Training Camp Underway

As you would imagine, the coverage in the local media has shifted away from the off-court news to the on-court news. And, you know, I don't care if you're Clay Bennett, Kevin Calabro, me, Les Habegger, or whoever, that's a great thing. First and foremost, we're basketball fans, and basketball fans like to talk about basketball, not arbitration, right?

The Times has a blog now (I'm a couple days late on this), with both Jayda Evans and Percy Allen contributing. Allen reports that Bob Swift is "laboring," and Gary Washburn at the PI makes a note that Nene Hilario - who had a similar fate to Swifty - is still feeling the aftereffects of the surgery, and he had his a year before Swift did. Not liking the sound of that. GW also reports that PJ Carlesimo's practices are more hard-core than Bob Hill's were, although it should be noted that my daughter's pre-school classes are also tougher than Hill's practices.

Eric Williams at the TNT has some great stuff [warning, Williams' story is adjacent to this picture, so click with care], including this wonderful quote from Earl Watson, who apparently has decided that he won't only beat out Luke Ridnour for the starting point guard spot on the court, he'll beat him out in the court of public opinion:

“When you think of the Sonics, it’s kind of like a cornerstone of the NBA,” Watson said. “For me growing up it was always the Lakers, the Sonics, the Bulls, Boston and the Knicks. That’s just the way it was. I think Seattle deserves a team. And I hope a situation works out to where they stay.”

Thanks, Earl.

Prescient Presti

First, the Sonics make a summertime swap of their $8 million trade exception for Phoenix' Kurt Thomas and the Suns' 2008 and 2010 first-round picks.

Then, Shawn Marion made noise about wanting out.

Then, today, we read that Amare Stoudamire had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, keeping him out of basketball action for two weeks (at least).

Let's say the Suns manage to deal Marion (unlikely, I know); they're not getting full value for the guy, right? And let's say Amare takes a little longer to heal, and isn't 100% when he comes back. Those two together have to cost the Phoenix, what, 10 wins this season?

And let's say Steve Nash gets hurt; he's about due for it isn't he? After all, he's not exactly A.C. Green when it comes to durability, and he's a 34-year-old point guard playing on one of the highest-paced offenses in the league. How many games off for Nash this year; 5, 10, 15?

At what point do Suns fans start to panic, and how valuable is that 2008 pick going to be, let alone the 2010 pick, when Nash has ridden off into the sunset, Marion is gone/bitter, and Amare's knees enter their Moses Malone Phase?

Nice work, Mr. Presti.

Monday Tuesday Sonics News

Here are some quick Supersonics hits to start your week (if your week starts on Tuesday):

The Seattle Supersonics are only inviting one non-roster player to training camp this year. His name? Jermaine Jackson!

Last week, the city of Seattle sued the Sonics. This week, season-ticket holders sued the Sonics. Today, the Sonics are taking the city to court. The Sonics may not have a lot of fans this season, but they are making great inroads in one demographic: Lawyers!

But enough about lawsuits, yesterday was Media Day! Where was Supersonicsoul, you ask? Reading about it in the P.I., just like you.

Did we mention Wally Szczerbiak is in the house? Did we mention we don't care?