In the 1985-86 season, former Sonic Dennis Johnson helped the Boston Celtics to their second NBA title in three years. Larry Bird described DJ as the guy he would most like to have on his team, since DJ would do anything to win.

Meanwhile, the Sonics couldn't do anything to win. They had gone the previous year with 31 wins and 51 losses, and it didn't look any better this season. Despite having a group of offensive-minded players on their team, they played a slow-down style of game that left fans bored to tears.

Luckily, I had moved out of Seattle and didn't have to witness such drudgery.

In their third year of ownership, the Ackerley Group had, so far, nothing to show for itself. Attendance was a mere 8,000 per game, and I believe that was an exaggeration. Lenny was no longer coach – Bernie Bickerstaff was. Lenny was still GM, but he couldn't stop the slide, especially with the Ackerley Group's tight purse strings. He wanted to re-sign Fred Brown to a one-year contract, since they needed his outside shooting, but the Ackerley Group refused. Apparently (I might be wrong) they believed that fans should flock to see the Sonics, and only then would the Ackerleys start paying for a good team.

Below is my reconstruction of that year. Mercifully, I will be brief.

Seattle played in the weakest division that year -- four teams ended up with 32 wins or less, only 1 team (the 62-20 Lakers) had a winning record, and yet Seattle managed to end up only fifth in the division, a mere game out of the basement, with a 31-51 record.

At home they actually managed a winning record, 24-17, but on the road they were 7-34.

They scored 104.4 points per game (fourth lowest in the league), and gave up only 104.5 points per game (second lowest in the league). That might sound like an average team, perhaps playing good defense, right? No, the few times I saw them on television, they simply slowed the game down, trying to stay close – usually ending up with a close loss. Sikma looked like a disheartened slug; Tom Chambers and Xavier McDaniel were fun to watch, but generally played out of control, selfish ball. The Sonics were fourth worst in assists, fourth worst in FG%, second worst in defensive rebounding, sixth worst in fouls, and last in blocked shots. On the positive side, the team (despite Chambers and McDaniel) turned the ball over only an average amount. And they were third best in FT%.

Rookie McDaniel was voted to the All Rookie team, along with Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley, and Joe Dumars. Not bad company. Rookies Chris Mullin, Terry Porter, Wayman Tisdale, and Detlef Schrempf were left off the list that year.

So the Sonics at least had some hope for the future.

The Lineup:

No Sonics were invited to the All Star game.

At Center, Jack Sikma continued to start, though his numbers dipped with his enthusiasm. He averaged 17 points, 9 rebounds, and nearly 4 assists per game on 46% shooting from the field and 86% from the line.

Power Forward Tom Chambers missed 16 games from injury, but led the team in scoring at 18.5 pts per game, 6.5 rebounds, 2 assists, and about 4 fouls and 3 turnovers per game.

Small Forward Xavier McDaniel, at 6-7 and 210, from Wichita State, had a physical inside presence, was a master at making spectacular dunks (regularly highlighted on ESPN), and played out of control. He averaged 17 points, 8 rebounds, 4 fouls, and well over 3 turnovers per game. His defense was physical but sloppy, and he had a temper as bad as Chambers’.

Shooting Guard Al Wood continued to play with mediocrity, averaging 11.6 points, 3 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game in about 22 minutes per game. He continued to look like he was out of position, though I had doubts that he would look any better at small forward.

Point Guard Gerald Henderson was a decent but unspectacular playmaker. He averaged 13 points, 6 assists, 1.7 steals, and had an assist to turnover ratio of 2.6 to 1. He didn't take many stupid shots.

Ricky Sobers was the Sonics' enforcer (along with McDaniel) in 16 minutes per game, playing either guard position. He was old, so he didn't play much, but added experience.

Danny Young showed some potential at guard; the youngster shot over 50% (including 24/74 from three point range) and 85% free throws. He was good at stealing the ball and averaged nearly 4 assists per game.

Tim McCormick, at 6-10, played backup center, and when Chambers was out he played power forward as well. Tim shot 57% from the field (from offensive rebounds), and over 5 rebounds in 22 minutes per game. He was not a shot-blocker.

Danny Vranes continued to play excellent defense, but his offense was as terrible as ever. He saw only 20 minutes per game.

Other reserves included Mike Phelps, whose playing time was limited by poor shooting; and tough Frank Brickowski managed to get into half the games that season, though he, like the starting forwards played out of control.

The next season Lenny Wilkens would get the coaching bug and go to Cleveland to start over. Before he left, though the Sonics had no first round pick in 1986, in the second round Lenny drafted Nate McMillan, and traded Al Wood for Dale Ellis.

On the down side, Jack Sikma asked to be traded to a contender. Lenny obliged, sending Jack and a pair of second-round draft picks to Milwaukee for shot-blocker Alton Lister and first round picks in 1987 and 1989. As I understand it (I might be wrong), Milwaukee's 1987 pick was eventually sent to New York with Gerald Henderson in return for New York's first round pick - -with which the Sonics chose Scottie Pippen, who they then traded for future draft picks. Seattle had two picks in 1989, and chose Dana Barros and Shawn Kemp, though they were from Houston and Philadelphia -- the Sonics might have traded picks.