| Replacing A Seattle Legend Authored by SW36 - July 8, 2005 - 6:12 pm
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After spending 19 years in the Supersonics organization, McMillan says he knew it was time to move on. “This was time for me to move on. I needed a different challenge, a different opportunity” said McMillan in a news conference. That opportunity arose when Portland offered him the head coaching job long after Mo Cheeks, the Blazers former coach, bolted to Philadelphia to coach the Sixers. The Sonics didn’t just let Nate go by; they offered him a four year contract extension worth 18 million. Nate refused and later signed with Portland, a reported five year deal worth 27.5 million.
Although McMillan took a deal with far more money, he insists that it wasn’t the money that drove him to Portland. “It wasn’t the money,” says McMillan. “I thought Seattle offered fair money.” But the fact remains that Seattle will no longer be seeing McMillan representing their team.
So where does Seattle go from here? Although they re-signed their franchise player, Ray Allen, not having a coach in the off-season isn’t good. In fact, not having a coach could diminish the chances of a quality free agent looking to sign with them. The Sonics are desperately trying to find a coach that qualifies for the job. As of now, many coaches have been signed to a deal, which limits the choices for Seattle.
The top coaching candidates for the Seattle organization at this point are former Wolves coach, Flip Saunders, former Cavaliers coach, Paul Silas, and former Bucks coach, Terry Porter.
The leading candidate for the Sonics would likely be Flip Saunders who got fired after a disappointing season with the Timberwolves, after leading them to game seven of the Western Conference Finals in 2004. Flip, however, may not be appealing to the Sonics considering he is waiting to hear word about the Piston’s job in Detroit, which could drag on for quite a while. The second candidate to replace “Mr. Sonic” could be Paul Silas, who was fired by the Cavaliers, after failing to make the playoffs. Even though Silas is risky, he would certainly fit in and could fill that vacant coaching spot.
If Flip and Paul somehow don’t work out for Seattle, the have yet another option. Recently fired Bucks coach, Terry Porter, is also a coach looking to lead a team. Porter, who was interviewed by the Blazers before hiring of McMillan, was a strong candidate because of the talent he brought to the Trailblazer organization during his playing days. Porter is also a risky coach, who has been known to play small lineups when the game matters most.
And although these coaches have some risks, they all have their strong points and they all would be worthy of coaching the Seattle Supersonics in the near future. For now, Seattle will just have to play the waiting game, and hope their next coach will be a leader as Nate McMillan was to them last year. |
