| Sonics Maintain Their Chemistry While The NBA Explodes With Trades Authored by Hunter Johannason - February 24, 2005 - 4:41 pm
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The rumors began to flare up about a week before the February 24th 3 p.m. NBA trade deadline. With a good number of contracts expiring at years end, many thought it would be best for the Sonics to make the appropriate trades to let go of players they would most likely have no chance of re-signing. This would have been the case had the Sonics played out the season as the worst in The West as everyone predicted. However, going into the deadline with a 37-15 record has thrown a very big cog into the Sonics’ trade/contract equation.
Much of the Sonics success this year, as Coach Nate McMillan can attest to is due to the fact that the Sonics have excellent team chemistry. Every player plays hard and every player knows his role. This has led to an previously unimaginable 11-game lead in the Pacific Division over pre-season favorites Minnesota and Denver with only 30 games remaining.
Now teams around the league are looking at the Seattle Supersonics and Phoenix Suns model and saying, “We can do this! We don’t need to load our roster with an abundance of superstars; we just need good players that play well together!” Look at Golden State, a team that is poising itself to pull a Sonics like run next season with the signing of solid players like Troy Murphy and two great guards, Jason Richardson and newly traded for, Baron Davis. The fast-shooting, bruising, court running, unselfish, smooth passing teams are back and they are wining.
That being said, it is important to know which Sonics players have contracts that are set to expire at seasons end:
Ray Allen – Discussing Allen at this point is fruitless. He wants a big contract and if the Sonics want to keep their star, they will give it to him. Plain and simple.
Jerome James – One minute he looks like the best center in the West, the other 14 minutes he plays one wonders why he is even in the league. The consummate “project”, Jerome James when he plays, is a very good big man. The Sonics should be able to get him back for cheap, provided he doesn’t impress any other teams in these last 30 games plus the playoffs.
Vitaly Potapenko – Sees limited minutes and is pretty solid in him. The Sonics can go either way on him.
Mateen Cleaves – Same as Potapenko
The Sonics are also looking at a good number of players with only one-year remaining on their respective contracts; these guys will become an issue next year:
Ronald “Flip” Murray – Arguably the best player in the NBA who only averages 15 minutes a game. He is not making much now and will ask for more. He will certainly deserve it. Will the Sonics give it to him?
Vladimir Radmanovic – An assassin/marksman off the bench, he nails down the long-range jumper and is now driving the lane and throwing down with reckless abandon. The Sonics have been patient with his development and this year he is having his best all-around season to date. “Broadway Vlad” is having a big contract year that will no-doubt carry on into next season, bad 3-point contest performance or not.
Reggie Evans – A monster on the glass (9.4 boards in just under 24 minutes) and overall hustle player, has been a big surprise for the Sonics this year and if he keeps it up will continue to draw considerable attention from other teams around the league desperate for defensive and rebounding.
Antonio Daniels – Another big surprise for the Sonics this season, averaging 12.3 points off the bench. Daniels has been playing the same game since he came into the league but has never really garnered the respect he is due. Will he get that respect in the form of a big contract after the 2005-06 season?
As it stands, the Sonics will have a lot of decision making to due at the end of this season and throughout next season as well. For the time being, they have kept their current team, and with that, their excellent team chemistry. The best thing to do is sit back, ignore the contract talk and see just how far the Sonics can keep up their winning ways. The new NBA equation…
Good team chemistry = Wins
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