Editor’s note: This week, I’m going to deviate from the normal style of the Candid Corner. The Seattle Times is bringing back a weekly guest column, and in the interest of self-promotion and -aggrandizement, I’d like to get a column in there. So this week I’m going to test on you, the SonicsCentral reader, a couple of possible columns and see what you think. Your feedback is much appreciated.

I’ve been a Seattle SuperSonics season-ticket holder since the 1995-96 season. In that time, I’d estimate that I’ve been to more than 150 games. And out of those I can still tick off and count on one finger the number of times I’ve gone and Gary Payton has not played. There was March 15, 1996 against the Dallas Mavericks, where Payton had been suspended by the league for an altercation against the Orlando Magic. Then there were two games during the 2000-01 season, January 19 against the Minnesota Timberwolves, where Payton was suspended by the team for insubordination, and February 5 against the Vancouver Grizzlies, the only time that I have ever attended a game Payton missed because of injury, in this case a strained abdominal muscle.

So out of more than 150 games I’ve been to, Payton has played in all but three -- better than 98%. The durability in itself is remarkable, but Payton’s longevity in Seattle is all the more impressive when considering the countless players who have teamed alongside him during that time. No other Sonic remains from even that 1995-96 team that advanced to the NBA Finals, and only Rashard Lewis has been in Seattle during the entire four years of the post-George Karl era (with his status still very much in jeopardy for next season).

To the extent that the Sonics have been fairly mediocre over the past four years, posting a composite record of 159-137, imagine where they would have been without their gracefully aging point guard. After all, Payton’s loss would mean far more than his 20-plus points and eight-plus assists per game. For the most part, management has assembled a cast of secondary players like Lewis and backcourt-mate Brent Barry around Payton. Lewis and Barry are fine players, to be sure, but neither is most comfortable creating their own offense. Instead, they depend on Payton to draw the double-teams which lead to open threes each has made at around a 40% clip, to sense when the team is lagging and score a key momentum basket, and to be the player with the ball in his hands as the clock winds down in a tight game.

The best way to judge Payton’s value is to sense the feeling of foreboding that envelops KeyArena whenever he hits the bench for an ever-so-brief rest. Payton doesn’t play well more than 3000 minutes each season (3301 last season, bettered by only five other players, none of them Payton’s age) because he can or even because he wants to; he does it because he has to.

So then, would the Payton-less Sonics in past years be comparable to the Golden State Warriors? The post-Jordan Chicago Bulls? Neither would be an overly pessimistic answer.

One thing the Sonics would surely have been without Payton is ignored. As it is, the Sonics had only game nationally televised last season before the playoffs, and that was on cable. Desmond Mason’s aerial theatrics have provided the Sonics some attention during All-Star weekend, but only Payton has been in the spotlight for the main event itself.

Sentimentality and past performance are not reasons enough to keep Payton in Seattle beyond the upcoming 2002-03 season, the last on a seven-year deal he signed during the summer of 1996. But if Payton is hardly a late bloomer, his performance has shown precious little sign of slippage as he’s had to carry the team the last four years. During the 1999-2000 season, Payton had unambiguously his best season as a professional, setting career highs in minutes per game (41.8), points per game (24.2), and rebounds per game (6.5). Since he played in 82 games that season, the totals in each of those categories were career highs as well. And at the time, Payton’s 8.9 assists per game were also a career high before he bettered that mark with last season’s 9.0, good for third in the NBA.

We here in Seattle should know all about continued strong performance by older players. With the Mariners, pitcher Jaime Moyer cheats retirement with each win he notches, 12 so far this year at age 39 and 84 since turning 35. On the other side of the plate, the Mariners’ other 39-year-old, Edgar Martinez, has remained a hitting machine even into his late-30’s, continuing to post .400-plus on-base percentages and knocking in 100 runs in three of his four full seasons since age 35.

For the average player, the clock on their NBA career begins ticking at age 30. And Payton did recently turn 34. But he is far from an average player, and age tends to have a different affect for the truly great. What is to separate Payton from Utah’s John Stockton, another sure Hall-of-Famer at the point with remarkable durability who has continued to play effectively and efficiently (albeit in reduced minutes) through hitting 40 late last season?

Unfortunately, in this era of salary caps and luxury taxes, it will not be easy for Payton to finish his career in Seattle. The Sonics may well have a difficult decision to make next season when Payton is a free agent. But unless they luck out and find the New Jersey Nets’ Jason Kidd willing to replace his friend at the point, any change from Payton will add youth and potential only at the expense of experience and production.

That’s not a trade I’m willing to make . . . because to me and many others, Gary Payton is the Seattle Supersonics.

No matter how pessimistic your take on negotiations with Rashard Lewis and Gary Payton, things aren’t nearly that bad in Seattle. But the prevailing opinion throughout the city and the league is that the Sonics are incapable of challenging for supremacy within even their own division, let alone the Western Conference or entire NBA, as their roster is currently constituted.

And thus, Seattle fans have been indoctrinated into the cult of cap room, especially following the trade that sent Vin Baker to the Boston Celtics in exchange for, amongst others, Kenny Anderson and his large contract that ends after this season. With Anderson, the Sonics may be able to clear more than $15 million in cap space, depending on what the league sets next year’s cap at.

But in many ways, cap space is Fool’s Gold. And that $15 million figure is no more set in stone than the Sonics’ record next season. The first potential ‘threat’ is none other than Lewis. By re-signing in Seattle, Lewis would nearly halve the amount the Sonics have left to pursue free agents next season. It’s little wonder, then, that the team is watching its offer to Lewis so closely and has been hesitant to raise their current offer, believed to be $60 million guaranteed over seven years with incentives that could increase it to as much as $75 million. Every dollar counts.

Another important consideration is that the maximum cap figure possible would require the Sonics to renounce the rights to all of their free agents, keeping them from being able to go over the cap to sign them. At the present time, there is only one free agent the Sonics are particularly concerned about re-signing -- Payton. If unrenounced, Payton’s cap figure would put the Sonics well over the cap even without Lewis. So if the Sonics are to add a free agent, depending on the resolution of Lewis’ free agency, it would likely be at the expense of Payton.

The primary reason that salary cap space can be misleading is the fact that it is no guarantee of signing a marquee free agent. Take the Chicago Bulls, who have been substantially under the cap ever since they shed their dynasty core of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and numerous others. In that time, they have failed to sign a star player through free agency, continually being rebuffed by the top players on the market. Instead, the Bulls have signed three lesser free agents to smaller contracts -- guards Brent Barry and Ron Mercer and swingman Eddie Robinson. While Barry has gone on to success here in Seattle, he flopped in Chicago, the reason why he was traded to the Sonics. Mercer too was unable to match his contract with his contributions, and was dealt last February to Indiana in the trade that brought the Bulls Jalen Rose. And though it is far too early to make a judgment on Robinson, he struggled with injuries last season and started only 12 games.

The Sonics could find themselves in a similar situation. There is relatively little to recommend Seattle as a free agent destination. The weather is gray and rainy and the nightlife decent, but no comparison to many other cities. The organization scores similarly poorly; the Sonics have apparently begun to gain a reputation around the league of being cheap. Whether fair or not, this characterization will not help the Sonics compete against teams known for taking care of their players. And if Lewis leaves and Payton follows him, management’s reputation with players may really be hurt. The Sonics also cannot point to a history of success in the recent past.

What do the Sonics have to offer free agents? Nate McMillan.

Over 12 seasons in the Seattle backcourt, the player known to the city as “Mr. Sonic” won the respect and admiration of his peers. It has taken him little more than a season and a half to do the same as a coach, garnering strong support last season for the NBA’s Coach of the Year. For the foreseeable future, McMillan will be at the helm of the Sonics, and the value of that stability should not be discounted.

McMillan along with a handful of others, notably Orlando’s Doc Rivers, epitomizes the new breed of NBA head coach. As one of the league’s youngest head coaches, McMillan’s playing career was recent enough that he is able to connect with young players, all of whom should still remember his days as a player. That makes McMillan the proverbial ‘player’s coach’. However, McMillan still commands the respect of his players. He was even able to help reform the off-court persona of Payton after their discussions last summer.

During games, McMillan looked at times like he was in his first full year as a head coach. His rotation was inconsistent, the offense at times flawed, and the Sonics struggled in close games. But it is difficult to argue with the end results, as the Sonics gelled by March into one of the league’s top teams before being slowed by injuries. Many Sonics had career years (not so meaningful in the cases of some of the young players, but remarkable for Brent Barry and Art Long).

So when the Sonics jump into free agency next season, they need to hope it’s a sunny day in Seattle . . . and make sure that McMillan leads the welcoming party.

Kevin Pelton has served as beat writer, columnist, editor, copy editor, and webmaster for SonicsCentral.com since its inception. He also writes a weekly column for Hoopsworld.com and is a student at the University of Washington in his spare time. The Candid Corner is updated every Monday. Kevin can be reached at kpelton08@hotmail.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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