Sonics quash Durant celebration with Allen trade

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Scripps Howard News Service
column
Must credit the News Tribune in Tacoma, Wash.
By JOHN McGRATH
Tacoma News Tribune

An hour after the Seattle SuperSonics used their first-round choice in the NBA draft on the consensus college player of the year, general manager Sam Presti found himself in an improbable position.
Playing defense.
Instead of reciting Kevin Durant's obvious virtues -- in the month since the Sonics were awarded the second overall pick, the University of Texas freshman has been lauded for everything but his sterling penmanship and willingness to use a turn signal while changing lanes -- Presti had to explain the reasoning behind the trade that sent Ray Allen to Boston.
"I'm thrilled to have Kevin, but at the same time, the decision to move a player and a person like Ray Allen was tremendously difficult," said Presti. "Boston really pursued this. What started as a smaller conversation began to build. Their pursuit was impeccable. ...
"You don't wake up one day and say you're going to move a player like Ray Allen. Someone has to come and get them."
And because someone came and got Allen, the no-brainer, can't-go-wrong celebration fans eagerly anticipated after Portland grabbed Ohio State center Greg Oden -- "perhaps the easiest pick in the history of the NBA draft," ESPN commentator Jay Bilas said of Durant -- turned into a balloon-deflating buzz kill.
Durant might yet fulfill his billing as the most dynamic athlete of a draft stocked with precocious talents. But for all his attributes, Durant isn't the face of the franchise. He doesn't yet rank among the handful of the most popular pro sports stars in Seattle, alongside Ichiro Suzuki, Shaun Alexander and Matt Hasselbeck.
When the Sonics secured the right to pick second, it was impossible not to envision Allen, Durant and Rashard Lewis collaborating on the basketball version of the West Coast offense -- a run-and-shoot operation that would leave opponents winded and fans gasping for air.
But even before the formality of drafting Durant was made official, rumors were rampant that the Sonics had arranged a deal to relocate Allen on the East Coast.
Most pre-draft rumors are hardly accurate, but these proved to be very much alive. They had legs, and they had teeth, and they had the strength to wipe out a month's worth of good karma in a single transaction statement:
The Sonics would send Allen and their second choice of the second round - the 35th pick - to the Celtics in exchange for Georgetown forward Jeff Green, taken by Boston at No. 5, and veterans Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West, the inevitable extras thrown in for clerical purposes. Pay no attention to the smoke and mirrors; this trade was Allen for Green.
Like Durant, Green is 6-9. Like Durant, Green projects as a small forward. Like Durant, Green grew up in Maryland.
A cynic might point out the Sonics think so much of Kevin Durant, they went out Thursday and got two of him. But then it would require a special kind of cynic to take the Sonics to task on what was supposed to be a festive occasion.
"He's a player who doesn't need the ball to be effective," Presti said of Green. "He's a tremendous facilitator and passer with a great acumen for the game. Most of all, this is an impeccable young man."
Impeccable? While I can't vouch for his hygiene, Green does seem like a pleasant sort. Although he went along with the ruse, per NBA rules, that required him to wear a Celtics cap after his name was announced -- the trade wasn't consummated in time for Green to be introduced as a Sonic -- he sounded eager to report to Seattle.
And let's not forget, it's not Green's fault that he was identified as the man in what figures to be the most unpopular Sonics trade since, well, Allen was acquired from Milwaukee for Gary Payton.
Furthermore, the Sonics emphasized that Allen's departure increases their chances of signing Lewis as a free agent.
"It gives us the opportunity to be versatile in terms of going forward, and in terms of the ability to do more with Rashard," owner Clay Bennett told KJR Radio. "We also got a great player we had our eyes on as well."
A great player? What Bennett meant to say was the Sonics had their eyes on a player with the potential to be great. Only one certifiably "great" player changed affiliations Thursday, and it wasn't the kid who disappeared in this past Final Four.
Yes, Allen soon will turn 32, and, yes, he's in the sunset side of his prime. But he was the closest thing the Sonics had to an identity.
Their future in the Pacific Northwest is uncertain. There still isn't a head coach. The team remains unsettled at point guard -- according to scuttlebutt, Luke Ridnour was the prime candidate for a draft-day trade -- and now that Allen is gone there is no starting shooting guard, either.
Allen owned the smile everybody recognized and the scowl that said more than any 15-minute pep talk. He didn't need to be designated the team captain; he simply assumed the role the moment he showed up from Milwaukee.
It would've been one thing had he lobbied for a change of scenery, but through all the distractions he was the anchor.
"He's going to Boston, near to where he went to school at UConn," Presti said. "I'm just glad Paul Pierce and he are in the Eastern Conference."
So it wasn't personal. Allen wasn't shopped around the league. The Celtics came and got him, with an offer Presti determined too good to refuse.
Does that make you feel any better?
Draft day was heralded as a chance for Sonics fans to wake up, and in that sense, I guess the mission was accomplished.
A slap in the face works every time.

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)