We Want Dwane Casey!!!.

The Sonics traded Ray Allen on draft day for the fifth overall pick (Jeff Green), Wally Szerbiak and Deldonte (I know his name is Delonte, but he's always going to be Deldonte to me) West. We also gave them the 35th pick that turned out to be Big Baby Davis out of LSU.

It's time for a line comparison. Here are the respective 2007 seasons:

Deldonte (G): 32 min/game, 43% shooting, 36.5% 3-pt, 3 reb, 1 stl, 4.4:2.03 asst:turnover ratio, 12.2 ppg in 69 games (47 games started)
Wally (G/F): 28 min/game, 41.5% shooting, 41.5% 3-pt, 3 boards, 2 assts, 15 ppg in 32 games (19 games started)

Ray Allen (SG): 40 min/game, 44% shooting, 37% 3-pt, 4.5 boards, 4 assts, 26.4 ppg in 55 games (55 games started)

Well, on the plus side, we've got two guys who - should a Mad Scientist manage the seemingly impossible - if their bodies and basketball abilities were merged into one man-hybrid, would be able to match Ray Allen's scoring ability. Unfortunately, I believe Dr. Frankenstein is but a myth at the moment.

I've got people telling me this is a good trade from the Sonics' standpoint. They tell me that pure shooting guards only decline from this point on in their careers (less Reggie Miller, of course). I mean, you can talk about Mitch Richmond and Glen Rice and even Hersey Hawkins all you want, but I liken the likes of Ray Allen to that elite Reggie Miller catagory of shooting guards (except for the fact that he's never really carried a team on his back to the promised land or even really managed to hit all that many game-winning/tying jumpers in the final seconds).

You know, on second thought, maybe I'll come around. Still, the first time I see him go for 50 against the Knicks in MSG, I'll think about the "assets" we got in return.

See, the reason why we as Sonics fans don't care for this trade is because we were EXPECTING to hear about Luke Ridnour being taken off our hands by the fucking Atlanta Hawks so WE could draft Acie Law IV (or possibly that Stuckey guy). Instead, they've taken our best player, shipped him for a prospect and two duds, risked losing our second best player (Lewis) to discontent over the youth movement we've subscribed to, leaving us with two backup point guards (Ridnour, Watson), three disgustingly untalented young centers (Petro, Sene, Swift), two chronically inconsistent power forwards (Wilcox, Collison), and an assload of guard/forwards who don't do anything well (Gelabale, Wilkins, Wilks, Deldonte, Wally).

I couldn't be more down on the players we're returning. In fact, I couldn't be more down period about this team considering the shakey situation with the arena and everything. But, In Durant We Trust (and, to a lesser extent, In Green We Don't Mind Too Much).

The fact is, with Ray Allen, we might have made the playoffs next year. I definitely would've penciled us in for the 6th, 7th, or 8th spot in the West (especially so if we managed to re-sign Lewis). But, there were no championships forthcoming with Ray Allen on board for the next five or six years. By the time Durant was ready to lead us a la Bron-Bron, Ray Allen would be averaging 12 points per game playing those latter-day Reggie Miller minutes.

At least, this way, Durant knows this is his team and he can proceed to become the best basketball player alive. I mean, it's not like Jordan was surrounded by oodles of veterans his first year in the league