The new owners of the Seattle Sonics have decided to shake things up.

Seattle SuperSonics Head Coach Bob Hill will not return to the team next season and General Manager Rick Sund will serve the organization as a consultant during the remaining one year of his contract, it was announced today by Sonics Chairman Clay Bennett.

Bennett and Sonics Vice-Chairman Lenny Wilkens will lead the search for a new General Manager and Head Coach of the SuperSonics.

“Bob Hill and Rick Sund are fine individuals of excellent personal character and are basketball men through and through. They were both extremely helpful to us during this challenging year of transition. We are sincerely appreciative to them for their service and we wish them only the very best,” Bennett said.

“While there is uncertainty as to the future physical location of our franchise, our commitment to creating a culture of competitive excellence for this organization is unwavering. We absolutely aspire to win championships.”

The Sonics have a roster of talented players but the sum of the individual parts isn't going to add up to a championship contender anytime soon. The main problem is defense: These dudes can't guard a door. Opponents shot 47.6% against Seattle. Only Memphis and Milwaukee gave up a higher field goal percentage to opponents. The Sonics also gave up 22.8 assists per game to opponents, 6th worst in the league.

There are rumors that Lenny Wilkens would consider a return to coaching but I think he should stay in the front office.

Either Luke Ridnour or Earl Watson will probably be traded, though neither player is an ideal starting point guard.

Lewis will test free agency. If the team loses him they should probably try to trade Ray Allen and Chris Wilcox for a total rebuilding effort.

Have an opinion? Post it in this forum thread.