The future’s not so bright.Have you ever been cleaning out your fridge and come across something damn near unidentifiable? Remember that look on your face when you got a whiff of The Blob Formerly Known as Mac And Cheese? That was me when I heard about the Sonics’ trade-deadline deal yesterday, the one sending Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West to Cleveland and netting Donyell Marshall, Ira Newble and Adrian Griffin in return.
I realized something then: That it’s not a good sign when the “Something stinks” look is the most emotional response your favorite team has elicited from you in months. But that’s what is happening to myself and other Sonics fans, the ones getting screwed over by a terribly unlikeable ownership group determined to build an unlikeable basketball team before moving it out of town.
Believe me, I didn’t have any visions of grandeur for the Sonics going into this season. I knew that a team this young would lose a lot, and I knew some of those losses would be tough to watch. I knew the offense would struggle, I knew the defense would be pathetic, and most importantly, I knew everything would be conducted under the dark cloud of the franchise’s seemingly inevitable relocation to Oklahoma City.
Despite all of that, I felt good about my team. (This was back when I figured David Stern would step in and block any relocation effort.) I felt good about building blocks Kevin Durant and Jeff Green. I felt good about a young talent like Delonte. I felt good about vets like Szczerbiak and Kurt Thomas, who could teach the young’ns how to navigate this League and help win us some ballgames. I felt good about serviceable-to-good holdovers like Chris Wilcox, Nick Collison, Damien Wilkins and Earl Watson. I even felt good that perhaps one of our project 7-footers (Robert Swift, Johan Petro, Saer Sene) would turn out to be at least usable.
The “victories” would be small, slightly rewarding victories: Durant shaking off a 6-for-20 shooting performance one night to stick a game-winner the following night, Green getting cooked by a big-time scorer on one end but showing the heart to give it right back, Wilcox stringing together two good games in a row, etc. The goal was to rebuild, and everyone knew it would take a while.
That’s why you could defend the major offseason moves, like trading Ray Allen if it meant getting a Top-5 draft pick (Green) and letting Rashard Lewis walk at a sky-high price tag. If you’re trying to rebuild, after all, it makes sense to change the face of the franchise, which was Ray. And if you can get a high Lottery pick in the process, that’s even better. As far as Rashard, you don’t begin a rebuilding process by signing a career second-banana to a $100 million-plus deal.
Ever since then, though, what has been happening with the Sonics has been an insult to the city and anyone who cares about this team. No matter what B.S. they said when they first bought the team, the Clay Bennett-led ownership group desperately wants to leave. In the process, it seems they’ve done everything they can to alienate the fans and local media, creating an apathy surrounding the team to reduce local protest to the move. Some people I know who work closely with the Sonics have relayed stories about how difficult and uncooperative the team has been with the media, as if they’re trying to limit the team’s exposure and create a climate for bad press. When I flew back home around Christmas and went to the Sonics/Hornets game, the atmosphere in KeyArena was just depressing, and not because Chris Paul and Mo Pete walked in and ripped the Sonics apart. For the sparse crowd that did show up, the organization didn’t seem interested in making it an enjoyable experience. Not that I’m a fan of going overboard with the fun little contests during timeouts and what-not, but these things were noticeably happening less frequently than at other NBA games I’ve been to lately.
Yesterday’s trade-deadline move, which followed the Kurt Thomas-to-San Antonio trade, was the capper. The Sonics front office took arguably the worst team in the NBA and made it even worse for the rest of the season. David Aldridge and Charles Barkley defended Seattle’s moves on “Inside the NBA,” saying the team is doing a bang-up job of creating cap space and stockpiling draft picks. That is true, but what damage will be done in the meantime? By the time those draft picks (which coming from teams like San Antonio and Phoenix won’t be that high anyway) turn into legit ballplayers and some of those contracts come off the books — around 2009-2010 — how many losses will Durant and Green have endured? Where will their minds be? Durant is already being turned into a gunner; a couple more years of playing on colossally bad teams and he’ll be a wildly talented version of Antoine Walker.
Of course, I would love to be wrong about all of this. I would love for Barkley and Aldridge to be right, that Sonics’ GM Sam Presti is thinking about the future success of the team rather than acting on the wishes of Bennett’s people to pull a tank-job. I’d love to think this will be a winning franchise down the road, and that the ‘07-08 season will be remembered as a year of genius moves that laid the groundwork. More than anything, though, I’d love to be talking about how wrong I was about the Seattle Supersonics rather than the Oklahoma City Force.
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February 22nd, 2008 at 9:07 am
Celts Fan says:
Austin, I do like the moves from a rebuilding standpoint. I didn’t get giving up Delonte, but that was probably a deal-breaker for Cleveland who now has some Boobie insurance both during the injury and in case he bolts this summer. It should also be noted that Presti turned a 2nd round pick into Barry, Elson, and 3 #1s with the Kurt Thomas trades. Those are good moves, but like you said, you guys are being forced to watch the rebuilding efforts that another city may (will?) get to enjoy the fruits of. Seattle’s always supported that team and they’ve won a ring there. Stern should’ve stepped in. This is a disgrace. Any team with that kind of support should not be allowed to be moved. I can understand economic moves, but that’s not a problem there. Sorry the city didn’t want to pay a billionaire to build an unnecessary arena that he’ll then use to jack up ticket prices and the citizens of Seattle pay AGAIN. As a fan of basketball in general, this is ridiculous to me. Of all teams we’ve seen move in pro sports, this is one I thought would never leave (but I guess after the Baltimore Colts bounced, you can never say never…) Sad, sad days in Seattle.
February 22nd, 2008 at 9:36 am
YOUNGFED says:
Couldn’t have said it any better Celts
February 22nd, 2008 at 9:48 am
J says:
I feel for Seattle fans as we went through it already with the Buffalo Braves (now Clippers)…it is frustrating and sad when money and greed ruins sports.
The Braves end in Buffalo sounds familiar:
1973/74: Prior to the start of the season the Braves would trade Elmore Smith to the Los Angeles Lakers for Jim McMillian, at first the trade was questioned. However, it would help clear the way for Bob McAdoo to play Center full time as he had monster second season leading the league in scoring with 30.6 ppg, as the Braves made the playoffs by finishing in 3rd place with a 42-40 record, as they played several home games at the Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, in order to expand their fan base into Canada. In addition to McAdoo the Braves were led by Ernie DiGerogio, who became the second straight Brave to capture Rookie of the Year honors by leading the league in assists with 8.2 per game.
1974/75: Despite losing 3 key players Gar Heard, Jim McMillian and Ernie DiGerogio for long stretches the Braves continued to improve finishing in 2nd place with a solid 49-33 record, as Bob McAdoo captured the league’s MVP award while leading the league with an outstanding 34-.5 ppg, while adding 14-1 rpg, which was 4th best in the league.
1975/76: With Bob McAdoo leading the league in scoring for the 3rd year with 31.1 ppg in a row the Braves make the playoffs again with a record of 46-36. Following the season the Braves would allow coach Jack Ramsay to depart for a similar job with Portland Trailblazers.
1976/77: The Braves are purchased by John Y. Brown former owner of the Kentucky Colonels in the now defunct ABA for $6.2 million. As part of an agreement with former owner Paul Snyder, Brown would give Snyder money received in player deals to reduce the purchase price. The sell off would begin shortly after the season started as the Braves sold Moses Malone who they acquired in a trade with the Portland Trailblazers after the ABA dispersal draft to the Houston Rockets, it would continue into the season as Bob McAdoo is sold to the New York Knicks. While the deals helped Brown pay virtually nothing for the franchise it turned an up and coming franchise into garbage. Attendance would fall off severally as the Braves finished in 4th place with an awful 30-52 record. The only ray of hope would come as Adrian Dantley captured Rookie of the Year honors with 20.3 ppg. However Dantley himself would be traded following the season to the Indiana Pacer for Billy Knight.
1977/78: Going in to the season the Braves would get an escape clause in their lease, as season ticket sales did not reach the set goal of 4,500. The Braves would get dealt another blow as Tiny Archibald who they acquired from the New Jersey Nets for George Johnson is lost during preseason to a seasons ending Achilles tendon injury. The depleted Braves would play competitive basketball in November holding a 10-10 record. However they would win just 9 games combined over the next 3 months. While the Braves were struggling on the court their owner John Y. Brown was brokering a deal to take over the Boston Celtics. Irv Levin who owned the Celtics wanted to move the historic franchise to California. However, the NBA would not allow him to take the cornerstone franchise out of Boston. NBA Lawyer David Stern would propose a novel comprise in which Levin and Brown swapped franchise with Levin taking over the Braves and moving them to San Diego. The Braves would go on to finish in 4th place with a 27-55 record, ironically playing their last game on April 9th in Boston. Owners would go on to vote 21-1 to approve the deal, and the braves move to San Diego.
1978-Present: John Y. Brown remains owner of the Celtics while the new San Diego Clippers struggled before moving to Los Angeles in 1984, where they set new standards in incompetence. Meanwhile there has not been any talk of a return to Buffalo for a NBA franchise.
February 22nd, 2008 at 11:33 am
Icy says:
13 draft picks! That’s how many they will have in the next three years. That’s like drafting another team
February 22nd, 2008 at 11:42 am
Austin Burton says:
I gotta think we turn some of those picks around into vets via trade. You can’t have a 22/23-year-old Kevin Durant leading a squad of 23-year-olds. Everyone talks about getting younger, but when was the last time a young squad won a championship? D-Wade was the best player on a title team when he was young, but that team also had many vets. If Seattle used it’s high Lottery pick this year to finally get a legit center, I like that foundation of Durant/Green/Center. Use those other picks to get a veteran point guard (Earl is a backup), some real shooters and some guys who will play D.
February 22nd, 2008 at 11:59 am
GEE... you should be happy your trailer park has wi-fi says:
I just wish Jeff Green had stayed at G-Town. Just imagine!
Kevin Durant to me again (said this yesterday) is not someone you build a team around. Sorry he hasn’t done enough to show me he is that much of that type of star.
Perhaps he will develop though. It is his first year.
G.O. might be overrated to quiet as kept.
Course that is just GEE