January 19 is fast approaching, but the Sonics aren't being mentioned as a potential destination for Marc Jackson. Shammond Williams is still gathering dust for the most part & waiting for the inevitable to happen.Vin Baker is still on his rollercoaster to recovery, disappearing for several nights in a row only to follow that up with a career night in scoring. Booth is still on the injured list & we've still got a gaping hole in the middle. And what's Wally doing about all this? Working quietly behind the scenes -- just like last summer. Loosely translated,that means NOTHING! Is Rasheed Wallace really on the trading block? Is there really a renewed interest in Vin? Who knows -- least of all Wally who seems to manage by attrition. Mr. Penurious prefers to wait until the high rollers of the NBA work out their pricey little deals, & then see what falls to us. It's his own private "trickle down" theory.We all know how that worked out economically, so this being a family site & all,I won't tell you what's likely to trickle down to us. Sort of like,"why go after someone the team might actually benefit from having, when by waiting, we might be able to save a little money?"

It reminds me of the various kinds of shoppers. Some people just get what they want without much concern over price. They haven't got time to clip coupons & look around for sales -- they just go to the store & buy it. Other people have a hard time purchasing anything if it isn't on sale, or a good deal -- even if they really don't want or even need it. Their life revolves around coupons, weekly ad expirations, & finding room to store the megapacks of items purchased at Costco. A concurrent problem with the latter often involves using the goods before they somehow rot or otherwise expire. The last type of person tries to combine the better qualities of the first two types. They don't bother with things they don't want or need regardless of whether or not it's a bargain; but they DO make an effort to get those items they know they can use at the best possible price. So which kind of person is Wally (or where is Waldo)?

Unfortunately I think Wally shops at K-Mart as far as the team is concerned. His Highlands house,maroon Mercedes, & Brooks Brothers & Armani suits attest to his impeccable taste as far as personal choices are concerned. And why not? He's certainly got the money. But when it comes to PERSONNEL choices, why spend the money getting in a bidding war for Nazr when you can get better value with Calvin Booth, the house brand? Turns out the latter didn't come with as good a guarantee, but who ever bothers to check those things until it's too late? You'd think he would have learned with Jimmy Mac, but value shoppers rarely do. And in the draft, why work a costly trade for a dominating center when Euros are SO much more versatile? Besides,Value Village had Jerome James, Art Long, & Antonio Harvey on sale, & everyone KNOWS that three are usually better than one. What they lack in style, they certainly make up for in durability -- or so the theory probably goes. Unfortunately Antonio Harvey expired (not literally) before the team got much use out of him. And Long & James being the rugged individuals that they are, would probably seem out of place at the black tie formal of the NBA finals. However you spin it,you can't accuse Wally of shopping for a big man at Nordstrom. He tried that last year, & look what he wound up with. Unfortunately for the Sonics, the NBA's return policy isn't nearly as forgiving as Nordstrom's is.

Perhaps Mr. Marvelous is thinking along the lines, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". Personally I think it's more like, "If we can stay above .500 & maybe even make the playoffs, knock on wood". This is the fail-safe approach that will never get us into the upper echelons of the NBA. We need a management team that exhibits the confidence & daring of Trader Bob in Portland. I realize I'm opening a can of worms by bringing him into the picture because many will say, "Look where his constant tinkering has gotten him!" But at least he has the guts to continue trying instead of standing pat with mediocrity. Give me an evolving team any day (even if they ARE imploding) to the static stench of not making any serious noise in the playoffs year, after year, after year.

It takes courage, cunning,vision, & (yes) luck to be a successful GM in any sport.So far I think any success Wally has had has come primarily through luck. Only GP remains from the stockpile of talent that Trader Bob left Weasel Wally when he flew the coupe to our NBA neighbors to the south. While Wally hasn't turned Seattle into "Chicago by the Bay,"no one can deny that the team is in worse shape than when he took over. Is he simply spinning his wheels as I believe, waiting & hoping for a trade with Krause; or is it the inevitable ebb & flow of power that all teams go through? Is success a cyclical thing as some have suggested, so that we simply have to wait our turn? Or is there really a cause & effect relationship between results & the players/coaching staff management assembles? For me it'e obviously the latter. I'm a big believer in the philosophy that you reap what you sow; that you are a product of your decisions, efforts, & evaluations in an ever changing environment; & that we must all take responsibility for our own actions. If it's all divine providence, then why bother to even try if everything is predetermined beforehand?

Forgive me for getting so macroscopic when I should be focusing the microscope on the Sonics in general & Wally in particular if this column is to have even the slightest cohesion, & come together for the conclusion those few remaining readers must be longing for about now. Well here it is: the Sonics IMHO are getting better by virtue of their great coaching staff, & the fine young talent that coaching staff is helping to develop. Given the types of players we have & the types of injuries we've had so far, we're doing about as well as could have been expected. But now it's time for management to step forward & fill the glaring hole in the center of this donut for a team we all knew we were going to have last summer. Timidity won't get it done. This calls for decisive action from a DARING leader willing to take chances to get us to the next level. I'm sure you all know my take on the situation; Wally just doesn't have the foresight to take us there. His way is the opposite of Whitsitt's -- do as little as possible & react to what went wrong AFTER THE FACT instead of having the vision to make a preemptive move. That's what followers do, & that's why we'll always be following the pack in the Western Conference unless we find a visionary leader who is not content to play it safe like Wally.

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