBA:
I honestly don’t know. I plan on coming in and trying to help my team win from the first game.

On when he decided to turn pro:
It was more recent. Mainly during my senior year. More recent than anything else.

On the chance to work with Jack Sikma:
I’ve actually worked out with Lonnie Shelton before. I’ve been working with him for a couple of months and he’s said great things about him (Sikma), so I’m looking forward to it.

On how he felt when he was drafted:
I was happy first of all, and a little relieved, but more so happy that I’ll finally get my chance. Seattle is a great team and I look forward to playing for them.

On his relationship with Tim Grgurich:
I’ve been working with him for a couple of years. I’ve been learning as much as I can when I see him. I met him at the ABCD Camp and it’s just gone from there.

GENERAL MANAGER RICK SUND:

On David Young:
We brought him in for a workout, liked him, and then brought him in for a second workout. We liked him very much.

On taking a high schooler:
If we were going to take a high school player we wanted to take one with huge upside. I think Jay Bilas brought it out that if this kid had gone to college, this kid could have been a very early pick, either one or two, and we looked at that with a number of players. And not just the high school players, but with some of the foreign players who were young. We looked at some of the other bigs, like (Peter John) Ramos and some of the other players.

On the risk in taking Swift:
I don’t think there is a whole lot of risk because he is going to be a player in this league. He’s a bona fide center, he’s definitely going to be in the league. I think the timetable is how fast is he going to develop. Is he going to be able to get some minutes next year? Is this going to be a situation where he’s going to be a summer-league player and surprise us? It’s too early to tell. But in terms of a risk I don’t think he’s a risk factor. If you were going to say who is going to be one of the top ten centers in the league, he’s going to be one. I don’t think the risk factor is too high.

On Swift's mobility:
He’s got really good balance for a young kid which seems to be a problem for even college centers when they come into the NBA. That was one of the surprising physical attributes that he has. That coincides with what Jack says about his good feet.

On when he knew the Sonics wouldn't get an immediate impact player:
One of the things that we had to debate was our depth. We had the third best bench in the league production-wise, with one of the youngest teams in the league. So whoever we took, unless you took (Emeka) Okafor or (Dwight) Howard, it was going to be very difficult for that player to break in, even with three or four years in college. Then you throw in Nick (Collison), with him coming back, even if we picked three through 10, rather than 12 it would be very difficult for that guy to get playing time. If you look at the ages of all these kids, it was pretty much a draft of potential.