The price of success will be steep for Seattle

Sporting News, The, June 24, 1996 by Shaun Powell

For years, the temptation was to break them apart in spite of their success. The Supersonics were good, but the pieces, attractive as they were, hardly seemed to fit

Instead, they chose stability.

Now that the stability translated into the franchise's first Finals appearance since 1979, the Sonics are once again facing the possibility of major changes.

That brings another challenge before Wally Walker, the president and general manager whose gentle touch last summer helped the Sonics break their first-round jinx and finally realize their tremendous potential.

When the Sonics lost to the Lakers in the first round of the'95 playoffs, the locals cried for an overhaul, but Walker turned a deaf ear. He kept the nucleus, refused to fire coach George Karl, traded Kendall Gill for Hersey Hawkins (which satisfied two needs - outside shooting and team chemistry) and signed Frank Brickowski for front-line help and experience.

Six players from the 64-win, Western Conference championship team will become free agents July 1, and a seventh, swingman Vincent Askew, has the option to become a free agent

"We have a lot of free agents," Walker says, "but we were sort of hoping to have the kind of postseason that would end up costing us a lot of money."

Yes, the price for success will be steep. The priority is keeping Gary Payton, who will be the most attractive point guard on the market. If the projected figures being tossed around for the O'Neals and Jordans and Mournings are true, then Payton could command around $7 million a season. The Heat, and perhaps the Kings as well, will make a serious run at Payton.

"He's going to be popular," Walker admits, but Gary has maintained from the start that he wants to be here, and we want to keep him here."

If the Sonics lose Payton or end up paying him a ton, they can blame it on timing and the collective bargaining agreement Shortly after Walker left a lucrative career as an investment banker to run the Sonics in 1994, he and Payton's agent, Aaron Goodwin, agreed to hammer out an extension. Before they could negotiate in earnest, the league placed a moratorium on contract signings, they agreed to wait until the freeze was lifted. But then the owners locked out the players. And then a new labor agreement was reached, changing the rules.

In the span of a year, Payton went from impending restricted free agency to unrestricted free agency.

Hawkins, Brickowski, Ervin Johnson, Steve Scheffler and Sam Perkins also face free agency, but Brickowski and Perkins are aging, Scheffler is the 12th man and Johnson was benched by Karl in the Finals. Therefore, don't be surprised if the Sonics refuse to re-sign two or three from that group.

Instead, the Sonics may use their money to buy one of the better free agents around the league.

"The guys have been good together, and our goal is to keep the group close to being intact," Walker says. "At the same time, we're still not the most talented team or the biggest. We have needs that we must address."

Walker also must make a decision on Karl's future. The club exercised the option for next season, but Karl wants a long-term deal. The option year will pay Karl $1.5 million, but in light of John Calipari's $3 million-per-season contract from the Nets, Karl is looking for a raise.

"No question, it'll be a challenge for us in the offseason," Walker says. We won 64 games and made the Finals, but we won't stand still. We'll still try to do whatever is necessary to give ourselves the best possible chance at winning a championship, whether that means keeping the team together or making a few changes."

Mixing it up

Obviously, the Nuggets couldn't wait to undergo a changeover.

The trading season began in earnest when Denver, eager to shake up a young and talented yet disappointing team, sent Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf to Sacramento and Jalen Rose to Indiana.

In return, the Nuggets received Mark Jackson, Ricky Pierce and Sarunas Marciulionis and, maybe, better team chemistry.

The trades were expected. Bernie Bickerstaff had sought a pure point guard for years and was determined to start next season with a playmaker. Jackson certainly qualifies. He's a throwback - a pass-minded ball distributor - and should become a snug fit with a team that lacked leadership and direction he floor last season.

The Nuggets waited for Rose to develop a point-guard mentality, but losing makes for short patience, and the experiment ended after two years. He can buy himself more time in Indiana, where hell be surrounded by veteran players. Abdul-Rauf's name went on the block quicker than you could sing the national anthem. He's a streak shooter capable of scoring 35 on a given night, but Abdul-Rauf's remains trapped inside a point guard's body. His scoring potential, however, will be an added plus for the Kings, who found themselves forced to rely on Mitch Richmond much too often in the late stages of fourth quarters.

Before next season, the Nuggets may make another move or two to recover some of the momentum they lost after the 1993-94 playoffs, when they surprised the Sonics in Round 1 and forced the the conference semifinals. Sparkling example