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| | Monday, September 25 Seattle hopes Ewing's the answer | |||||
| Associated Press SEATTLE -- The Seattle SuperSonics aren't making any guarantees to their fans. Or to Patrick Ewing. With the addition of Ewing, the Sonics have a starting center to go with Gary Payton, Vin Baker, Rashard Lewis and Brent Barry. But even with the 38-year-old Ewing playing well, the Sonics are still looking up at the best in the Western Conference, the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers and the Portland Trail Blazers. "We've got to worry about what helps the Sonics," general manager Wally Walker said after the 12-player, four-team trade Wednesday brought Seattle its first legitimate starting center since Jack Sikma, who was traded to Milwaukee after the 1986 season. "It's not without risk because of Patrick's age and injuries, but we felt we had to take a risk to get a center," Walker added. The Sonics made it to the NBA finals against Michael Jordan and Chicago in 1996. But they didn't have a true center, making do with Shawn Kemp and Sam Perkins. A year ago, the Sonics were one of the smallest teams. They tried to match up with Shaquille O'Neal of the Lakers and Rasheed Wallace of the Trail Blazers with Baker and Horace Grant, two power forwards, as their big men. It was a mismatch. Despite Payton's sixth straight All-Star season, they finished seventh in the West and were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. But is Ewing the answer? He never won a championship in New York and is headed into his 16th NBA season with creaky knees and a surgically repaired wrist. He had a minor knee operation in June. Against Indiana in the Eastern Conference finals last season, the Knicks were 2-0 when Ewing sat out injured and 0-4 when he played. Ewing has one year remaining on a $60 million, four-year contract and has said he would like to play two more years beyond the 2000-2001 season. The Knicks didn't want him beyond next season. "The bottom line is he felt totally disrespected and he felt it was time for him to move on," Ewing's friend, Alonzo Mourning, said from the Sydney Olympics. Ewing will earn $14 million next season. The Sonics made it clear he's going to have to play well to get another contract. "We're going to see how it goes, and our wish is Patrick has an outstanding and healthy year," Walker said. "If it doesn't work out, we're in a situation where we will have salary-cap flexibility next year." Although the Sonics surrendered seven players and three draft choices to land Ewing, they didn't give up that much. Only Grant, who went to the Lakers in the deal, was a starter in Seattle. The Sonics also shipped Greg Foster, Chuck Person and Emanual Davis to the Lakers, and Vernon Maxwell, Lazaro Borrell and Vladimir Stepania to the Knicks along with their first-round draft pick in 2001 and two of their second-round 2001 picks. The team hopes Ewing's presence will start filling Key Arena, where the Sonics drew an average of 15,018 last season. "If people are getting fired up about the team, they should be," Walker said. "This gives us an excellent team that's going to be fun to watch and competitive." At 32, Payton is running out of time if he wants to play on a championship team. "We hope this is going to help Vin come back to the player he wants to be," he said in Sydney. "I know Patrick's going to help our scoring, and it should open up things for me." | ALSO SEE Sonics get Ewing in four-team, 12-player deal AUDIO/VIDEO   The Seattle Sonics welcome their new center Patrick Ewing.RealVideo: 28.8   A rejunvinated Patrick Ewing left his wheelchair in New York.wav: 226 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 Patrick Ewing thought he would finish his career as a Knick. (John Thompson Show at Sports Talk 980)wav: 322 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 | |||||