This is a great time to be a fan of the Seattle SuperSonics. In addition to getting to root for Gary Payton, one of the top players in the league, and watching youngster Rashard Lewis come back and emerge as a star, you have two new members of the front line to solve the rebounding issues and compete with the big boys. Patrick Ewing is a Hall of Famer good for 10 boards a night, a definite presence, and Maurice Taylor should have no problem matching ... uh, what's that, the Sonics don't have Ewing and Taylor? And Vin Baker's coming back? Horace Grant is the center?

	It was Payton's place to normally be leading the Sonics in scoring.

Good luck, Seattle. We mock because we care, but the fact is the Sonics at this point, assuming the Baker-Ewing deal is dead and buried (Taylor is officially now a Houston Rocket), don't really look any better than last year, when they earned the West's No. 7 seed. Think that's a lock this year? Of course, the offseason isn't over yet ...

With that, we delve into Offseason Team Spotlight No. 25, the Seattle SuperSonics. As always, we have our opinions, which are below, but we also appreciate yours. Click on the right side of this page to see the user comments.

Why the Sonics were 45-37: Give Payton credit. When he entered the league he couldn't score at all, and now he's averaging 24.2 points and becoming a triple-double threat on a nightly basis. Payton raised his game to another level yet again, with career-highs in points, rebounds, assists and 3-point shooting, and he took the Sonics on his back to an easy playoff berth. There was little question that Seattle was playoff-bound as early as January, partly because the team got off to a nice start but also because only eight West teams were even close (until eventually Dallas) to winning half their games.

The only issue to be resolved was whether the Sonics or Kings would have to meet the Lakers, and Seattle won a big game in Sactown in the final week to earn the date with Utah. Didn't matter, both Seattle and Sacramento lost in five games.

Anyway, Payton did have some help, but he could have used more, possibly leading this team to home-court advanatge in an early playoff series. The aforementioned Baker, a weight-gaining machine with emotional issues who has seen his game drop remarkably the last two years, was second on the team in scoring (16.6) and rebounding (7.7), but he was still harshly criticized for not doing nearly enough of either. Part of the problem is that Baker really isn't a center. With Grant, now showing his age of 35, the only other big man earning the minutes he got, the responsibility fell on Vinny plenty. Grant did about all that could have been expected of him with 8.1 points and 7.8 boards.

On possibly his last shot, Brent Barry resurrected his career with solid numbers at shooting guard, while former Laker Ruben Patterson came out of nowhere to start 74 times at small forward and contribute much more than expected. Patterson, however, will lose that starting spot this year to Lewis, a young, spry small forward out of high school who is 6-foot-10 and going to get a lot better fast. Lewis averaged 13.8 points and 6 rebounds in April. He improved those totals in the playoff loss to Utah, and Seattle convinced him to ignore other lucrative offers and return with a three-year deal.

Still, this was a team that relied on Payton to win its games. The Sonics started out 9-2, won seven of nine to start January and had plenty of breathing room to overcome losing 10 of 13 down the stretch. The question is, with Dallas and Houston seemingly capable of winning half their games now, is Seattle safe?

	Current projected top 6
	PG	Gary Payton
	SG	Brent Barry
	SF	Rashard Lewis
	PF	Vin Baker
	C	Horace Grant
	6th	Ruben Patterson

Team MVP: You couldn't have asked Payton to play any better than this. Team LVP: You could have asked Vernon Maxwell and Chuck Person to play better, however. Even for Mad Max, a .345 field goal percentage is brutal. In the 47 games he managed to appear in, he averaged a lot more shots than Barry and Patterson and scored less. He did produce 16.3 points a night in November, but added little after that. Person played in 37 games, shot .301 and somehow was entrusted with the team's last shot of the season. He missed. Surprise! Definitely Patterson. Before last year, he had played in 24 games and was known only for his defensive prowess against Kobe Bryant in practice. Up and comer: Lewis could become the team's No. 2 scorer as early as this season, eclipsing Baker. Also, watch out for top draft pick Desmond Mason, an athletic swingman who was named MVP of the Shaw's Summer League. He has earned the right to get minutes right away.

What they need: With possibly the world's best point guard and two good young players in Lewis and Mason, the Sonics would be a safe playoff team if not for one problem: There is a serious lack of rebounding here. Payton was not only the team's third leading man on the boards, but he was only a mere 76 rebounds from leading the team! Also, Baker led the team in blocks with only 66, one of the lowest totals for any NBA team swat leader. An inside presence is desperately needed here.

While many in Seattle complained when it appeared the Ewing-Baker trade was near completion, a strong case can be made that Ewing would have made the team better than Baker can. Forget about the fact that the ex-Clipper Taylor would have replaced Baker just fine at power forward; Ewing would have given the team a presence -- albeit an ancient, sore-kneed, creaky one -- but he would have gotten 10 boards and defended other big men better than the overmatched Grant. Now the Sonics are back where they started from.

Jelani McCoy is 6-10 and signed a one-year deal to stick around, but he averaged only 12.9 minutes a game and Seattle fans aren't anxious to see more of him. Greg Foster and Vladimir Stepania? Don't ask, but realize they were supposed to be in the Ewing trade mess and now return. Most Sonics fans weren't aware they were on the team in the first place.

Without that big man, the Sonics will welcome back Baker with open arms ("Sure, Vinny, we loved you all along") and watch he and Grant man the post with Lewis, more scorer than defender, helping out. But is that enough?

What the plan is: One of the first things Seattle coach Paul Westphal was instructed to do when the Baker deal fell apart was to find Baker and make him feel wanted again. Some people said that there was no way Baker and Ewing could return to their original teams. Hey, for the $10 mil these guys make a year, they're going back just fine. However, the Sonics thought it was enough of an issue to send Westphal out to meet Baker at the Olympic exhibition games in Honolulu.

Then there's Payton. Does the star of an NBA team deserve to be told before major moves are made? If you're GM Wally Walker, should you have consulted Payton? No matter what you believe, Payton was angry, thinking that this deal would make the Sonics older and lead to another rebuilding situation a year later. Maybe he's right.

If nothing else happens to this squad, they still figure to be among the teams fighting for the final one or two playoff spots yet again. They aren't the Lakers, Blazers or Spurs, and they aren't the Jazz, Suns or Timberwolves, either.

The Sonics are hoping that Baker, who got himself in shape for the Olympics, can keep himself that way for the regular season and returns to his Milwaukee days of 20 and 10 a night. Nobody has questioned Baker's ability, but they've questioned his desire. If Baker can play better, it affects everyone.

Once you get past the Seattle starting lineup, which doesn't look bad, there are questions. Patterson is the current backup at small forward, but because of his thrifty contract is also being rumored in trade talks to land a big man. Point guard Shammond Williams wasn't a factor for five months of the season, then made news more for his 1970s-style haircut than for his play. Then, out of nowhere, he averaged 11.2 points and 3.9 assists in nine April games, came up big in the playoffs and is safe backing up Payton. Williams, like Mason, had a spectacular showing in the summer leagues, and could play more with Payton seeing time at the two-guard.

An athletic slasher, Mason will earn time not only because he's a versatile scorer, but like a Ron Artest he is strong defensively. Lewis is not, so it wouldn't be surprising to see both kids on the floor at the same time. Seattle could play Williams and Payton together as well and sit Barry at times. Emanuel Davis, who does have range but struggled with his shot, also fits into the guard rotation. Up front, Baker, Grant, McCoy and rookie Olumide Oyedeji from Nigeria will certainly be tested.

Direction heading: If we went so far as to predict Dallas and Houston to make the West playoffs, that would signal bad news for Seattle and Sacramento, seemingly a level below the other six playoff teams. We won't go that far, but we will say Seattle will have a tough time winning 45 games again.