Lewis was amongst small forward leaders in points and rebounds per game. Jeff Reinking/NBAE/Getty

Lewis has established a consistent level of performance that ranks him amongst the upper echelon of the league's small forwards, averaging between 16.8 and 18.1 points and 6.5 and 7.0 rebounds each of the last three seasons. Amongst players at his position who qualified for the NBA's leaderboard, Lewis ranked eighth in scoring and fifth in rebounding last season. Only Phoenix's Shawn Marion rated better than Lewis in both categories.

That's not to say that Lewis doesn't have room to grow and develop his game. The most obvious area is consistency; while Lewis has been consistent year-to-year, his game-by-game consistency has been a concern.

Indiana Pacers forward Ron Artest provides an interesting contrast to Lewis. While both averaged virtually the same number of points per game (17.8 for Lewis, 18.3 for Artest), they did it in very different fashions. Lewis was held under 15 points 35 times in 80 games, while Artest was held under that level just 18 times in 73 games. On the other hand, Lewis had six games of 30 points or more, including a career-high 50 - making Lewis one of just four players to reach the mark last season - while Artest topped 30 just twice.

Obviously, the Sonics don't want Lewis to stop having the big nights where he carries the team to victory (the Sonics were 5-1 when Lewis hit for 30 or more), but they could use him contributing more in the other games. Lewis took a major step towards that goal last season by continuing to contribute even when his offense wasn't clicking. On a per-minute basis, Lewis actually rebounded better in his low-scoring games (below 15) than in his high-scoring ones (above 20).

The challenge is for Lewis to find ways to get his points even when having an off night from the perimeter or defended by a top-notch stopper. There, the best solution is probably for Lewis to get to the free-throw line more than he did last season, as free throws are largely immune to the kind of streakiness seen with jumpshots. After shooting a career-high 345 free throws while playing regularly in the post in 2002-03, Lewis shot 75 less last season as he spent more time on the perimeter.

Lewis had a great season from beyond the three-point line, knocking down a career-high 145 three-pointers and shooting them at a 37.6% clip. For the second time in his career, Lewis participated in the Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout during last year's All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles. If Lewis is able to pair that kind of three-point success with his effective play down low from two seasons ago (when he shot only 34.6% from downtown, his worst mark since becoming a starter), he could take the next step in his development as a scorer.

Two ugly words - plantar fasciitis - could keep Lewis from taking that step this season. Lewis has seen action in only two preseason games for the Sonics after aggravating the pain in his left foot during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers. Lewis is still targeting a return for the Sonics opener against the Los Angeles Clippers on Nov. 3, but plantar fasciitis can be difficult to predict.

Radmanovic is second on the Sonics in preseason scoring. Sam Forencich/NBAE/Getty

The upside of Lewis' injury is that it has allowed Lewis' backup, Vladimir Radmanovic, to get heavy preseason action at his more natural small forward position. Radmanovic struggled with his shooting through Saturday's game at San Antonio, but bounced back to score 35 points and hit five three-pointers in his last two games.

After experiencing inconsistency of his own as the starting power forward the first two and a half months of last season, Radmanovic settled into a groove playing both forward positions off the bench over the second half of the season. As a reserve, Radmanovic shot 46.4% from the field and 38.9% from downtown, making him a more efficient shooter than Lewis or Ray Allen. The big jump was in Radmanovic's two-point percentage, which was 54.1% as a reserve after being 43.9% in his career through his move to the bench. Radmanovic balanced shooting from the perimeter and driving the lane much more effectively than he ever had before.

While Radmanovic is still in the picture for playing time at power forward this season, with Nick Collison and Danny Fortson newly in the mix there, he'll probably play a larger percentage of his minutes at small forward. If Lewis is out of the lineup at all, Radmanovic becomes a starter and has the ability to keep the Sonics from seeing much of a drop-off at the position.

Because he doesn't project as a starter this season, Radmanovic has not been mentioned as a breakout candidate like he was a year ago. But given his combination of youth (Radmanovic turns 24 in November), and experience (Radmanovic has now played 5,461 minutes in his NBA career) and his performance over the second half of lasts season, Radmanovic is likely to improve his per-minute performance and shooting percentages dramatically over last year's season marks.

Lewis and Radmanovic are the only small forwards guaranteed to make the Sonics roster, but a pair of training-camp invitees are bidding for the third spot. After being one of the Sonics last cuts a year ago, Galen Young has again put himself in a position to make the team with his defensive ability. Young locked up Andrei Kirilenko in the Sonics preseason game with Utah and has consistently shined at that end of the floor in practice, but needs to be able to hit the 17-foot jumper to force defenses to play him honestly.

Meanwhile, Damien Wilkins has had the most surprising preseason of any Sonics player. In 19.2 minutes per game, Wilkins is third on the Sonics in scoring average at 9.7 points. Wilkins is shooting an even 50% from the field and has been able to knock down jump shots with regularity, the one knock on him offensively. Wilkins forced his way into the starting lineup at shooting guard (primarily a small forward in college, he's played both guard and forward for the Sonics) for Wednesday's preseason matchup with the Suns.

While McMillan has yet to make up his mind on his final roster, it will be difficult for the Sonics to cut Wilkins after he played well during both summer-league action and now during the preseason.