Sure, that's a part of it, but it's really about the "S" word. A couple of "I" words, "Inept" & "Idiot", come to mind as well. But let's take an emotional step back for a minute here & evaluate what's been happening with the Sonics this summer.

As Nate recently suggested, the order that things have happened this month is a bit out of kilter. You might even say it appears to be almost at random. But if you delve deeper into the mindset of management, it really does begin to make a little sense -- to them. Kind of like a Percy Allen column; a day or two late & several dollars short, but accurate nonetheless-for what it's worth.

Let's take a look at what we'd hoped the front office would accomplish this summer. First & foremost on everyone's list was getting rid of Vin. Mission accomplished? Yeah, I guess so. So much has been written in here about the value of the players we got & the ones we coulda/shoulda got that I'm only going to discuss this minimally.

Potapenko is a big question mark in my mind, both for health reasons & skill level (especially considering management's commitment to the two guys in front of him). I question whether he'll fit in even as well as Vin. Sure he'll have value as a role player, but at his salary, I have difficulty seeing him as a long term part of the team. Considering the disparity in cost & the questionable upside potential, is he really much of an upgrade over OO? Certainly not at the moment. When healthy he may prove me wrong, but certainly not if Olumide develops as much as some of you miraculously think he will.

So Pot's value in this trade remains to be seen. Will he contribute timely minutes, or be given a bus transfer & told to hang out on the bench with the other garbage time contributors? Probably the latter. And if he turns out like his brethren there the last few years, don't expect him to become a long time fan favorite like the infamous "Chef". Perhaps Wally envisions an all European team down the road. Can a pregame show with Rick Steves be far behind? Hey,we might not be very good, but we stand a shot at being the "most cultured" team in the NBA. Grab the Starbuck beverage of your choice & start memorizing the European capitals. And you gotta admit, Beantown Vinny (wonder how long before one of the local papers steals that) just didn't fit in THAT respect, either. After all, it's said that the Boston Tea Party is one of Howard's long running reoccurring nightmares.

OK, on to Kenny Anderson. I don't know that I can see he & Payton on the floor together that often. There's obviously overpriced skill there, but does anyone SERIOUSLY think Kenny's main value to the Sonics was other than the single year left on his contract? We needed the cap space for the predicted "Adventures in Wally World" coming up next year. But unless you believe Anderson was tapped by management as a REPLACEMENT for GP, his value to the team both this year & beyond is questionable. I'm not entirely convinced that Wally isn't seriously considering these rumored offers for GP. But Wally takes so long to consider all the angles, GP could be a grandfather before Wally finally pulls the trigger -- UNLESS something forces his hand as it seems to have in the Boston trade.

Then there's Joe Forte. Coming from a strong college program, I've always liked him. Ironically, I see this throw-in as the player who will have the greatest long term value to the Sonics.

Where am I going with this? It's almost as if Wally let Watson & Oyedeji walk because the trade with Boston was a done deal. But is that the way it really was? I don't think so. I think they REALLY wanted to keep Watson, & the OO deal with the extra year kind of took them by surprise. That kind of FORCED Wally to quit tinkering the Boston deal into oblivion & get the job done. Like Nate meant to say, it was kind of ass backwards.

Some people would say that resigning Lewis was the #1 priority, but I maintain it was second. With Vin still on the roster, even WITH Lewis, this team would have had pretty much the same strengths & weaknesses as last year's version. The irony is that management, feeling they were dealing somewhat from a position of strength in Rashard's case, let it slip to the back burner & crust over. Once again, Wally's penchant to be meticulous beyond belief seems to have caused irreparable harm as in so many other negotiations. That's why I say it's not primarily about "Loyalty", but rather "Stupidity".

If Wally can't get the Lewis thing done & we wind up losing him, where do you think that leaves us for the coming year? By leaving this major piece of the puzzle 'till last, Wally has not only lost the negotiating advantage, but he may have forced the churning of the team for years to come, as in the over-riding "youth movement" plan. It's too early to say if Wally has what it takes to recover from this faux pas. But if past experience is any indicator, it wouldn't surprise me in the least to see Lewis in Texas next year (Dallas?) & the Sonics left with a hodge-podge lineup lucky to win as many games as last year. If that happened, you could kiss any chance of extending Gary goodbye. It would be youth movement full steam ahead with plenty of cap space for the FA of your (or more accurately Wally's) choice.

So I'm withholding judgment at this point until I see if things blow up in management's face. They had a hard task at hand this summer -- I'll be the first to admit that. And I've already said that I didn't really even expect them to get THIS much done. But it's the haphazard WAY they're doing it that troubles me. As Nate actually DID say, "Did all of those other things have to happen BEFORE (my emphasis) we got to him (Lewis)? I don't know. Ideally, you would want to sign Rashard first, then Jerome, then EJ, & then handle everything else. But it didn't work out like that".

Not exactly a ringing endorsement.

David Kronfield has been a SonicsCentral.com columnist since day one. David can be reached at heavyd@sonicscentral.com. All opinions expressed in this column are solely the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of other columnists or the SonicsCentral.com staff.

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