Seattle SuperSonics News Blog

Draft rules bring mixed results

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 09:32:59 +0000

NBA Commissioner David Stern will tell you the first year of the draft age limit, requiring athletes to be at least 19 and one year removed from high school, was a success, especially when you look at what they were able to accomplish in college.

College coaches will tell you it was the NBA — and only the NBA — that benefited from the rule.

And some of those entering the draft after one year of college will tell you they have mixed feelings on whether a high school player should still have the option to jump straight to the NBA. Some will say the one year in college was a godsend for them.

Florida's ?07 bumper crop

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 09:32:59 +0000

The history of Florida players taken in the NBA draft is filled with recent first-round draft picks and some legends of eras past.

But for Gator basketball, the NBA draft has never been as fruitful as the one expected Thursday night.

Florida has never had more than two players taken in the same draft. On Thursday, three could potentially get picked among the first 10 selections.

For now, Billups is a free agent

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 09:32:59 +0000

AUBURN HILLS - Detroit Pistons point guard Chauncey Billups has opted out of the final year of his six-year contract, making him an unrestricted free agent heading into the summer signing season.

"He informed the team this morning that he was opting out of his final year with the Pistons and that makes him a free agent - which we expected," team spokesman Matt Dobek said Monday.

The 6-foot-3, 202-pound All-Star has said he would prefer to stay with Detroit and expects to be back if the team can match the best deal he can find from another team.

Freshmen who went to college under NBA?s rule join the draft

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 09:32:59 +0000

College coaches will tell you it was the NBA ? and only the NBA ? that benefited from the rule.

NBA: Sonics interview Jazz assistant Corbin

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 09:32:59 +0000

The Salt Lake TribuneArticle Launched: 06/26/2007 01:10:48 AM PDT

Jazz assistant Tyrone Corbin has interviewed for the vacant head coaching job with the Seattle SuperSonics.

Corbin, a former Jazz player who has been a member of Jerry Sloan's coaching staff for the last three years, went to Seattle on Saturday to discuss the job with Sam Presti, the Sonics' new general manager.

Overcoming age-old situation

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 09:32:59 +0000

Sonics prepare for potential moves

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 09:32:59 +0000

Stock is soaring

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 09:32:59 +0000

FRED JEWEL: AP Isiah Thomas was a 12-time all-star for the Pistons and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2000. SECOND TO NONE

A look at some of the best players to be taken second in the NBA draft:

• Jerry West (1960) — The silhouette in the NBA logo, perhaps the greatest clutch shooter of all-time.

Draft insider: Small forwards

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 18:44:29 +0000

If not for the presence of center Greg Oden of Ohio State, Kevin Durant of Texas would be hailed as the sure-fire No. 1 pick and perhaps the best prospect to come along since LeBron James.

Durant was that good in his lone collegiate season. He (not Oden) was the player of the year as he led an inexperienced Texas team to a high seed in the NCAA tournament.

» Click to enlarge image

Durant a future superstar? It’s no reach

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 18:44:29 +0000

As he sat at a table at the Seattle SuperSonics’ practice facility Sunday afternoon, Kevin Durant unfurled his arms and stretched them out on either side.

It seemed as if the 19-year-old superstar-to-be could reach both walls of the room, a wingspan wide enough, the organization is hoping, to lift an entire franchise in its long struggle for excellence.

Durant, the player the Sonics are likely to land in Thursday’s NBA draft, visited the team on Sunday, worked out for about 45 minutes, met with the press and then left in a caravan of SUVs with the Sonics’ front office and chairman Clay Bennett.

Durant shows off for Sonics

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 18:44:29 +0000

SEATTLE - The Seattle SuperSonics are faced with plenty of tough decisions at the moment, but what to do with the second pick of the NBA draft may not be one of them.

25 drafts, dozens of stars, one Michael

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 05:22:48 +0000

USA TODAY's David DuPree recalls highlights of the NBA draft during the newspaper's 25 years:

Toss up — 1983

USA TODAY covered the last two years of the coin toss — when the top overall pick was decided by a coin toss between the teams that had the worst record in each conference. The Houston Rockets won the toss in 1983 and took 7-4 center Ralph Sampson, who went on to become rookie of the year. But the Rockets finished last in the West, won the coin toss again in 1984 and drafted 7-0 Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon. The die was cast, as practically every team sought to copy the Twin Towers strategy.

Why heckling at prep sports events?

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 17:14:31 +0000

Lock me in a room with a high school sports heckler.

There will be no blood shed, I promise. But I have a few questions to ask the person.

Why? Why do you do it? Do you think it helps your team?

Sonics coach? Here’s the guy to track down

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 17:14:31 +0000

While the search for the next Seattle SuperSonics coach enters its Just Name Somebody Soon Phase, please allow me to introduce a new candidate for consideration.

David Blatt.

David who?

Success can come in twos

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 17:14:31 +0000

With a little luck, the Magic are hoping to find help in the 2nd round of the draft.

Tim Povtak

Sonics officially hire Perry from Detroit, retain Cho

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 09:23:12 +0000

SEATTLE (AP) - The Seattle SuperSonics complete a series of front office moves today, including the hiring of Scott Perry as an assistant general manager.

Earlier in the week, the Detroit Pistons said on their Web site that Perry, the team's former director of player personnel, was expected to assume his new role in Seattle when contract details were finalized.

Perry was hired by the Pistons as a college scout in 2000. Before that, he was coach at Eastern Kentucky for three seasons.

NBA history favors top draft picks over No. 2s

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 09:23:12 +0000

Both are considered can't-miss prospects, future all-stars and potential Hall of Famers regardless of who goes No. 1 to the Portland Trail Blazers and who goes No. 2 to the Seattle SuperSonics in Thursday's NBA Draft.

By that logic, they should be best buddies. After all, they're two young men days away from becoming rich professional athletes in the Great Northwest?

Well, that may not be the case if either reads this article.

North by Northwest

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 09:23:12 +0000

S ome fans and media in the NBA Nation are horrified at how the draft lottery turned out this year. It's one thing for Greg Oden and Kevin Durant to be earmarked for the already dominant Western Conference. But they are also headed to Granola Land ? Portland and Seattle, not exactly glitzy L.A.

There is joy in the Pacific Northwest, though. When the NBA draft begins Thursday night with coach Nate McMillan's Trail Blazers holding the first pick and the SuperSonics the second, one team will get a franchise center, the other a dynamic forward. They both should have stars to build around for years to come.

Greg Oden, center, Ohio State

Durant puts on show for the Blazers

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 16:11:44 +0000

TUALATIN -- Kevin Durant did his best to show the Portland Trail Blazers he's the best basketball player available in next Thursday's NBA draft during an hourlong workout at the team's practice facility Friday.The University of Texas freshman did post work, defensive drills and shot 3-pointers in the individual workout, earning praise from Blazers coach Nate McMillan and general manager Kevin Pritchard."I've seen in this building maybe a couple of hundred workouts and that was as impressive as a...

Griz assistants bring diversity

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 16:11:44 +0000

June 23, 2007When it comes to satisfying Memphians' hunger to win and personally connect with the Grizzlies, recently hired head coach Marc Iavaroni insists that he'll be greedy.

His plan is to provide an all-you-can-eat buffet in those areas. And Iavaroni has made official the addition of a few men who share his appetite for success.

Former Indiana Pacers assistant coach Johnny Davis, hired Friday along with NBA veteran Gordon Chiesa and league newcomer David Joerger to assist Iavaroni, sounds eager to help cook up something special with the Griz.

Grizzlies announce new assistant coaches

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 16:11:44 +0000

June 22, 2007When it comes to satisfying Memphians? hunger to win and personally connect with the Grizzlies, recently hired head coach Marc Iavaroni insists that he?ll be greedy.

His plan is to provide an all-you-can-eat buffet in those areas. And Iavaroni has made official the addition of a few men who share his appetite for success.

Grizzlies name coaching assistants

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 16:11:44 +0000

The Memphis Grizzlies have hired Johnny Davis, Gordon Chiesa and David Joerger as assistant coaches to new head coach Marc Iavaroni.

"It's with great pride and anticipation that we are announcing the hiring of three exceptional assistant coaches," Iavaroni said. "They bring a diversely successful set of experience, skills and teamwork that will form the backbone of our efforts to bring out the best in our players throughout the season and playoffs."

Davis has 30 years of National Basketball Association experience, most recently with the Indiana Pacers, where he served as an assistant coach last season. Davis also served as a head coach with the Philadelphia 76ers and the Orlando Magic. He played in the NBA for 10 years with the Portland Trailblazers, Pacers, Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers, winning an NBA championship with the Trailblazers in 1977.

Noah auditions for Hawks

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 16:11:44 +0000

ATLANTA - Joakim Noah mocks those who publish NBA mock drafts.

"I heard one of them is like a kid who is 16 years old in his basement," Noah said.

Sonics may not name coach till after draft

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 16:11:44 +0000

Scott Brooks has emerged as another coaching candidate for the Seattle SuperSonics, interviewing with Sonics general manager Sam Presti on June 15.

Brooks, an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings last season, joins P.J. Carlesimo, Dwane Casey and Rick Carlisle as candidates to replace Bob Hill, according to a story in Friday’s editions of the Sacramento Bee.

It now appears, however, that the naming of a coach will not take place until after Thursday’s draft.

Durant works out for Trail Blazers

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 08:19:10 +0000

PORTLAND, Ore. - Kevin Durant worked out with the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday, two days after Greg Oden, as both players show their talents to the team with the top draft pick.

Durant, a 6-foot-9 forward out of Texas, was The Associated Press Player of the Year this past season as a freshman.

"I feel good here," he said. "Like I belong here."