Leftovers Fall to Blazers

A million things to talk about, so let's try some quick hits this morning:

1. The Sonics waived Brent Barry before he even got to town. Francisco Elson, the other part of the SA trade, has passed his physical and will likely start getting playing time this weekend.

2. Robert Swift is, sadly, hurt again. His right knee was, again, sprained, this time in Thursday's game against the Blazers. Who knows what the future holds for this young man. It is difficult to generate much empathy for a multi-millionaire who only recently entered his twenties, but Swift's injury-prone NBA career, combined with the way he worked so hard to get back on the court, is sad. It makes you wonder if he would have been better off just sitting out this year altogether and just waiting until next year. It's possible that that is his only option now. So much for dealing away Kurt Thomas to get Swift more minutes, huh?

3. Mo Sene's cell phone is probably ringing in Idaho right now to get on the next flight to Seattle. I'd be glad to see him here, in that he has proven he's capable of dominating the D-League. Let's see what the young man can do in the big time.

4. How bummed are Donyell Marshall and Ira Newble this morning?

5. "We've still got the core group that I think is going to be here going forward," PJ Carlesimo said last night. I suppose I agree, if by core he means "Kevin Durant and Jeff Green." I'm not guessing by a long shot that anyone else is part of that "core," though.

6. Finally, the Sonics lost to the mighty Blazers last night in Portland. Considering how messed up this roster is right now, it's amazing the Sonics were able to make a game of it. Earl Watson nearly picked up his second triple-double in the past few weeks, Luke Ridnour hit 3 of 4 from long range, Nick Collison registered a double-double ... and Chris Wilcox went 0-for-5 with 2 points. In the end, it wasn't enough as the Blazers wound up with a 92-88 win.