Knight to Clips

Cross Los Angeles off your potential destinations for Luke Ridnour/Earl Watson, as the Clips inked point guard Brevin Knight on Monday. While the possibility of Watson being sent back to LA (he attended UCLA) were always hypothetical at best, I had held out hope of the Sonics landing something, anything for one of their superfluous PGs in a trade with the Clippers.

For now, at least, the list of possible locations just got one name shorter, and the likelihood of Watson and Ridnour cohabitating for another season got that much more likely. Perhaps Sam Presti is hoping for a one-season tryout to determine if either of the two is ready to be a starting point guard, and if neither fills the bill, he'll have the option of waiting for next spring's draft, when he'll have the opportunity to pick OJ Mayo with the #1 pick.

Aubrey A Fan of Sonic Blogs?

Thanks for the extra traffic, Aubrey, but we'd rather have our team back.

Call me crazy, but maybe Aubrey McClendon's statements regarding the inevitability of the Sonics' relocation was a good thing. After all, what the hell has there been to talk about for the past couple of weeks? With training camp still eons away, A-Mac's statement/retraction has given us all something to whine about for a couple of weeks. Thanks, Aubrey.

As expected, a deluge of comments about Aubrey's comments today in the papers. You've got Steve Kelley (who thanks McClendon for "exposing chairman Clay Bennett as the duplicitous salesman he is" and goes on to call Bennett & Co. "fat-cat burglars"!), Eric Williams details the backpedaling from Bennett and McClendon (Williams also appeared on the Team 1040 in Vancouver last night; I know, because me and the other Sonic fan in B.C. both were listening), Art Thiel weighs in with a well-reasoned piece on the entire situation, Ted Miller counsels patience for Sonic fans, and also terms McClendon's comments "a calculated move," Margarita Prentice bemoans the fate of the team in Clay Bennett's official voice, and Gary Washburn has a quote from the NBA about the situation in his write-up.

See, I told you McClendon was working for us. Last week, I'm watching the paint dry at this site, and now we've got a dozen stories to examine and a million opinions to scream. Gotta love, controversy, right?

All of that aside, ponder this for a moment:

How would you feel if the Sonics had gotten the 6th pick in the draft, and rather than building around Kevin Durant, they were building around Yi "Chairmaster" Jianlian?

Suddenly, I just felt a whole lot better.

Collison Practicing With Team USA

Starting Wednesday, Team USA will be practicing in Las Vegas in preparation for the FIBA tournament that kicks off on August 22. Joining the roster of 16 players is Seattle's Nick Collison.

Collison joins a team that lost Kirk Hinrich, Shane Battier, and Greg Oden on Monday, meaning the roster has been trimmed to 16, with the possible additions of Mike Miller and/or Tayshaun Prince at some time in the future. ESPN's Chris Sheridan figures Kevin Durant will be cut, leaving Collison a two in four shot of making it (he would be battling with Prince, Miller, and Michael Redd for two spots).