Wally Szczerbiak

Szczerbiak's season ended last year with ankle surgery. He comes to the Sonics this season as one of the few players with an established offensive game. As such, Szczerbiak might end up shouldering much of the offensive load, at least in the beginning. His long-range shooting (40.4 percent) will have to replace that of Ray Allen, for whom Szczerbiak was traded, as no other backcourt player is a strong three-point shooter. Szczerbiak will also play small forward, depending on where the Sonics play Kevin Durant, and likely will start and come off the bench. He should see good minutes, but he's not part of the team's future, and he won't be on the roster after his two years and $25 million come off the books. Therefore, the Sonics won't likely please him with minutes and looks at the expense of their crop of youngsters.

Szczerbiak is one of the best jump-shooters in the NBA, consistently shooting 50 percent from the floor, 40 percent from three-point range, and 85 percent from the free-throw line. At 6-7 and a sturdy 235 pounds, Szczerbiak is one of the bigger swingmen in the NBA which allows him to play some in the post, but his bread-and-butter is his beautiful jumper that often barely even rifles the nets. Szczerbiak was in the midst of a career-year with the Timberwolves (20.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.5 threes per game) before the midseason trade that sent him to the Celtics. His scoring and FG percentage dipped slightly with the Celtics, possibly because he no longer had Kevin Garnett in the middle to collapse defenses, but likely more due to the Celtics’ depth at swingman and a nagging knee injury that eventually caused Szczerbiak to shut down his season a month early. Szczerbiak has had knee issues in the past, but if healthy, he should continue to be a solid scoring/threes/percentages option.

Wally plays on one end of the court, and we'll let you guess which one it is (just look at those atrocious steals and blocks numbers). You might think that any swingman who can drain jumpers to the tune of 50% shooting has earned the right to be slow-footed and unfocused on defense, but Wally World loses minutes to defensive specialists like Trenton Hassell. With Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell replaced by lesser talents in Marko Jaric and draft-pick Rashad McCants, it's likely Szczerbiak will once again be Kevin Garnett's second option and at least start again. Nonetheless, anyone as one-dimensional and pissy as Szczerbiak about playing time never rubs the front office the right way.

Sidelined by foot and then back problems last season, Szczerbiak wasn't much of a factor either in reality for the T-Wolves or for his fantasy owners. But a healthy Szczerbiak brings a fair amount to the table including excellent percentages from the floor, the line and beyond the arc and a three-pointer, a few boards and 15-plus points per game. With Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell now in the mix, Szczerbiak might not see as many shots, and if Trent Hassell's defense is needed, Sczcerbiak could lose minutes as well. Still, he merits a mention because he has been very useful in the past when he's received consistent minutes.

Szczerbiak could see his stats decrease the most amid Minnesota's influx of talent in the offseason. He'll play at both small forward and shooting guard, but expect a modest drop off in scoring and minutes. On most nights he'll start at small forward.