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P.J. Carlesimo

"I don't have a starting one," Carlesimo said at Monday's annual Media Day, asked if he has a starting five in mind. "Honestly. I think that's a good thing. I think the players understand that. They all understand you get a chance to start all over, particularly when you have at minimum five new players, some of whom a lot's expected of them."

Carlesimo stresses his honesty because competition in camp has been almost cliché as coaches seek to motivate their players. At most, a couple of starting positions are typically up for grabs as well as a few other spots in the rotation. That's not the case for the Sonics after an off-season that saw the organization undergo an overhaul. Carlesimo is new, as is General Manager Sam Presti, top-five picks Kevin Durant and Jeff Green and veterans Wally Szczerbiak, Kurt Thomas and Delonte West.

10 players in camp with the Sonics were regulars in their team's rotation a year ago, averaging at least 17.7 minutes per game. An 11th, center Robert Swift, was a regular in 2005-06 and had earned a starting job last fall before a torn ACL ended his campaign during the preseason. Then there are Durant and Green, both of whom figure to contribute immediately and challenge for starting spots. In the NBA, where a 10-man rotation is considered enormous, that means heavy competition for starting jobs and minutes.

"I think the returning guys know they have to prove it," said Carlesimo. "I think the young guys don't expect anything to get handed to them, and I think they all know as much as I know right now, which is nothing. I'm not lying. I don't know who we're going to play or what the combinations are going to be. If we don't know, I don't know how they could know."

For their part, the players welcome the opportunity that the will have in training camp.

"We're competitors. I wouldn't want it any other way," said West, who is in the mix at both guard positions. "I would hate to come in here and they just say, 'Here, Delonte, pick your number out. Here's where you're going to be playing at, here's how many minutes you're going to being playing a game and here's how much we want you to score.' When you earn that situation, it feels much better in the end."

"It's pretty much open competition here," added Szczerbiak, a starter throughout most of his eight-year NBA career. "We've got a lot of young, new faces here, obviously. New coaching staff, new owners - new everything up and down. You've just got to earn everything you get. I'm prepared to do that and just come in and have some fun."

Incumbent point guards Luke Ridnour and Earl Watson shared time at the position last season, with Ridnour starting 53 games at the position and Watson 20. Five times, they started together in a small backcourt. Now they are joined by West, who feels comfortable at either guard position but is more of an asset defensively as a point guard because of his 6-3 size, bigger than either Ridnour or Watson.

The Sonics saw both of their starting swingmen, Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, leave over the summer. Durant and Green will compete for minutes here, and Durant could emerge as the shooting guard after playing that position during summer action. Mickaël Gelabale and Damien Wilkins started a combined 45 games in 2006-07, filling in when injuries sidelined Allen and Lewis. Szczerbiak, coming back after ankle surgery, offers scoring punch with his career 15.6 ppg average.

MEDIA DAY AUDIO

Hear several Sonics offer their thoughts at Media Day: P.J. Carlesimo Kevin Durant Jeff Green Robert Swift Wally Szczerbiak Delonte West

Up front, the Sonics return their top three players in starters Nick Collison and Chris Wilcox and reserve Johan Petro. The team has added depth at the position, however, with Swift's return to the floor and the addition of veteran Thomas, a key role player for the Phoenix Suns the last two seasons.

Over the next month, Carlesimo will be seeking to take advantage of the competition and the opportunity. There is no room for complacency during training camp and the preseason with starting spots and playing time on the line. That should raise the level of play and intensity.

"I don't think there's anybody sitting here saying, 'I'm okay. There's nobody here to challenge me,'" said Carlesimo. "That makes for a good coaching situation. It makes for difficult decisions, but it makes for a nice practice situation."

"When guys know they have an opportunity to gain playing time," explained Collison, "there's that little bit extra."

As those competitions sort themselves out through training camp and possibly into the early part of the regular season, the challenge for the coaching staff will become keeping the team together despite the fact that not everyone will be able to start or even be pat of the rotation.

"It's easy to say you've got to be accepting of your minutes, you've got to be accepting of your role, but that's a difficult thing," Carlesimo said. "If we're going to be a good team, people are going to have to do that. It's going to take a while to sort that out, but at some point we're going to have to make some tough decisions."