Sonics' Sene headed to Idaho

Sonics center Mouhamed Sene was sent to the team's Developmental League affiliate, the Idaho Stampede, on Sunday.

Sene, 21, dreaded going back to the NBA's developmental league. But with a healthier Sonics roster, he was the odd-man out for minutes during games.

Sene began playing basketball at age 16 in his native Senegal, putting him further behind in development than the rest of the post players.

Sonics coach P.J. Carlesimo said Sene will get the playing time he needs with the Stampede.

"I feel badly he's not with us," Carlesimo said. "But he has a chance to get a lot better more quickly down there playing with them than he does sitting around with us."

In nine games this season, Sene averaged 1.7 points, 1.2 rebounds and 4.2 minutes for the Sonics. He plays behind Kurt Thomas and Nick Collison, who have started at center, and reserve Johan Petro.

Drafted 10th overall in 2006, Sene averaged 9.9 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, and 21.7 minutes in 15 games with the Stampede last season. Idaho is 7-5 this season.

"Everybody knew Mo was going to be a project," Carlesimo said. "He's going to be a good player in this league, but the timetable is hard to set. What will accelerate the timetable is him getting game experience."

NBA teams can assign up to two players who are rookies or in their second season to their D-League affiliate a maximum of three times during the season. Players can stay with the D-League team for as long as the team wishes and can be recalled any time.

Carlesimo said Sene would return to Seattle this season only if he improves, or the Sonics are hit by injuries.

"He wasn't jumping-up-and-down happy," the coach said of Sene's response to being demoted. "As crazy as it sounds, he should prefer to play in the D-League [over] sitting and not playing at all, or even worse, being inactive in the NBA. It's nice to travel on the charter, get per diem and all of that stuff, but it's about playing basketball."

West returns,

could play Tuesday

Sonics guard Delonte West returned to full-contact practice on Sunday and could play Tuesday in Portland after missing nine games with plantar fasciitis in his right foot.

While West is being considered for the starting point guard position, Carlesimo said he would most likely play shooting guard this week. West looked solid in practice, not showing any rust from his extended absence.

"I want to get him back into it gradually," Carlesimo said That means playing at shooting guard, not point guard, in his first games back.

Note

Tuesday's Christmas Day matchup with Portland marks the fourth time the teams have met on the holiday, with the Blazers winning all four. Seattle is 0-10 on Christmas, last losing to Denver in 1994.