ESPN.com - NBA - Sonics: Payton's place now has a center

Team page/schedule | Stats: Preseason / 1999 | Roster
Last year: 45-37, fourth in Pacific, seventh in conference
Coach/President: Paul Westphal/Wally Walker
Arena, first game: KeyArena (17,072); Nov. 4, 1995
All-time franchise record/NBA titles: 1,441-1,233/1
Notable: GP's 535th point passes Fred Brown on Sonic list

THE TOP EIGHT

Pos Player Key Stat Skinny

PG Gary Payton 8.9 apg Career bests in points, assists and minutes

SG Desmond Mason -- Versatile rookie was steal at No. 17

SF Rashard Lewis 8.2 ppg FYI: Draft him in fantasy keeper leagues

PF Vin Baker 7.7 rpg He's not that far removed from 20-10

C Patrick Ewing 9.7 rpg Neither is he, but 15 and 10 will be fine

6th Ruben Patterson .536 FG Defensive stopper was huge surprise

7th Brent Barry 11.8 ppg Resurrected career, was good team guy
8th Jelani McCoy .576 FG Career .625 shooter watches Pat's back

Seattle needs to play with a lot more consistency. At times, they can play with anyone in the league and they've also demonstrated they can lose to anybody. Vin Baker has to show that he is back to the player who first came to Seattle from Milwaukee. He's demonstrated this preseason that he's in shape and aggressive. He's beating other big men down the floor and he needs to continue that. Rashard Lewis needs to pick up where he left off in the playoffs and reach a new plateau in his development. Desmond Mason needs to show he deserves to start over Brent Barry. And Patrick Ewing needs to show that the Sonics can be an up-tempo team, which is their best pace, and still get something out of him even if the offense doesn't revolve around him. If he can demonstrate he's an effective player without getting 30 touches a game then you have to look at the Sonics as a team that will be among the best in the conference, playing for home court advantage. Getting to the second round would be an accomplishment for Seattle.

By Frank Hughes
Special to ESPN.com

The Good
After two disconcerting seasons that were full of fights, arguments, weight tosses and more losses than came to be expected in the Pacific Northwest, the Sonics once again have something to look forward to. Not only did they acquire future Hall of Fame center Patrick Ewing from the New York Knicks for seven players in what turned out to be the largest deal in NBA history, but the Sonics have the added bonus that power forward Vin Baker, overweight and out of shape the past two seasons, appears to be back to at least a semblance of his former All-Star self. Baker shed his extra poundage almost immediately after the season, then picked up some defense and some intensity by competing daily against Alonzo Mourning at the Olympics for more than a month. Point guard Gary Payton has become almost an afterthought, his standard of excellence on the court has been set so high and so consistently. Plus, the Sonics re-signed young phenom Rashard Lewis over the summer, and so far through training camp, Lewis, once a second-round draft pick, has shown that he more than deserves the $3.8 million he is earning -- and perhaps deserves some of the $87 million that Baker didn't quite earn in recent seasons. And rookie Desmond Mason, from Oklahoma State, may turn out to be the steal of the draft at No. 17. He already has earned a starting job, sending Brent Barry to the second unit, and his presence permits the Sonics to have a rotation that is 10 players deep. Ruben Patterson, who started 74 games last season, should dominate other teams' reserves.

The Bad
Probably a great deal of the season depends on the health of Ewing, and recent history does not bode well for that prospect. When Ewing emerges from practice, he looks like an Egyptian mummy experiencing a glacial floe, with both knees, his wrist and his Achilles' tendon wrapped in ice. If Ewing goes down, his backups are Ruben Wolkowyski (pronounced Wol-ko-whiskey), an Argentinean with no NBA experience, and Jelani McCoy, who NBA career thus far has not been distinguished. And that ain't gonna get it done against the likes of Shaquille O'Neal, Rasheed Wallace and Tim Duncan. Ewing's health notwithstanding, the Sonics are a team that needs to jell to keep pace in an ultra-competitive Western Conference, and Payton's refusal to regularly practice will inhibit that. The other question that constantly is raised -- but has not yet been an issue -- is whether there will be enough shots to go around. Ewing never has backed down offensively, Payton has averaged more than 20 shots a game the past two season, and Baker and Lewis are itching to prove themselves.

	THE BIG QUESTION
	Will Ewing's health hold up long enough for the largest trade in NBA history to make a difference? And if it does, will the personalities on this team defer to others for the success of the team?

Whose team is this?
Unquestionably, Payton's. Ewing never has been a vocal leader, and in Seattle he has chosen to step even further into the background. At a shootaround before their first preseason game, Payton gathered the team in a huddle and gave an emotional speech that was meant to turn around a team that did not make the postseason two years ago. Ewing stood on the outside of the huddle and said nothing. And Baker does not have the personality nor the presence necessary to be the team's leader.


	Ewing

How they'll play
With Ewing, the Sonics have gone from one of the smallest teams in the league last season -- when the 6-6 Patterson started at small forward -- to playing with one of the largest front lines. Ewing is seven feet, Baker is 6-11 and Lewis is 6-10. And their backcourt is large, too, with Mason at 6-6 and Payton at 6-4. No more Small Ball for Paul, that's for sure. Seattle will run its offense through Ewing and Baker, and their interior presence on defense will allow Payton to roam more on the perimeter and take chances, as if the Glove needed another advantage on defense. Westphal will be able to display some of his freelance mentalities with a talented second unit, which will have Barry running the point, Shammond Williams at shooting guard and Patterson, with an improved jump shot, playing the small forward.

Projection

The Sonics should go back to winning more than 50 games, and depending on the health of the Phoenix Suns, could finish fourth in the West. They should make it to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in three seasons.

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