Kevin Pelton, SUPERSONICS.COM | August 24, 2005
After re-signing
Vitaly Potapenko and matching an offer for
Damien Wilkins over a two-day period, the Seattle SuperSonics have brought their 2005-06 roster into clearer focus. Three weeks after beginning the free agency period with just six players under contract, the Sonics have added four and retain the right of first refusal to three more free agents they hope to bring back.
"Going into the off-season, we had nine free agents," Sonics General Manager Rick Sund said Wednesday afternoon. "Five were unrestricted, four of them rotation guys, and four restricted. With the unrestricted guys, you could conceivably lose all four and it would be totally out of your control. We wanted to get 
Ray (Allen) as our top priority and then we wanted to get one of our two centers. We felt there was a very, very good chance we were going to lose AD (
Antonio Daniels). We got those two.
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"He got some attention, market value was established with an offer sheet. We looked at it and it was reasonable and we matched it."
Jeff Reinking/NBAE/Getty
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"The restricted free agents, in theory we can keep them all, at least for another year. I think if we can get three of those four, then we've had a pretty good off-season with all the free agents we had in terms of keeping them."
The Sonics kept the first of those four restricted free agents today, exercising their right of first refusal on an offer sheet Wilkins signed last Friday with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Sonics had until Thursday to match the deal, but did not need all of that time. That's because, to Sund, the decision was never that difficult.
"We like Damien a lot," explained Sund. "Our coaches did. Obviously, the coaches that were here that left did. They saw a lot in him, both Dwane (Casey) and Nate (McMillan). [Before signing with Minnesota, coached by former Sonics assistant Casey, Wilkins had negotiated with the Portland Trail Blazers, coached by McMillan.] And you had some other teams that were interested besides Portland and Minnesota. He got some attention, market value was established with an offer sheet. We looked at it and it was reasonable and we matched it."
In a statement, Sund noted of Wilkins, "he improved as much in one season as any player we can remember." He elaborated on that, pointing out the fact that the Sonics at one point considered cutting Wilkins before contracts became guaranteed for the season.
"It doesn't happen very often where a guy is the last guy to make the team and then in January you debate whether to cut him because the contract becomes guaranteed and by the end of the season he's playing not only significant minutes but he's playing minutes in the playoffs when it counts and he's responding," Sund said. "That's huge improvement from where we were in October."
That loyalty demonstrated by the Sonics has paid off, not only in their ability to retain Wilkins as a free agent but in his relationship with the team. While some reports indicates Wilkins preferred to go to Minnesota because he would have the opportunity to start, something unlikely in Seattle because of the presence of Allen and 
Rashard Lewis at shooting guard and small forward, Sund isn't concerned.
"I've already talked to him about it," he said. "From a basketball perspective, it made sense. (Latrell) Sprewell's not there; (Fred) Hoiberg had the heart situation, he can't play. So there's a little more opportunity. At the same time, when I talked to him this morning, he mentioned that Seattle is home. It was the team that took a chance on him, the team that kept him during training camp and summer league. There's kind of a bonding deal there with him and the Sonics."
With several other players in the mix for playing time at the two and three spots, Wilkins only got his chance as a rookie following injuries. Although the call will ultimately be made by new Coach Bob Weiss and will depend in part on how the Sonics fill out their roster, Sund sees the versatility of Wilkins and other Sonics players as giving him the opportunity to carve out a role off the bench.
"One of the characteristics of our team, with the exception of just a couple players, is the versatility of multi-position players," said Sund. "I remember at the All-Star Game a couple of years ago, hearing Michael Jordan talk about, when he and Bird and Magic, when they came into the league, probably the greatest dimension they had - putting their talent aside - is they all could play multiple positions. That's what Damien has. He fits right in with most of our guys."
The Sonics other move was to retain Potapenko, an unrestricted free agent after three seasons in Seattle. After Jerome James signed with New York, keeping Potapenko became a priority for the Sonics. Potapenko was the starter over James at the end of the preseason, but a broken bone in his right hand allowed James to claim the starting job, which he did not relinquish all season.
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"I think Vitaly was a very important piece."
Jeff Reinking/NBAE/Getty
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"I think Vitaly was a very important piece," Sund said.
Potapenko gives the Sonics a veteran to go at the position in front of second-year player 
Robert Swift and rookie Johan Petro. In addition to those three true centers, the Sonics can also use forwards 
Nick Collison and 
Danny Fortson at center, illustrating the versatility Sund referred to. Sund does expect Swift to see more action this season than he did as a rookie, coming off of a summer-league performance in which he finished amongst Rocky Mountain Revue leaders in rebounding.
"If we felt that he was ready, there were plenty of times we could have thrown him out there," Sund explained. "This year, it's going to be an issue of picking spots - can you give him a little time to help his development? Then if he responds, you're going to give him a lot more. But we're definitely going to give him some minutes, because he's a guy who's hopefully going to help us in the future."
While the Sonics have effectively put together a road map for the rest of their key summer moves, there is still work to be done. In addition to their own restricted free agents, the Sonics are open to adding another outside free agent. After using part of it to match Wilkins, they still have part of their mid-level exception available for this purpose. (They do not have their bi-annual exception after using it last season.)
"We're not done," Sund said. "We've got six weeks before the season starts. I wish we were done, because I could take a week off and go somewhere, but we're not. We've got to nurse our own free agents and keep that going. You always listen to every potential trade possibility with regards to sign-and-trades, and you've got to look at some of the other players in free agency that might make a good chemistry fit. (Rick) Brunson made a good chemistry fit - can we find another player like that to give us some depth?"
The Sonics remaining restricted free agents - 
Reggie Evans, 
Ronald "Flip" Murray and 
Vladimir Radmanovic - control their own timeline in terms of signing an offer sheet with another team, like Wilkins, accepting the one-year qualifying offer the Sonics had to tender to earn the right of first refusal or signing another deal offered by the Sonics. It appears that these players may take this process into September while waiting for better offers to materialize.
"The timeline is out of our control, because they can sign the qualifying offer at any time and we can match at any time - within seven days of when they sign an offer sheet - so there's no pressure there," said Sund.
