Sonics Kept Karl, So Gill Had To Go

At first blush, the trade sounds decent. The Sonics needed a perimeter shooter and Hersey Hawkins fits the job description.

And since Coach George Karl stayed with the Sonics, Kendall Gill almost certainly had to go.

Seattle's collective sports psyche couldn't stand another soap-opera season, starring these two star-crossed characters.

Under the circumstances, it probably was the best trade the Sonics could make. But why did there have to be circumstances?

The trade raises more questions about the direction of the franchise and questions about the fragile ego of the coach.

If a coach's job is to get the best out of his personnel, didn't Karl fail miserably with Gill? Didn't Karl toy with Gill? Wreck Gill's confidence and hurt the team in the process?

Didn't this trade have everything to do with personality and very little to do with practicality?

The Sonics traded Kendall Gill back to the Charlotte Hornets yesterday for Hersey Hawkins and David Wingate.

It isn't the kind of trade that makes you wince, like last year's Ricky Pierce-and-a-lottery-pick deal to Golden State for Sarunas Marciulionis and Byron Houston.

But it is the kind of trade that makes you ask why. Why couldn't Karl make it work with Gill?

This time last year, the Sonics had Gill and a lottery pick. Now they have Hawkins, Marciulionis, Wingate and Houston. Quantity, but not quality.

Are we supposed to believe this trade strikes fear in the heart of Houston, or San Antonio, or Phoenix?

It is another trade of a player, like Derrick McKey and Dana Barros, who was popular with his teammates, but not with his coach.

First Barros, then McKey, then Michael Cage, now Gill. Who's next to fall out of Karl's favor?

The smart money is on All-Star point guard Gary Payton, whose relationship with Karl deteriorated toward the end of last season.

How many trades does it take before the coach takes the blame instead of the players?

"I don't think it is necessarily true (that he didn't get along with McKey, Barros or Cage)," Karl said, rewriting history. "I think I had tremendous respect for both Dana and Derrick. Dana's move was based upon his desire to do what he did. Become an All-Star."

Huh?

The Sonics traded Barros so he could become an All-Star? What a magnanimous organization!

Seattle continues making trades that get it no closer to a title. In two short seasons, they have gone from Western Conference finalists to first-round fatalists.

Karl's mishandling of Gill last season was inexcusable. He tortured Gill with irregular playing time. He often sat Gill at crunch time.

Sure, this is a trade that addresses a need. Hawkins, 28, is one of the game's most dangerous three-point shooters. He made 44 percent of his threes last season.

Hawkins is a good defender and a solid citizen.

Wingate, on the other hand, has been charged three times with violence against women (though the charges each time were dropped or not pursued) and has a degenerative knee condition.

Are we supposed to believe this trade makes the Sonics better?

Nobody knows the talent and temperament of Gill better than Charlotte Coach Alan Bristow. Gill played three seasons there before asking to be traded.

Would Bristow make this trade if he thought Gill was trouble? Would the Hornets trade away Hawkins if they thought he could take them to a championship? Bristow, in fact, initiated these trade talks.

"We needed more shooting," Sonic General Manager Wally Walker said of the trade. "Kendall's not a bad shooter, but he's just not a consistent shooter. He shot 36 percent from three-point range, which is pretty good. But when we struggled in the playoffs, teams packed it in on us. They double-teamed us and we didn't make them pay."

This is just the continuation of the trade that never stops. The centrifugal trade.

It had its roots in the Eddie Johnson-for-Xavier McDaniel deal former Sonic President Bob Whitsitt made. Johnson and Dana Barros eventually went to Charlotte for Gill and a lottery pick. Barros then went to Philadelphia.

The lottery pick was wasted on last June's trade with Golden State that brought Marciulionis and Houston. That trade wasn't necessary and this one shouldn't have been.

"I'm happy about the trade," Karl said.

Wait until next year.