Eric Williams covered the Sonics' last season in Seattle. A Tacoma native, Eric graduated from Mount Tahoma High and the University of Puget Sound.
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The Sonics have several players scheduled to workout for the team this week as they continue to evaluate prospects for this year’s draft, which is a little more than two weeks away.
Arizona guard Jerryd Bayless and Indiana's Eric Gordon headline the list.
Most mock drafts have Seattle taking Bayless with the team’s No. 4 overall pick. The 6-foot-3, 19-year-old is seen as a fast, athletic guard who can shoot well from the perimeter and run the floor.
However, Indiana product Eric Gordon also is a good athlete with more of an NBA-ready body who the Sonics would like to take a closer look at, and also could select with the team’s top pick.
Seattle has six picks overall in the draft. Along with the No. 4 pick, Seattle has the No. 24 pick in the first round and four picks in the second round.
Other players headed to Seattle this week include Kansas forward Darrell Arthur, UCLA’s Lorenzo Mata, Steven Hill of Arkansas, Luc Louves of France, Rhode Island’s Will Daniels, Marcus Dove of Oklahoma State, Maryland’s James Gist, Indiana’s D.J. White, Trent Plaisted of BYU, Richard Hendrix of Alabama, Kentrell Gransberry of South Florida and California’s DeVon Hardin.
The Sonics also had five players in for workouts last Sunday, highlighted by Stanford’s Brook Lopez, who has fallen in some mock drafts. Also on hand were Tyrelle Blair of Boston College, Sasha Kaun of Kansas, Louisville’s David Pagett and Vladimir Golubovic of Serbia.
U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman ruled today on several motions to exclude evidence regarding the trail between the City of Seattle and the Sonics in the city’s lawsuit against to force the team to honor the last two years of the KeyArena lease agreement.
Pechman ruled to allow testimony from Seattle author and Sonics season ticket holder Sherman Alexie, noting that he was properly disclosed as a potential witness and his testimony is relevant to the issue being argued.
However, the Sonics motion to exclude testimony from KJR-AM radio talk show host Mitch Levy was granted, because the city disclosed Levy as a witness nearly a month after the agreed on discovery deadline of April 30.
Pechman also said that Levy’s testimony concerns media access to players, and is not directly related to the main issues surrounding the case.
Pechman ruled to reserve the city’s motion to exclude testimony from Seattle City Council members Nick Licata and Richard Conlin, stating that the Sonics did not seek to prohibit evidence contradicting the two councilmen’s previous statements.
Pechman denied the city’s remaining motions to exclude evidence presented by the Sonics regarding the team’s dysfunctional relationship with the city, a field survey showing the teams is the third most popular franchise behind the Seahawks and the Mariners, and evidence showing the team made an effort to secure a successor venue to KeyArena.
Pechman stated the city’s motions extended beyond issues of evidence into issue of law, and that city’s arguments were premature.
