Seattle Supersonics Have a Hole in the Middle in 2006

The Seattle Supersonics have one superstar in Ray Allen and another all-star caliber player in forward, Rashard Lewis, not to mention a pretty good point guard in young Luke Ridnour. However, there is something very troubling about the Sonics. Oh I know what it is. Maybe it's the fact that their frontcourt players (barring Lewis) are about as active as an octogenarian with a bad hip. Here is my preview on the Sonics for the upcoming 2006-07 season.

Ridnour is turning out to be a fine player although his 41 percent shooting percentage is absolutely abysmal, although I think it can be corrected with better shot selection. Backing up Ridnour, is veteran, Earl Watson, a player that could probably start for numerous teams in the league. Watson is an outstanding defender, and solid offensive player, but never seemed to find his niche in Seattle last season.

Ray Allen is still the purest shooter in the entire league. Unfortunately, Allen can't seem to find enough quality teammates to help any of his team's reach the status of legitimate contender. No matter, Allen's long range sniping is usually enough to keep the Sonics in most games - until his teammates begin to let him down that is. The Sonics do have an athletic, but inconsistent, backup in Damien Wilkins, who can make plays when Allen takes a breather.

Rashard Lewis' name keeps coming up in trade rumors, but until the Sonics find someone to replace his 20 points per game, the Sonics would be wise to keep Lewis - especially since he's the only one on this team besides Allen who can put the ball in the basket with any kind of regularity. Besides, Lewis' length makes him a tough matchup for any opponent.

The Sonics apparently believe young power forward Chris Wilcox is the real deal - and are paying him at least $19.5 over the next three years. However, I am inclined to wait until at least mid-season, before I make any assessment on whether or not Wilcox is the real deal.

I will admit that Wilcox has talent - but then again - so do a lot of guys sitting at the end of numerous NBA benches. The oft-injured Nick Collison will back up Wilcox and hopefully be able to stay healthy for a full season. Youngster, Johan Petro could also turn out to be a decent player in a couple of years

At center, the Sonics look like they're going to have big trouble once again. It's not that I don't like Robert Swift (okay, it is) but if the Sonics think he can compete with some of the outstanding centers in the western conference, they had better think again. Swift is a mediocre player at best and one that needs to become a lot more aggressive for the Sonics down low.

Veteran power forward, Danny Fortson is scheduled to back up Swift although he could out-rebound Swift in his sleep. Third string rookie, Saer Sene has the talent to be an absolute star at some point, but knowing the Sonics, I expect that Sene will be plying his trade elsewhere when his talent finally does come to fruition.

Prognosis:
The Sonics went 35-47 last season and I think they will be hard pressed to surpass that record this season. I mean, it's not like they've added any significant players this past offseason. Simply put, I'd be shocked if the Sonics surpassed 40 wins.