Goodbye Ray, Hello Oden?

The bad news is that Ray Allen is out for the rest of the season. The good news? The Sonics just got a step closer to landing Greg Oden!

Seattle, WA (Sports Network) - Seattle SuperSonics guard Ray Allen will miss the rest of the season with bone spurs in his left ankle.

Allen, the NBA's eighth-leading scorer (26.4 ppg), will require surgery but a specific date has yet to be determined.

"It makes sense for Ray to go forward and have the surgery," Sonics general manager Rick Sund said. "He's been playing with pain for some time now, and all parties involved agree that this is what is best for Ray in the long run."

(from the Seattle P.I.)

No Ray Tonight

According to David Locke at supersonics.com, Ray Allen will not be playing tonight against the T-Wolves.

Allen's headed for LA to meet with the same surgeon who operated on his ankle a couple of years ago. The Sonics expect to know this weekend, or possibly Monday, if he'll go ahead with the surgery and bag the rest of the season.

Whoa, There, Weezy

What would you say about a power forward who scored 46 points and grabbed 33 boards in two games in March? Sounds a lot like Chris Wilcox and his recent performance, right?

Um, yeah, it's Wilcox alright, but it's Wilcox from last year, when he went off against Milwaukee and Sacto in back-to-back games on March 21 and 22. Of course, he followed that up by grabbing 33 boards in the next five games, then going for double-doubles in four straight, then single-singles in three straight.

In other words, if anybody thinks Chris Wilcox has suddenly turned the corner and is entering the realm of a consistent scorer/rebounder, I'd suggest downing a nice glass of warm milk and settling down. Call him Weezy, call him Wilco, call him whatever, but the man has proven one thing in his five years in the league: He is just as capable of scoring 6 points as he is 26.

Is it circumstances? Is it lack of PT? I have no flippin' idea, but the fact remains that Wilcox has gone for big nights in LA and now in Seattle, yet for some reason he has yet to elevate his game to the next level. His flukish 79% free throw percentage for the Sonics last season was a total aberration from his career marks, and Coach Hill admitted in Kevin Pelton's article today at supersonics.com that he's reluctant to throw the ball to Wilcox down the stretch due to Weezy's inability to hit shots from the stripe.

Detractors will point to Karl Malone's improved FT% as evidence that players can change from the stripe, but they should also point out that Malone's percentage went up each year at the start of his career, until he reached a point where teams could not longer count on fouling him. Wilcox' numbers, however, have been as inconsistent as his overall play: 50, 70, 61, 64, 78, 65.

I'm not saying Wilcox isn't a decent player, and it's possible he's worth the six and a half mil a season the Sonics are paying him. But to say that he's "figured it out" after five years of inconsistent play based on a week and a half of above-average performances ... well, I guess I'm just a little more skeptical.