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Change was the order of the day as the Seattle Supersonics began the summer of 2001 after a disappointing 2000-01 season that had seen the team, predicted by many to contend in a strong Western Conference, finish 44-38 and in the lottery. At the helm, the change had already been made -- Nate McMillan, contract extension now in hand, had a firm grip on the team as coach. The transition was not as quick, as smooth, or as complete for the new ownership group -- the Basketball Club of Seattle, LLC., fronted by Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz, which had taken power late in the season but had yet to truly make its mark. The team entered the off-season looking for two new key off-court employees; a GM to replace Wally Walker, who had ascended in title to CEO/President, but would still likely have the final say in player transactions; and an assistant coach to replace McMillan on the bench. On the court, changes were seemingly in store, especially after Schultz and Walker, now a co-owner of the team, held a press conference just after season's end in which it was announced that no player was untouchable.
While the Sonics might have been willing to hear offers for the duo, it was quite clear that two young players were likely to return. Rookie guard Desmond Mason had an up-and-down first season, but by its end had convinced many fans that he was a star in the making if he could improve his jumper. Not everyone was quite so optimistic on small forward Rashard Lewis, but in his first season as a starter, all he had done was finish second on the team in scoring and rebounding. His contract for the next season was quite reasonable to boot.
The fact that two veterans had not been labeled 'untouchable' was of varying degrees of surprise. Power forward Vin Baker had long been assumed to be finished as a Sonic, with the final straws his angry confrontation with McMillan during a late-season practice and a verbal salvo fired by Schultz in an April article in the Seattle P-I, where he complained about Baker missing an April 15 game versus Dallas. On the other hand, many Sonics fans were stunned to hear that all-world point guard Gary Payton might be on the trading block. Although a few rumors involving Payton had popped up at the trade deadline, his strong finish to the season seemed to put him back on solid footing with the team. But his age and run-ins with first Paul Westphal and then McMillan made his trade a possibility, if not a likelihood.
The Sonics opened the summer with six free agents -- point guards Emanual Davis and Shammond Williams, small forwards Ruben Patterson and David Wingate, power forward Jelani McCoy, and center Patrick Ewing. Wingate and Ewing were almost certain not to return. After putting in his one game, veteran Wingate was expected to retire. Ewing, though he performed well over the stretch run and surprised everyone by avoiding injuries, did not fit the Sonics' plan to get younger, and was expected to hit the road. McCoy too was not likely to return, with the team preferring to let some other franchise deal with his inconsistency.
Young Williams and Patterson, who had both displayed a great deal of potential during their two years in Seattle, were in similar situations. The Sonics wanted both back, but whether that would happen would seemingly depend on the market's interest and the possibility of working a sign-and trade that would bring in an interior player. Davis, finally, was deemed a certainty to return.
Early into the off-season, with the playoffs still going on, Sonics fans got their first shocker; local news stations first reported on May 8 that Patterson would be charged the next day with attempted third-degree rape for an incident involving his children's nanny. Within a week, the situation played out with Patterson pleading a modified guilty plea known as an "Alford plea" and receiving a one-year sentence, all but 15 days suspended. More importantly, Patterson's legal woes ended any chance of him returning to the Sonics, with his actions clearly going against Schultz's stated goal of putting together a team of good players and good people. Now, the hope was that the Sonics might be able to return something for Patterson in a sign-and-trade. Otherwise, Patterson would be gone with nothing in return . . . a sad end to a promising Seattle career.
On May 30, the Payton trade rumors heated up when Mike Kahn of CBSSportsline.com reported that Payton's agents, the Goodwins, were set to demand a trade for Payton. I was stunned and disbelieving. Kahn's comments were quickly contradicted by articles in both the P-I and the Times that indicated Payton did not want to go anywhere, but was looking for an extension to his contract, which would end after the 2002-03 season.
Two days later, the Sonics completed their off-the-court changes, naming a new General Manager and a third assistant coach. The new GM was former Detroit Piston employee Rick Sund, who brought with him the experience of running the show in Dallas and then in Detroit before being pushed out of the picture by former Piston star Joe Dumars. As well, Sund had served briefly as a Sonic consultant during the 1994-95 season. The new assistant coach was former Missouri-Kansas City head coach Dean Demopoulos. Although Demopoulos had only one year of head coaching experience under his belt, his time at Temple as an assistant to legendary head man John Cheney made him valuable to the Sonics -- especially after the NBA changed its rules to allow zone defenses (Temple ran one of the NCAA's most effective zones).
With Draft day closing in, Sonic rumors zeroed in on the team taking one of three players -- high school center DeSagana Diop, a defensive specialist with good size; Michael Bradley, a power forward out of Villanova with a smooth shot; or Troy Murphy, a college star at Notre Dame who some felt might be a tweener in the NBA, not big enough to play the four. Diop was my personal favorite, but unlikely to still be around when the Sonics picked at #12. After him, my realistic favorite was Bradley. Pretty much everyone agreed the Sonics would take either a power forward or a center.
On the evening of the Draft, some friends, my brother, and I headed down to the Sonics' training facility for their Draft party. If nothing else, at least the team knew how to put out a nice spread. Rumors had been flying throughout the day, but I was still so stunned I nearly choked on a shrimp when local sportsradio station KJR's basketball guru, David Locke, reported that the Sonics were near a deal with the Chicago Bulls that would send Payton to Chicago for guard Jamal Crawford, a Seattle-native who the Sonics had long had eyes for, forward Marcus Fizer, and the Bulls' number three pick. Though I had been staunchly against any Payton trade, it was tough to oppose this one, which would net the Sonics three contributors and a future star if they could get either Seton Hall's Eddie Griffin or Chicago high-schooler Eddy Curry with the third pick. But the Bulls were, according to Locke, unable to find anyone to move Payton along to, and the trade fell apart. (Other media sources contradicted Locke's contention that the Sonics were close to moving Payton at any time, so it's tough to say if this deal every really existed.)
With the eighth pick, Cleveland selected Diop, and I was devastated, having still held out hope he might drop. By the time number 12 rolled around, the feeling seemed to be that the Sonics were picking between Murphy and Bradley. So imagine the surprise of much of the crowd when the Sonics selected Vladimir Radmanovic, a Yugoslavian small forward. My friends and brother booed the selection (footage of them reacting was shown on that night’s news); why did the Sonics need another small forward?
Well, there were always the Sonics' two second-round picks to address the need for size with. Arizona center Loren Woods, a remarkably-gifted talent who was once expected to be a lottery pick, dropped unforeseeably and was still on the board as the Sonics came up for their 40th pick. They went for a Pac-10 player alright, but Earl Watson, a point guard from UCLA. Watson didn't make much sense for the Sonics if Davis and Williams returned, so I took this as a sign that one or the other (or both) was gone. Two picks later, at 42, Woods was still on the board, and the crowd expected the Sonics had to take him. No such luck -- DePaul small forward Bobby Simmons was announced. Two small forwards and a point guard? What the hell was going on here? I was somewhat appeased when the President of the Sonics and Storm, Billy McKinney, spoke to the assembled fans and media and indicated that the team had traded Simmons to Washington for a pick several years back. Later, we found out that this player was another Yugoslavian, big man Predrag Drobnjak, drafted by the then-Bullets in 1997.
As the facts began to trickle out about the two unfamiliar picks, they sounded more and more appealing. The book on Radmanovic was that he was a lights-out shooter from the perimeter, maybe the best in the Draft, very athletic, and a better defender than the stereotypical European player. The image of Drobnjak that the Sonics painted was a younger Frank Brickowski, a strong reserve during the 1996 Finals run, who could bang and also was a good outside shooter and passer.
With the Draft in the rear-view mirror, it was time to gear up for free agency. By renouncing Ewing and making some other moves, the Sonics had the option of getting slightly further under the cap than the 4.5 million amount which each team was allowed to spend as the "median exception". That gave them an advantage in pursuing their next starting center; not only could they offer more money, they also had the option of negating the rights held by the former teams of restricted free agents. Early rumors had the Sonics pursuing Golden State center Marc Jackson, who had come over after playing overseas and had an excellent rookie season in the NBA. It soon became apparent, however, that the Sonics weren't really interested in catering to Jackson's salary demands, higher than most of his free agent peers.
By the time free agents and teams were allowed to finalize contracts, the Sonics had not settled on a new center and seemed in no hurry to do so. Two young options -- former UW Husky and Philadelphia 76er Todd MacCulloch and the Atlanta Hawks' Nazr Mohammed, who had been in Seattle earlier in the month -- were off the board, going to New Jersey and returning to Atlanta respectively. That left only two real options -- Jackson and the Dallas Mavericks' Calvin Booth, a third-year player whose specialty was blocking shots.
While the Sonics were looking for a starting center, they were fighting a losing battle with their own free agents. Upset that he had not received more attention, Davis moved on to Atlanta for a chance to be the Hawks' starting point. Three days later, Patterson signed an offer sheet with Portland for the Blazers' median exception. Not wanting to risk getting stuck with him, and displeased with the offers they had received, the Sonics declined matching the contract; they would get nothing for Patterson. Ewing, meanwhile, had quietly departed for Orlando (joining another ex-Sonic, Horace Grant, in the Magic's center rotation) on the first day of the free agency period.
By this point, Sonics fans (myself included) were getting restless with management sitting idly by while other teams made their moves. All the Sonics were doing was losing players -- not only their free agents, but also Wolkowyski, who was cut midway through July. Adding fuel to the flames, the Sonics had chosen a poor time to announce that they were planning to overhaul their logo and jersey. It looked as if the team was more concerned with what the players would be wearing than who would be wearing it. Finally, on August 1, the Sonics extended an offer sheet to Booth, a restricted free agent, for slightly more than the Mavericks could match. Because of the NBA's Byzantine rules regarding restricted free agency, they had to wait 15 more days before the deal could officially go through despite the fact that the Mavericks had no ability to match the offer.
Booth’s addition was quickly knocked off the front pages by renewed talk of a Payton trade. According to the scuttle, the Sonics were considering sending Payton and Baker to Portland for a package of point guard Damon Stoudamire, shooting guard Bonzi Wells, and power forwards Zach Randolph and Dale Davis. The rumors had a short shelf life; a Sonic source indicated the team had no interest in starting Stoudamire at the point. With training camp drawing ever closer, the odds of Payton and Baker staying in Seattle were improving by the day.
In Booth, the Sonics had found their starting center, but they still needed to add more big men. On September 5, they signed a pair. There had been some question about Drobnjak’s demands for a far larger contract than the league minimum second-round picks typically make. Though he did sign for more than the minimum, his three-year, $1.64 million contract (with a team option for the third season) ended up very reasonable.
At the same time, the Sonics also signed former Sacramento King Jerome James to a one-year deal at the minimum with a player option for the second year. James had been Sacramento’s 36th pick in the 1998 Draft. After playing sparingly during his rookie campaign, James tore his ACL and missed the entire 1999-2000 season. While recuperating, James ballooned to over 300 pounds, causing the Kings to release him during their 2000 training camp. Still working his way into playing shape, James spent the season overseas, where he caught the eye of Sonic scouts. James impressed management enough during pre-summer league workouts (including one open to the public where he found his way onto my radar screen) that he was taken off the summer roster and hidden, not to reappear before signing a contract.
A day later, the Sonics signed Radmanovic, leaving only two major moves to be made before training camp -- a new deal for Williams and a contract for Watson. With teams unwilling to risk their money on a contract for Williams that the Sonics would probably match, he had little choice but to return to Seattle, finally signing a two-year, $3.5 million deal on the first day of practices. Watson signed a one-year deal at the minimum the day before. Joining him in signing non-guaranteed minimum contracts were the Sonics’ camp invites -- point guards Eddie Gill and Anthony Johnson, small forwards JaRon Rush and Jamal Kendrick, power forward Eddie Elisma, and centers Art Long and Antonio Harvey.
Though Seattle entered training camp with a pretty good idea of its eventual roster and rotation, several jobs were up for grabs. Starting shooting guard was still unsettled, with Mason and Brent Barry both possibilities and Williams also thrown into the mix. There was still a decision to be made about what big men would back up Booth and Baker, with James and Drobnjak looking to sort themselves out and Oyedeji a longshot candidate. As far as making the roster, the additions of Johnson and Gill -- both of whom finished the 2000-01 season in the NBA -- signaled that Watson’s job was not as secure as had been thought. And the “13th man” position was open, with Elisma the early favorite.
The talk of the camp ended up centering not on newcomers but rather a pair of Sonics veterans, Payton and Baker. Payton reported to camp having bulked up and also undergone an apparent attitude change, while Baker disproved rumors that he had gained weight in the off-season, reporting in the best shape he had been since the 1997-98 season, his first in Seattle. Baker backed up his looks with his early play, dominating both an early open scrimmage and the team’s first pre-season game against the Los Angeles Clippers, pumping optimism into Seattle fans.
The negative of pre-season was injuries, with Williams breaking a finger and Drobnjak severely spraining an ankle, forcing both onto the injured list to start the season. Despite Williams’ injury, the Sonics went with Watson instead of the more experienced Johnson, putting the rookie in the role of backup point to start the season. At shooting guard, there ended up never being any question that Barry would reform the “Oregon State” backcourt with Payton; Mason would instead serve as the Sonics’ replacement for Patterson’s energy and scoring off the bench.
Drobnjak’s injury made several decisions for McMillan; James would be the primary backup big man to start the season, while both veteran Harvey and camp surprise Long would make the team as well. Elisma never was able to regain his magic from fall 2000, when he narrowly missed making the team, and he and Gill were the first cuts. Kendrick stayed his execution with 13 points in the Sonics’ second pre-season game against Denver, but never really had a chance. Rush was the last cut but showed little promise during pre-season.
2001-02 roster
coaches/front office |
cut players
| 4 | Antonio Harvey | Center | Pfeiffer | 6(0) |
| 5 | Eddie Gill | Guard | Weber State | 1(0) |
| 22 | Anthony Johnson | Guard | College of Charleston | 4(0) |
| 29 | Jamal Kendrick | Forward | Midwestern State | R |
| 34 | JaRon Rush | Forward | UCLA | R |
| 45 | Eddie Elisma | Forward | Georgia Tech | R |
2001-02 sonics results
2001-02 sonics news
October 2001
November 2001
December 2001
January 2002
February 2002
March 2002
April 2002
May 2002
2001-02 sonics stories (culled from local papers)
October 2001
November 2001
December 2001
January 2002
February 2002
March 2002
April 2002
May 2002
2001-02 sonics stats
Regular-season stats
Second-half stats
Playoff stats