Seattle Supersonics:
Sonics will continue to rain threes during games

The Seattle Supersonics have been around the National Basketball Association since 1968 and have always been in contention for the Pacific Divisional crown. The team has never been labeled as one of the doormats of the NBA and the only time that a statement like that would have even been argued was in their first few seasons playing in the league. In their 37 seasons on existence the team has ventured into the playoffs 21 times and has made it into the NBA Finals on three different occasions. Of those three appearances in the Finals the Sonics brought home the hardware once and that came in 1979. The team finished the season with a 52-30 record and the Pacific Division championship. The team was led by players like Jack Sikma, Gus Williams and Dennis Johnson. The Sonics were coached by the all-time leader in wins by a coach Lenny Wilkens. In the first round they met up with the 47-35 Los Angeles Lakers who were led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The Sonics easily disposed of the Lakers 4-1 and then met up with the Phoenix Suns who featured the guard combo of Paul Westphal and Walter Davis. The Suns gave it their all and fell one game short and lost the series 4-3 and the Sonics get their second straight berth into the NBA Finals. They matched up with the Washington Bullets for the second straight year, the frist one ended with a Washington 4-3 series victory. This time the Sonics had the Bullets number and beat them in only five games 4-1. The Sonics would make it into the Finals one more time in 1996 and lost to the Michael Jordan led Chicago Bulls 4-2. Since then Seattle hasn’t even taken sniff at the championship series.

Last season was a disappointing one for the Sonics and the city of Seattle. The team only managed to accumulate a 37-45 record which was six games out of the playoffs. Much of this was due to the fact that superstar shooting guard Ray Allen was out for 26 of the 82 games. The team goes as Allen goes and the team looked like it wasn’t at 100 percent all year. The good part about Allen being out was that guys like Rashard Lewis and Ronald “Flip” Murray got to step up and help the team in a bigger way then what they would have if Allen was healthy all year. It went a long way in developing the Sonics young guards.
In the off-season the Sonics didn’t make very many moves. The team traded forward Calvin Booth to the Dallas Mavericks for another forward Danny Fortson. They did take a big hit when they lost their veteran sharpshooter Brent Barry to the San Antonio Spurs in free agency. Other than those couple of moves the team hasn't made any news with their transactions.
In the draft the Sonics made a very peculiar first round pick. With the number twelve pick in the draft the Sonics selected high school center Robert Swift. The thing with Swift was that he didn’t work out with them and never spoke to the team before the draft and they already had three decent centers on the roster. It should be interesting to see what kind of role he plays with the team this year. In the second round the Sonics drafted North Carolina- Central small forward David Young who was said to more than hold his own against Nevada’s Kirk Snyder who was taken by the Jazz with the number 16 pick.

The Sonics have a pretty solid starting five. All of the guys on the floor are pretty talented but they still need some more inspired play from whomever lines up at center during the season. At point guard will be former lottery pick Antonio Daniels, at shooting guard will be Ray Allen, at small forward will be Rashard Lewis, at power forward will be Vladimir Radmanovic, and in the middle will be Jerome James.

The Sonics will have one of the least talented benches in the NBA this year, outside of Ronald Murray and Danny Fortson. Backing up the guards will be Murray and Luke Ridnour. Behind the forwards and center will be Ansu Sesay, Fortson, and Vitaly Potapenko. The team will have some problems making it into the playoffs unless the team elevates their game to the next level.

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