Candidates

Well, that was quite a shakeup Mr. Bennett issued yesterday, though it was as unexpected as a failed movie starring an SNL alum.

With Sund and Hill both out of the picture, I'm hoping that Bennett/Wilkens (hereinafter Benikens) first move will be to acquire a GM. Unfortunately, all the good GM candidates are kind of busy right now. There's this thing called the "playoffs" taking place, and anybody that's good at their job is likely involved in it.

That obviously puts Benikens in a crappy spot. Do they wait until late June to make a move, and pray that a coach/GM combination is available? Do they go for a guy like Adelman or Larry Brown now, then hope that whichever GM they get later on is cool with it?

Personally, I think the best move is to go GM first, coach second. With that in mind, here's a wishlist of GMs:

1. Kiki Vandeweghe; people forget how bad the Nuggets were before he took over in 2001. He transformed them to a playoff team by acquiring Marcus Camby, Carmelo Anthony, Kenyon Martin, and George Karl. He also drafted Nikoloz Tskitishvili with the 5th overall pick in 2002. Ouch.

2. Jerry West; late of the Grizzlies, West obviously knows how to create a playoff team, but color me less than enthusiastic about him leading the Sonics. He radiates weariness of the NBA, and while he got the Grizzlies into the playoffs after a inheriting a woeful franchise, I don't know that he's the right fit for the Sonics.

3. RC Buford, Spurs; the safest pick, Buford leads the most-envied franchise in the NBA. He's found international guys like Ginobili and Parker and continues to mix and match veterans and youngsters. But I've got to wonder, why in the hell would he want to leave S.A. for Seattle?

4. Sam Presti, Spurs; Buford's assistant is only 30 years old, but is often mentioned as a potential candidate. I'd be wary of hiring him, only because he'd have the spectre of Lenny Wilkens hovering over him. I look at it this way: let's say the Sonics are poised to make a trade, with Presti arguing for Answer A, and Wilkens for Answer B. They go to Bennett to settle the argument. Who do you think Bennett's going to side with: the 30-year-old neophyte, or the 70-year-old wizard?

5. Lenny Wilkens, Methuselah; sorry, but I am really beginning to think this will be the answer. The Sonics are in such disarray right now that it's going to be really difficult for any GM to come in and do much of anything.

Think about how next year is going to go. Assume that the deadline for building a stadium comes and goes. In November, the Sonics will be playing in a half-empty arena with crowds that are booing their home team. The whole season feels like something out of "Bad News Bears." What GM in their right mind would want any part of that? I have the distinct impression that next year will be in wait-and-see mode, until the team packs up for parts unknown and begins its new life with a new GM and a new coach.

Seattle Sonics fire Hill, "reassign" Sund

"They fired ME?! But, I'm BOB HILL, damnit!"

From the Seattle P.I.:

The Sonics fired coach Bob Hill and reassigned general manager Rick Sund on Tuesday afternoon.

Team chairman Clay Bennett made the announcement in a statement sent to media outlets. Bennett and Sonics vice-chairman Lenny Wilkens will lead the search for a new coach and GM, the statement said.

Sund, who has a year remaining on his contract, will serve as a consultant next season.

"Bob Hill and Rick Sund are fine individuals of excellent personal character and are basketball men through and through," Bennett said in the statement. "They were both extremely helpful to us during the challenging year of transition."

The Sonics completed their season Wednesday with a 31-51 record. Only four NBA teams had fewer victories.

No big shocker here. The only surprise is they didn't do it four months ago. (Of course, that would have meant the owners were interested in winning in Seattle which, obviously, they weren't.)

Worst Drafts

The lottery is drawing closer, and with it comes rampant speculation on who the Sonics should select.

I thought it makes a great opportunity to review the Sonics’ draft history, specifically the worst drafts in team history. I also thought it would be a good chance to mention Billy Paultz in an article for no good reason whatsoever.

Here you go:

1970: With a first-rounder and two seconds you’d think the Sonics could do better than Jim Ard, Jake Ford, and Pete Cross. Sadly, the Sonics pass up John Johnson, Geoff Petrie, Jim McMillan, Calvin Murphy, Tiny Archibald, Billy Paultz (The Whopper!), and Dan Issel.

1972: Again, the Sonics have a first and two seconds, and, again, they come up empty, unless you consider Bud Stallworth, Joby Wright, and Brian Taylor as significant acquisitions. Taylor had a decent career in the ABA, but he never played a game in Seattle. (On a side note, the draft lasted for 14 rounds; the Sonics didn’t get anything in the other 12 rounds either).

1975: The Sonics reach for Frank Oleynick with the 12th pick of the first round. Oleynick’s sole claim to fame was attending Seattle U. Maybe the Sonics figured they could save on airfare. Also available at that pick were: Ricky Sobers, Joe Bryant, Kevin Grevey, Gus Williams, World B Free, and Dan Roundfield.

1978: Coming off a berth in the NBA Finals, you couldn’t expect much in the draft, but considering that of the five guys the Sonics picked, only one of them (Ralph Drollinger, UCLA) even played in the league, and Drollinger’s “career” consisted of six games played, well, that’s not much of a draft, folks.

1981: “With the fifth overall selection in the NBA Draft, the Seattle Supersonics select ...” Danny Vranes? Considering the Sonics could have wound up with Tom Chambers, Orlando Woolridge, Rolando Blackman, Kelly Tripucka, Danny Schayes, Larry Nance, Danny Ainge, or Eddie Johnson (the good one), that’s just lame.

1994: With an upper-echelon pick for the first time in a while, Seattle goes for Carlos Rogers with the 11th pick. Of course, they could have had Jalen Rose, but who had heard of him?

2004-2006: We will not mention these seasons.