8 Things About Ira Newble

1. Ira Newble and Wally Szczerbiak, who were traded for one another yesterday, are the only active Miami University attendees in the NBA. I believe, but am not 100% certain, that they were teammates at U of M in 1995. It's funny how all the stories I read about Wally heading to Cleveland highlighted his Ohio history, but neglected to mention Newble's.

2. His favorite books are 1984 and the Autobiography of Malcolm X. Personally, I think Animal Farm is better than 1984, but those are both solid choices. Especially Malcolm X, if you haven't read that book you really should make a point of it. Extremely well written and fascinating from the first page to the last. Somebody ought to make a movie out of it.

3. Father’s name is also Ira. By the way, how sweet would it have been to see Ira hook up with some Jewish girl, who tells her dad she's bringing home a guy she met named Ira, and then Ira Newble rings the doorbell? That's comedy gold!

4. "Ira plays everything but the point guard, but he even brought the ball up sometime. Ira doesn't have a position. He plays where ever coach puts him.” LeBron James.

5. Leads a campaign to help bring awareness to China's involvement in the Darfur crisis. He is collecting signatures around the league for a letter that then will be presented to the Chinese government and the President of the Olympic Committee for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.

6. His Roland Rating of -9.9 was the worst on the Cavs for players playing 25% of more of the team’s minutes this season.

7. He has spent the majority of his minutes at small forward this season, with occasional duty at SG and PF.

8. His adjusted +/- for the season is -8.09.

Leftovers Fall to Blazers

A million things to talk about, so let's try some quick hits this morning:

1. The Sonics waived Brent Barry before he even got to town. Francisco Elson, the other part of the SA trade, has passed his physical and will likely start getting playing time this weekend.

2. Robert Swift is, sadly, hurt again. His right knee was, again, sprained, this time in Thursday's game against the Blazers. Who knows what the future holds for this young man. It is difficult to generate much empathy for a multi-millionaire who only recently entered his twenties, but Swift's injury-prone NBA career, combined with the way he worked so hard to get back on the court, is sad. It makes you wonder if he would have been better off just sitting out this year altogether and just waiting until next year. It's possible that that is his only option now. So much for dealing away Kurt Thomas to get Swift more minutes, huh?

3. Mo Sene's cell phone is probably ringing in Idaho right now to get on the next flight to Seattle. I'd be glad to see him here, in that he has proven he's capable of dominating the D-League. Let's see what the young man can do in the big time.

4. How bummed are Donyell Marshall and Ira Newble this morning?

5. "We've still got the core group that I think is going to be here going forward," PJ Carlesimo said last night. I suppose I agree, if by core he means "Kevin Durant and Jeff Green." I'm not guessing by a long shot that anyone else is part of that "core," though.

6. Finally, the Sonics lost to the mighty Blazers last night in Portland. Considering how messed up this roster is right now, it's amazing the Sonics were able to make a game of it. Earl Watson nearly picked up his second triple-double in the past few weeks, Luke Ridnour hit 3 of 4 from long range, Nick Collison registered a double-double ... and Chris Wilcox went 0-for-5 with 2 points. In the end, it wasn't enough as the Blazers wound up with a 92-88 win.

Your Seattle SuperSonics

So, two deals in two days have certainly altered the Sonics' roster. Here's your current group:

CENTERS (4)
Johan Petro
Robert Swift
Francsico Elson
Mo Sene

POWER FORWARDS (3)
Nick Collison
Chris Wilcox
Donyell Marshall

SMALL FORWARDS (4)
Jeff Green
Damien Wilkins
Mickael Gelabale
Ira Newble

SHOOTING GUARDS (2)
Kevin Durant
Adrian Griffin

POINT GUARDS (3)
Earl Watson
Luke Ridnour
Brent Barry

And, effective this summer, your roster:

CENTER
Petro (1.9)
Sene (2.2)

POWER FORWARD
Collison (6.3)
Wilcox (6.7)
Marshall (5.9)

SMALL FORWARD
Green (3.3)
Wilkins (3.1)

SHOOTING GUARD
Kevin Durant (4.4)

POINT GUARD
Luke Ridnour (6.5)
Earl Watson (6.2)

By my math, the Sonics have $46.5 million committed to next year's budget, plus the money they would spend on draft picks. Assuming the Sonics package their lower first-round pick with their own pick, they'll be able to get someone at or near the top of the draft (oh, I don't know, Derrick Rose?).

Let the free agent speculation begin.