Drafted!

Would you trade Ray for him? You would if you were RETARDED!

Did someone leave a door open, because it feels DRAFTY in here! Heh-heh. Heh.

The NBA Draft is today, and here's who everyone thinks we're going to pick (courtesy of the Seattle Times):

Chad Ford, ESPN.com: Hilton Armstrong

Tony Mejia, CBSsportsline: Randy Foye

Chris Ekstrand, Sports Illustrated: J.J. Redick

Frank Burlison, Scout.com: Andrea Bargnani

DIME Magazine: Cedric Simmons

NBAdraft.net: Patrick O'Bryant

Hoopshype.com: Shelden Williams

Realgm.com: Shelden Williams

Bodog.com: Rodney Carney

And according to the Tribune, the Lewis deal may still happen as well. My prediction? The Sonics will keep the pick and draft a foreign player you've never heard of. Probably from Israel.

Hoo-dawg, anything can happen today folks!

Blockbuster: Lewis for Marion?

Finally, some freakin' news!

According to DraftExpress.com, Rashard Lewis may be headed to the Phoenix Suns for Shawn Marion:

Multiple sources told DraftExpress today that the Phoenix Suns and Seattle Supersonics are working on a potential blockbuster trade. The Sonics have implied to numerous people over the past 48 hours that “something is going to go down,” while another source in Seattle told us that the Supersonics are “getting very close” to finalizing a trade.

Read the whole story here.

A Ring for the Glove

A big congrats to our favorite ex-Supersonic Gary Payton, who finally got his ring tonight as his Miami Heat beat the Dallas Mavericks for the NBA title.

Now for God's sake, retire already Gary . . . and you too, Zo, before you lose another kidney!

Whizz Cup

And you thought Sonics fans were weird. (Found at WFMU.org, via Boing-Boing)

Kemp/Karl II?

According to the Seattle Times, George Karl is taking a look at former Supersonic Shawn Kemp. Seriously:

"He seems clearer, stronger," Karl said Monday after Denver's three-day camp for free agents. "His words are older. They have some wisdom to them. It's the most grounded I've seen him."

The 36-year-old Kemp, who reportedly ballooned to 340 pounds in recent years, has been out of the league for the last three seasons but wants to play again. Kemp said he hired a trainer and dropped 75 pounds, helping reduce his body fat to 11.5 percent.

Read the rest here.

Don't worry, George—if this doesn't pan out, I think Big Smooth might still be available.

GP: Third Time a Charm?

Former Supersonic Gary Payton is returning to the big show.

On Thursday, Payton's Miami Heat will face off against the Dallas Mavericks in Game One of the NBA Finals, and for the third (and probably last) time, The Glove will try to get a ring to finish off a Hall of Fame career.

So Supersonicsouliacs, do you think GP has any gas left in his tank? Will he even be a factor? Does he really need a ring to be considered one of the greatest guards in NBA history? Let the ill-informed speculation begin!

Terrence Stansbury

I heart YouTube, and here's why.

NBA Playoffs: It's Balltastic!

In case you missed it, our pal Henry Abbott over at True Hoop talks about the latest nut-grabbing incident in the NBA. It's also features perhaps the greatest headline in the history of the world . . .

"Josh Howard Gets an Avery in the Johnson"

Youch!

Drafty

From now until draft day, the only thing worth talking about in Sonicland will be who Seattle will take with the 10th pick - or if they'll trade the pick for something else. With that in mind, I thought it might be helpful to keep track of what the experts think the Sonics will do. Today will be the first edition of What Should the Sonics Do?

si.com - JJ Redick, Duke, SG
espn.com - Marcus Williams, UConn, PG
nbadraft.net - Cedric Simmons, NC State, PF/C
foxsports.com - Shelden Williams, Duke, PF/C
about.com - Shelden Williams
hoopshype.com - Ronnie Brewer, Arkansas, SG
insidehoops.com - Patrick O'Bryant, Bradley, C
msnbc.com - Shelden Williams
collegehoops.net - Marcus Williams
hoopsvibe.com - Ronnie Brewer

Those are just 10 of 14,367 sites compiling mock drafts at this moment. Just imagine if all of the energy spent researching draft choices for the NBA by people who don't even get paid by an NBA team were spent researching, oh, I don't know, cancer? And imagine if 3 losers from Seattle spent as much time working on their careers as much as, oh, I don't know, a blog?

I love this game!

Lottery

Thankfully, not making the playoffs does give teams something to get excited about in the offseason - The Lottery.

It seems as if every day draft prognosticators have different guys wearing Sonic jerseys - assuming Seattle lands the #10 pick as expected. Among the people I've seen attributed to Seattle are Mardy Collins, Ronnie Brewer, and 100 other players.

A couple of tips:

1. Everybody is "long"
2. Everybody has "exceptional quickness"
3. Everybody "needs to work on defensive positioning"
4. Everybody "reminds scouts of (insert player of same race and height here)"

With that in mind, I'm not adverse at all to Seattle dealing the pick + Danny Fortson to pickup something useful: a veteran center, perhaps?

The lottery will be starting at 4:30 pm tonight, West Coast time.

UPDATE: The lottery has ended. Bad News: The Sonics got the 10th pick. Good News: Portland dropped to fourth!

Garbage Time!

A Jerome James highlight reel. Seriously.

(Found on YouTube)

Ehlo: No Longer Mint

Ehlo out, Lenny in. Let the celebration begin.

Fox is expected to replace former Sonic Craig Ehlo as its Sonics color analyst with Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens, who served as a studio host this past season and will work alongside play-by-play announcer Kevin Calabro for the first time.
- - -
Ehlo’s two-year contract expired and Fox decided not to renew it, instead opening negotiations with Wilkens, who coached Ehlo in Cleveland and Atlanta.

“I have no hard feelings,” Ehlo said from his Spokane home. “I had a great two years. I got to work with Kevin Calabro, who is the best in the business, and every day I learned something from him.”

Fox executives declined to comment. But a source at Fox said the network would like to use Ehlo in another capacity, perhaps announcing college basketball games.

Meanwhile, Wilkens, whose contract negotiations are ongoing, will join a long line of sidekicks to Calabro, who since 1997 has worked with Danny Schayes, Billy McKinney, Rick Carlisle, James Donaldson and Marques Johnson, among others.

from the News Tribune

(Thanks to Ryan for the tip!)

Oh yeah, and here's the official Craig Ehlo highlight reel: