Ding, dong the witch (Ray Allen) is dead

About three hours before the draft, we started hearing that Seattle was going to deal Ray-Ray for the fifth pick in the draft. I was thrilled.

"As long as Horford or Conley are there," I told my friend Dekay, "I'm 100 percent behind the idea."

I was operating under the assumption that if you're going to deal Ray Allen, a legitimate superstar, albeit one who never saw a loose ball worth diving for, you should get a guy with a ceiling one mile high. To watch both Durant and either of those guys mature would be worth the price of admission.

Whoops. Neither guy I wanted was there. Apparently, management didn't care.

While I'm now conflicted, I'm not 100 percent against the move either. I think Green is filthy, and I think he'll be an All-Star. His bust potential is lower than either Horford or Conley. Somehow, he seems stable. I saw something on ESPN.com that likened him to Brandon Roy. That'd probably play.

But, I mean, I hate Ray Allen (see last week's post), and even I feel like we gave up more than we got. The Sonics only have one more year in Seattle, and instead of having a ridiculous offense -- Ray, Rashard, Durant -- now we're going to have a ridiculous small forward position. In our last year, we're going to see the rookie seasons of one ultra-megastar and one very solid pro. And the team is going to suck. Maybe we'll get two more years out of the team, but we'll be so young, and the West is so good, I don't think the playoffs are likely.

And, really, that's not a very good way to go out. I think I'd prefer to see Durant's first ever playoff appearance to the formative years of an outstanding nucleus.

Oh well. At least I outlasted Ray. The bastard.