All along, the Sonics targeted one player with their pick -- Oregon State point guard Gary Payton. Payton, Sports Illustrated’s NCAA Player of the Year during his senior season -- was not only a fairly local star, he also fit perhaps the Sonics’ biggest need. While Nate McMillan had done an admirable job running the Seattle attack, it was doubtful that the total non-scorer would ever be able to lead a championship team. Payton, who averaged 25.7 points, 8.1 assists, and 4.7 rebounds during his senior season at Oregon State, certainly could. So when the New Jersey Nets selected their own regional player, Syracuse forward Derrick Coleman, with the first pick, the Sonics wasted no time in snapping up Payton.

The other Sonic shakeup came on the bench. Head Coach Bernie Bickerstaff retired, moving upstairs to a front office position after five years on the bench. Later in the summer, he moved on to become General Manager of the Denver Nuggets. Assistant K.C. Jones, who had previously starred for and coached the Boston Celtics, took over the top spot. New assistant Kip Motta, son of NBA coaching legend Dick, replaced Tom Newell on the bench.

Outside of Payton, the Sonic roster was virtually identical entering camp to the one the Sonics had ended the 1989-90 season with. Deep reserves Jim Farmer, Steve Johnson, and Brad Sellers were not retained as free agents, while point guard Avery Johnson was dealt to Denver for a future second-round pick. Whitsitt added NBA veteran Dave Corzine as a free agent and re-signed guard Quintin Dailey. In addition to Payton, the Sonics selected Arizona forward Jud Buechler and Providence guard Abdul Shamsid-Deen in the second round of the Draft, but neither would ever take the court for the Sonics.

As a rookie, brash Gary Payton received a rude introduction to the NBA. Already displaying his prodigious ability to talk trash, Payton was abused by Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan in the preseason after telling Jordan that he was soon going to be the same kind of star. That was typical of a trying rookie season for Payton. He was really quite similar to McMillan as a rookie, possessing little range or accuracy on his jumper while doing a good job of setting up teammates and playing excellent defense. During his rookie season, Payton wore number 2 instead of his familiar 20, which already belonged to Dailey.

With Payton on board, Sedale Threatt saw most of his minutes at shooting guard, where he started 57 games. The role was probably better suited for Threatt’s talents, as he was able to focus on scoring -- 12.4 points per game -- while also providing a second ballhandler. Threatt’s 51.9% shooting was second best on the Sonics.

In most regards, Derrick McKey put together nearly an identical season to his 1989-90 campaign. That was a valuable contribution, as McKey averaged 15.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. He improved his shooting both from the field and from the free-throw line and was effective on both ends of the court, though talk of McKey as a future star had ceased.

An early-season trade cleared the way for Shawn Kemp, in his second year pro at age 21, to start at power forward. He did not disappoint, more than doubling his scoring average to 15.0 points per game and leading the Sonics in rebounding with an 8.4 average. By this point it was clear: Kemp was a future star and the future of the franchise.

Acquired on March 5 for Olden Polynice and two first-round picks, Benoit Benjamin almost immediately took over as the Sonics’ starting center and gave them a presence in the middle they had lacked since trading Jack Sikma. Benjamin proved as good as advertised at rebounding and blocking shots, but his 4.4 turnovers per game as a Sonic were inexcusable.

An All-Star while with the Milwaukee Bucks, Ricky Pierce was a Sonic days later, acquired straight-up for Dale Ellis. The former NBA Sixth Man Award winner filled that role for the Sonics, averaging 17.5 points per game in the 32 games he played in Seattle and providing lights-out shooting from the perimeter.

Joining with Pierce to create one of the best bench tandems in NBA history was small forward Eddie Johnson, picked up from the Phoenix Suns on December 7 with two first-round picks for Xavier McDaniel. Johnson, also a former Sixth Man Award winner, started 27 games with the Sonics and was just behind Pierce with 17.4 points per game while shooting an excellent 48.6% from the field.

Benjamin’s arrival displaced Michael Cage from the starting lineup, and he became a reserve for the first time in his third season in Seattle. Perhaps better suited for a bench role, Cage was able to come in and bang on the boards and down low.

Also removed from his starting role, Nate McMillan saw only 18 minutes of action per game and had one of his worst seasons as a pro. His willingness to accept his role and mentor Payton, however, endeared him to fans and the organization. In his second year, Dana Barros was the odd man out in the league’s deepest backcourt, getting regular minutes only thanks to injury. It was unfortunate he couldn’t play more, because Barros was excellent when he did get into the game, shooting a team-best 53% from two and nearly 40% from beyond the arc. Veteran Quintin Dailey could still score, but was buried even further down the bench. How he managed to go without committing a turnover (unofficially) in 293 minutes is beyond me. Dave Corzine and Scott Meents were reserved strictly for scrub time.

The season started on an up note for the Sonics. They won their first three games of the season, including beating the defending champion Detroit Pistons at the Coliseum, 100-92. Then things got ugly. The Sonics were swept on a three-game homestand and lost four in a row, though the losses -- to the Jordan-led Bulls, the Run-TMC Golden State Warriors, and New York Knicks -- were not entirely unexpected. After the Sonics crushed New Jersey in a matchup of the first two picks, they dropped their next six games. Some were heartbreakers (a 130-124 loss in three overtimes at Portland), others unexplainable (a 106-102 loss in the rematch with the Nets).

Clearly, the team that had led the Sonics to their run of success in the late-1980s, led by the high-scoring tandem of McDaniel and Ellis, was falling apart. While McDaniel had played well early in the season, leading the team in scoring with better than 20 points per game, he was not the future of the team at forward. Kemp and McKey were. As well, McDaniel was playing out of position as the power forward and had been involved in a fight with Ellis after a practice. Though Whitsitt had told McDaniel he wasn’t being shopped, he was traded on December 7, going to Phoenix for veteran sixth man Eddie Johnson and two first-round picks. The move cleared a spot in the starting five for Kemp while giving the Sonics a scorer off the bench and the picks. However, it was still tough to see the “X-Man”, one of the most popular players in Sonic history, go.

The Sonics returned home for Johnson’s home debut at 5-12 and not even within sight of the playoffs. But things started picking up. After a 129-106 loss at Golden State, the Sonics won six straight before closing the calendar year with two losses on the road to Chicago (expected) and Minnesota (embarrassing). They were 12-15 at that point, and the playoffs were realistic again.

The month of January was up and down, with the team neither winning nor losing more than two straight games all month long. On January 18 at the Lakers, Kemp set a team record by blocking 10 shots, further evidence of his impending stardom. Entering February, just past the halfway point of the season, the Sonics were 20-22. However, Whitsitt was still looking to deal. He found a trade to his liking on February 15, sending Ellis to Milwaukee straight up for Ricky Pierce.

The Sonics were ecstatic to get a player of Pierce’s caliber in exchange for Ellis, who had struggled with injuries and subpar shooting during his final season in Seattle. In addition, Ellis had legal troubles involving his wife and just didn’t fit with the new group of Sonics headlined by Payton and Kemp, not Ellis. But again, the emotional cost was high, as Ellis had blossomed into a star in Seattle.

The Sonics lost their first three games after trading Ellis, dropping to four below .500. Again, they recovered. At the end of February and beginning of March, they won five straight to get over .500 at 29-28 for the first time since they were 3-2. Still, Whitsitt wasn’t satisfied. On March 5, just prior to the trade deadline, Whitsitt pulled off his third major deal of the season, sending Polynice and the two first-round picks acquired from Phoenix to the Los Angeles Clippers for enigmatic center Benoit Benjamin.

While Polynice had played well during his fourth NBA season, he looked at the time to be no better than a career backup -- if a good backup. Benjamin could be much more, as one of the league’s better per-minute shot-blockers and a good post scorer with fine touch. At 7-0, he was also a truer center than the 6-9 Cage, who had been starting at the position. Immediately after trading for Benjamin, the Sonics announced they had agreed to contract extensions with him and Pierce, both of whom would have been free agents at year’s end. Pierce got a three-year deal, while Benjamin signed on for five years

The Sonics did not take to Benjamin, losing five straight to drop to 30-34. By that point, however, they had already basically guaranteed themselves a playoff spot in the West, where the final playoff spots were not hotly contested. The only question was whether they could avoid the Portland Trail Blazers, en route to the first seed, by catching the Warriors. The team showed clear signs of breaking out in late March, ending the streak by beating the Lakers at home and Phoenix on the road. A killer schedule -- at the Lakers, home-and-home with Portland -- brought another three-game losing streak.

The Sonics rebounded again, winning eight of nine games to get to 40-38 and clinch a playoff spot. They got their final win on April 19 against Phoenix before closing the season with a loss at the Lakers. For the second straight year, the Sonics finished 41-41. This time, however, it was enough to get them the eighth seed and a date with the Blazers, who were looking to get back to the Finals after losing to the Detroit Pistons the year before.

Under the guidance of General Manager Geoff Petrie and Coach Rick Adelman, the Blazers featured one of the deepest starting lineups in the NBA. Shooting guard Clyde Drexler was the Blazers’ star, averaging 21.5 points per game. The well-rounded Drexler added 6.7 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game. He teamed in the backcourt with Terry Porter, an excellent shooter (41.5% from three) who also could set up teammates (8.0 assists per game). Up front, the Blazers had three solid if unspectacular players. Small forward Jerome Kersey (14.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg) was a tough player who also could score. Venerable power forward Buck Williams was showing signs of his age, but still brought 11.7 points and 9.4 boards. And center Kevin Duckworth (15.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg) had become an All-Star.

Portland was also strong off the bench, led by scrappy guard Danny Ainge. Ainge, in his first year with the Blazers, never found a shot he didn’t like, but justified his quick trigger with 40.6% accuracy from three and 11.1 points per game. Young forward Cliff Robinson (11.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg) played all over the front line.

The Blazers won 63 games and were the best regular-season team in the NBA, narrowly edging out the Los Angeles Lakers (58-24) for the top spot in the Pacific. They were deep, talented, experienced, and still hungry. It was not an easy draw for the Sonics, who had lost all four games that season to the Blazers, though they had played them tough, losing by no more than 13.

The series opened on Friday night in the Rose City. Behind 33 points from Johnson, the Sonics played Portland tough but not tough enough in a 110-102 loss. The same plot unfolded two days later, with Johnson scoring 28 and the Sonics falling 115-106. They had played well in the series, but still were one loss away from going home. A return to the Coliseum, however, proved enough to rejuvenate the Sonics. Threatt scored 29 points and had a key bucket late as the Sonics narrowly won, 102-99, to stay alive. Two nights later, the Sonics cruised behind 34 from Johnson -- who averaged 24.0 points in the series -- winning 101-89 to send the series back to Portland. The Blazers, with homecourt, were still confident, but they had reason to worry. Seattle had been beaten in Portland, but was certainly not overmatched. Alas, the same would be true in Saturday afternoon’s game five. The Blazers never pulled away, but the Sonics could never get ahead in a 119-107 victory.

The Sonics were eliminated, but had reason to feel good. After starting the season terribly, they had remade themselves and finished the year on a 36-29 run. Their core, led by Payton and Kemp, was young, and they had played the number one seed extremely tough in the playoffs. The time to make noise in the Western Conference was coming.

1990-91 roster

#	Name	Position	College
00	Benoit Benjamin	Center	Creighton
2	Gary Payton	Point Guard	Oregon State
3	Dale Ellis	Shooting Guard	Tennessee
4	Sedale Threatt	Shooting Guard	West Virginia Tech
8	Scott Meents	Power Forward	Illinois
10	Nate McMillan	Point Guard	North Carolina State
11	Dana Barros	Guard	Boston College
20	Quintin Dailey	Shooting Guard	San Francisco
21	Ricky Pierce	Shooting Guard	Rice
22	Eddie Johnson	Small Forward	Illinois
23	Olden Polynice	Center	Virginia
31	Derrick McKey	Small Forward	Alabama
34	Xavier McDaniel	Forward	Wichita State
40	Shawn Kemp	Power Forward	Trinity Valley JC
42	Dave Corzine	Center	DePaul
44	Michael Cage	Center/Forward	San Diego State

coaches/front office
Head Coach: K.C. Jones
Assistant Coaches: Bob Kloppenburg, Kip Motta
President: Bob Whitsitt