SEATTLE -- At least one of the SuperSonics' top-five draft picks appears ready to debut on time.
Kevin Durant, Seattle's second overall choice, moved fluidly while completing practice Monday, two days before the season opener at Denver. It was the first extensive basketball work for last season's national college player of the year since he sprained his left ankle in a preseason game Oct. 23.
Durant
Sonics coach P.J. Carlesimo would not declare Durant ready to start at shooting guard in the nationally televised opener against the Nuggets on Wednesday night. Seattle then has its home opener Thursday night against Phoenix.
"He looked decent. He probably did a little more than probably we thought he'd be able to do," Carlesimo said, after Durant joined Earl Watson, Damien Wilkins, Chris Wilcox and Nick Collison on the first team for a scrimmage that ended practice.
Durant, who led the Sonics with 18.8 points per game in six exhibition contests, raced down the floor and led a few breaks before leaving the last few minutes of the practice to put on an ankle brace. He later disappeared into the training room for a sixth consecutive day of treatment.
"Now it will just be a question to see how he comes out of it, see how [he] wakes up, what he feels like," the coach said. "He said it didn't bother him. If it doesn't swell or if it's not sore [Tuesday] that will be a good sign.
"If he feels good, then, yeah, definitely [he will start at Denver]."
The status of Jeff Green, who also has a sprained left ankle, was more iffy. The fifth overall pick, who pulled himself out of Friday's preseason finale against the Suns in Vancouver, British Columbia, appeared to be dragging his taped lower leg through the end of drills three days after declaring the sprain was no big deal.
Green, who averaged nine points in eight preseason games, then joined Durant in the training room immediately after practice.
"Jeff said he felt stiff," Carlesimo said, adding Green will be re-evaluated with Durant on Tuesday before a determination is made for Wednesday.
The status of the two rookies is holding up Carlesimo's decision on who will start and how deep of a rotation he will use to begin the season.
Carlesimo may use Delonte West, acquired in the trade that also brought Green and Wally Szczerbiak to Seattle on draft day for All-Star Ray Allen and the 35th overall pick, as the backup point guard. That's because returning starter Luke Ridnour has struggled while playing the last three weeks with a mask over his broken nose.
Ridnour had to leave Friday's game because a fastener for the mask broke. He was to get the mask refitted Monday and is scheduled to no longer need it within two weeks.
Carlesimo said until then, he may start Watson and use West there. But if Green and Durant aren't available, West will have to be a shooting guard behind Wilkins.
Then there's Robert Swift. The Sonics hoped the 7-foot-1 center would have seized the starting job by now. But Swift remains limited after surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right knee forced him to miss all of last season.
"Robert didn't even make it through practice. So Robert didn't look good," Carlesimo said, flatly.
Collison, at 6-foot-10, will likely start at center and the Sonics may go smaller than they had planned.
"We're not a heck of a lot closer to settling on a rotation," Carlesimo said of a team that was totally reconstructed after finishing 31-51 last season.
"It's possible we're not going to look good the next couple of weeks and still be good later on. ... We're nowhere near where we need to be."
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
Source: ESPN.com
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