Kevin Pelton, SUPERSONICS.COM | July 12, 2005
Robert Swift is in his second go-round with summer-league action after being drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics in the lottery a year ago. The 19-year-old still doesn't feel like a veteran, however.
"Not really, because everybody's still older than me," said Swift after the Sonics practiced Tuesday, "except Johan (Petro, this year's first-round pick), who's maybe a month younger than me. We're the same age."
Still, with a full NBA season - if only 72 minutes of game action - and a full summer behind him, Swift gets to be a veteran when it comes to drills this week.
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"It's a lot easier going through the drills and listening to the stuff that I already know and was taught, so I can help out other players with it."
Kent Horner/NBAE/Getty
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"It's a lot easier going through the drills and listening to the stuff that I already know and was taught, so I can help out other players with it instead of trying to struggle to learn it myself," he said.
While summer basketball is low key by nature, these practices in Seattle and Rocky Mountain Revue action, which starts later this week, are important for Swift. After getting little game action during his rookie season, Swift needs experience.
"For Robert and Johan, just getting a lot of five-on-five action (is important). That was something that Robert missed out on last year," said Sonics assistant 
Jack Sikma, who worked closely with Swift last season and is running the summer-league team.
"I think this mini-camp is as important for him as even the summer-league games. He needs the intensity of this and getting back in the groove of playing a higher-level five-on-five games. I think once we get to the summer league, he's going to be featured, but he's not going to be able to get the amount of minutes he can get in this scenario."
"Any time you get organized five-on-five and an atmosphere like this, where you've got coaches working with you at stations and live scrimmages, it all helps," agreed Swift.
On the court, Swift's improvement from a year ago is obvious. When given the ball in the post, he is patient, using his improved lower-body strength to work against smaller defenders and get good looks at the basket. Swift continues to demonstrate his athleticism to onlookers, finishing one transition dunk during Tuesday morning's scrimmage by hanging on the rim. He's also shown some newfound skills, including a nice pass handling the ball in the open court during a fast break and a banked fadeaway jumper he made to beat the shot clock.
"There's more of a confidence," observed Sikma.
"I'm just playing, really," said Swift. "I'm trying to get back in shape. I'm a little winded out there, especially the second half of practice."
For now, Swift is just soaking up the experience, learning as much possible.
"It's (important) just to go out and get the experience of playing in games against people you don't see every day," he said of summer league action.
The longer-term goal is to have that experience potentially translate into a larger role next season. With two of the centers ahead of him on the depth chart unrestricted free agents (
Jerome James and 
Vitaly Potapenko), Swift could emerge in a larger role during his second season.
"It's unfortunate that not everybody can come back, but that's just part of the NBA," said Swift. "If all the other centers leave and they ask me to step up, hopefully I'll be ready. That's why I'm out here now and have been working out for the last three weeks and plan on keeping working out after summer league."
