Last Season:	35-47
Preview prediction:	45-37
Oddsmakers:	35-47

2006-07 Blog Previews visit the other Pacific Northwest team today: the Seattle Sonics. sonicscentral.com is optimistic that the Sonics can return to their winning ways after a disappointing '05-06 campaign:

I believe the goal for this team is to return to its form of 2004-2005 when they won 52 games and the Northwest Division. While I’m not one to believe they’ll get back to that level I feel they’ve got a pretty good chance to win between 44 and 46 games. They’re certain to get overlooked by national reporters because they didn’t make the big off-season moves. What’s not taken into account is they made their off-season moves at the trade deadline last year acquiring Chris Wilcox and Earl Watson. After those deals they were 14-12 in their last 26 games, which would net the team about 45 wins if extrapolated over a full season. Throughout the year the young big men of the Sonics should continue to improve. Combine that with a much more disciplined work ethic instilled by Coach Hill and the addition to Coach Chiesa to the staff I don’t see why they wouldn’t be able to keep that pace up for a full season. With the way the division looks that might be enough to win them another NW Division title.

Seattle has put up great offensive numbers over the past couple of years; their problem has been on the other end of the court, especially in '05-06. In fact, John Hollinger dubbed last year's Sonics as the worst defensive team of all time. The roster didn't change that much between the two seasons, but when you look at the distribution of playing time, you start to understand the defensive drop off.

'04-05 coach Nate McMillan played offensively-challenged bangers Danny Fortson and Reggie Evans nearly 3,000 minutes (41 minutes per game), whereas '05-06 coaches Bob Weiss and Bob Hill gave them just over 1,000 minutes and shipped out Evans at midseason. On the other hands, offensive-minded guys like Rashard Lewis, Luke Ridnour, and Flip Murray saw more minutes under the Bobs.

In retrospect, it's obvious that McMillan was a much better coach for this team, and it's a shame that the former ownership group let him defect to their I-5 rivals. It'll also be disappointing if the new ownership group moves the club next season. I had the pleasure of witnessing first-hand some of the great Seattle teams of the 90's who were the toast of the town before their recent decline, and would hate to see them end up in Oklahoma.