Last year 

    Aaron Gill 

made the "pick of the draft".  This year he selects:


    Donald Williams, SG, 6-3.  North Carolina

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SEATTLE SUPERSONICS

TEAM NEEDS

	Well as Yogi once said, "It's deja vu all over again", Last year
the Sonics lost in the first round after posting the best record in the
NBA.  The obvious weaknesses were center and shooting guard.  Well aside
>from an end of the season surge from Ervin Johnson we still have the same
basic problems, except we have lost a lot of depth.  We traded last years
lottery pick and Ricky Pierce for Sarunas Marcilonious, who never caught
on and didn't even play one second in the playoffs.  We let hard-working
cent er Michael Cage go so we could use his salary slot to sign Bill
Cartwright and stop me if you heard this, but he didn't play one second in
the playoffs.  It wasn't all bad for the Sonics as they won 57 games and
had three players, Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp,
 and Detlef Schrempf make the All-NBA Teams.

CENTER
	For most of the season this person did not exist, well Sam Perkins
suited up in this position and he is a good player but he is NO center. 
He was generally only effective when he stood behind the 3-pt line and
fired away (12.7 PPG, .397 3pt%).  He did w ell at this but seems to have
slowed with age and really didn't bring much defense or rebounding (4.9
RB) to the table. His best moments where when Ervin Johnson played center
and he moved to power forward.  Ervin Johnson, no not that one, was given
an op portunity to play after the all-star break, he was awkward, had no
shot and was foul prone, but he rebounded and blocked shots and proved
himself to be a legitimate backup NBA Center (14.2 min., 4.5 RB, 1 BLK),
something the Sonics haven't had in a long t ime.  There actually was an
NBA center on the bench but Bill Cartwright never really fit into the
Sonic game plan and was basically a highly paid assistant coach. 

POWER FORWARD
	Shawn Kemp continues to improve every year, he is becoming a 20/10
man (18.7 PPG, 10.9 RB)and he is finally getting some NBA calls when he
goes to the basket and he is hitting them for the most part (FT .749).  He
brings quite an intimidating presence wh en he plays, he dunks, rebounds
and block shots with a fury and he is even starting to acquire a nice 15ft
jumper. He was selected to the All-NBA first team and he is improving and
his main weakness, which is being foul prone. Most of the backup time was
filled by Detlef Schrempf and Sam Perkins.  Byron Houston and Steve
Scheffler played the garbage minutes. 

SMALL FORWARD
	Detlef Schrempf shook off the last year's mediocre, for him,
performance and responded with an all-star year,(19.2 PPG, 6.2 RB, 3.8 AS
3pt% .514) He has made the transition from power forward to small forward
and is one of the best passers on the team.  He led the NBA in 3pt
percentage for most of the year and grabbed his share of rebounds for
someone who spent so much time at the perimeter. He made the All-NBA 3rd
team. Detlef was backed up by Vinnie Askew a former CBA player who made
good.  Askew is a tough defender and a streaky shooter, but he seemed to
let last years success go to his head and he played selfishly at times and
was very inconsistent at the end of the season and in the playoffs.  The
rest of the time here is filled by Nate McMillian, p romising rookie
Dontonio Wingfield took care of the garbage time. 

SHOOTING GUARD
	This position was in turmoil most of the season it was manned
variously by Kendall Gill, Nate McMillan, Sarunas Marciulionis, Vincent
Askew, Gary Payton and even Detlef Schrempf, none of which were able to
hit a jump shot consistently while at this posit ion. Kendall Gill was the
starter, but he and Karl were at odds for most of the season until Kendall
finally checked into a clinic for depression, leaving the team for a few
weeks.  He was diagnosed with a chemical imbalance but when he came back
he never really got into the flow so it is hard to tell whether he is
recovered or not.  This problem has been blamed on Karl and/or Kendall,
but with George back for the 95-96 season, you can be assured Kendall
won't be here.  Sarunas Marciulionis was brought in to add some veteran
toughness especially for the playoffs, he was out the previous two years
with injuries and never really seemed to fit into the Sonics defensive
scheme.  His favorite move is the plow to the basket for the 3pt play, but
he happened to be on a team where all of the other 2 guards also favored
that move so he didn't bring any new variations to the table. 

POINT GUARD
	The Sonics do have two of the best guards in the NBA, the only
problem is both play this position.  Gary Payton continues to prove the
old theory that a point guard like a quarterback needs a few years to
develop.  He posted all-star numbers (20.6 PPG, 7 .1 AS, 2.5 ST) and was
selected to the all-NBA second team and all-NBA defense first team.  He is
the best defender at his position in the NBA and has improved his scoring
ability.  While his main moves are driving to the basket and posting up
other point guards he is also developing a nice outside touch.  The only
knocks on Gary seems to be that he doesn't provide the leadership expected
of a point guard and he sometimes looks to score himself, rather than
getting the team involved in the offense.  Gary' s backup Nate McMillian
often is overlooked when considering the best guards in the NBA, but his
importance to this team cannot be overstated.  He may not put up the
glossy numbers (5.2 PPG, 5.3 AS, 2.1 ST) but he is probably the second
best defender in t he league at this position and is actually a better
passer than Gary.  He also provides what leadership there is on the
Sonics.  He started slowly this year due to the new handchecking rule but
was back to form by the all-star break, he continued to play well until he
was hampered by bone spurs in the playoffs. Even with this injury he
provided the most fire and enthusiasm in the playoffs. 

COACH George Karl guided the team to another great regular season only to
fail to execute in the playoffs, actually the team had problems in big
games all year.  He feuded with many of the players and many people called
for his head at the end of the season.  H e was kept for a what are
speculated to be a variety of reasons, 1. He coached well in the regular
season and he took us to the Western conference finals two years ago, 2.
He makes a lot of money and they didn't want to pay him to play golf and
3. Who the hell else is out there?  Regardless of the reasoning he is back
and there will be a lot of pressure for him to perform, this will be the
defining year of his coaching career. 

PROTECTED LIST
Shawn Kemp
Gary Payton
Detlef Schrempf
Nate McMillan
Ervin Johnson
Dontonio Wingfield
Kendall Gill
Sarunas Marciolnious 

	I chose not to protect Sam Perkins because he is older and makes
over 4 million a year not because he isn't a good player.  I think the
rest of the choices are logical. 

OUR SELECTION

	Donald Williams Guard North Carolina - Well it is no secret that
George is partial to players from his alma-mater, but now he has a chance
to get one that can fill a Sonic need.  Donald Williams has the ability to
score and shoot from anywhere, yet unlik e most players with this ability
he can play defense.  His only weakness would be his size, but since the
Point Guards on the team are 6-4 and 6-5, the defensive roles could switch
if there is a big two guard.  Donald is to inconstant to start now but he
is developed enough to come in an provide some solid backup minutes. 

OTHERS CONSIDERED

Lawrence Moten - talent wise he is the best guard left at this position,
he is a big time player but probably wouldn't fit into the Sonics team
scheme, due to attitude and lack of defense and size. 

Donny Marshall - He has been here working out for the Sonics so I know he
is being considered, He is from the Seattle area so signing him would be
good PR, especially after the Doug Christy fiasco.  He has the fire that
the Sonics like but isn't as develo ped as Donald Williams. 

Scotty Thurmond- He plays great defense which is a requirement for the
Supes, but he seems slow offensively and wouldn't fill a current need. 

Other players considered that may be available in the "real" draft but are
gone in this one. 

Sherrel Ford - He has the combination of size, shooting and defense that
the Sonics like, he would probably be moved to 2 guard. 

Brent Barry - He is still raw but will develop into a decent two guard. He
seems to have is act together mentally, something the Sonics could use. 


OTHER MOVES THAT THE TEAM SHOULD MAKE

	Well few things in life are for sure, but we do know the Sun will
rise tomorrow and Kendall Gill will be traded, the only question is what
we can get in return.  The Sonics biggest need is a 2 guard but it will be
hard to get this in a direct trade.  Why would someone trade their great
guard to us for another guard?  So this brings up the possibility of a
three way trade or trading for a two guard using someone else and then
using Kendall as trade bait to fill that position.  Sarunas is also a
likely tra de candidate, he didn't play in the playoffs and neither him
nor the coaching staff is happy about it.  Even if the Sonics due select a
two guard in the draft, it is imperative they get a veteran shooter. 
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