Art Thiel has a nice piece in today's P-I in which he thinks the Sonics will be a pretty good team next year.
What do you think? If the Sonics don't add a single new player between now and the beginning of the season, what are your realistic expectations for the team this year? I'm asking in terms of regular season record and if you think this team is playoff caliber, how far can they go?
I'll start. I think as presently constituted this group is good enough to win 42-45 games and certainly talented enough to win the weak Northwest Division. In my opinion a seond-round playoff appearance is possible if one or two of the younger players (Luke, Nick, or the centers) makes a tangible step forward in development. Inexperience is the major thing holding this team back right now ... with team defense being the other.
Post your predictions ... we won't hold you to them later, it is August after all. :)