Notebook | Club might be go-between as trading deadline nears

WASHINGTON — The NBA trading season unofficially shifted into a higher gear over the weekend with rumors certain to run rampant until the Feb. 21 deadline.

Saturday marked the first day free agents can sign 10-day contracts, and with more than a third of the season played, teams begin separating into two categories: buyers and sellers.

The Sonics (9-24) are seemingly sellers, but fall into another category: facilitators.

With two trade exceptions garnered from offseason deals, Seattle can help teams over the salary cap complete deals or it can assist teams interested in shedding payroll to avoid paying the luxury tax, which is a dollar-for-dollar penalty for teams whose payroll exceeds $67.87 million.

The Sonics have a $2.5 million trade exception from the Ray Allen deal with Boston and a little over $1 million remaining in the Rashard Lewis deal with Orlando. Seattle picked up a $9 million trade exception from the Magic and used $8 million to acquire center Kurt Thomas and two first-round draft picks from Phoenix.

In hindsight, the Lewis deal may have been a significant move in the future of the franchise. Seattle had no chance to re-sign the free-agent forward, but ultimately added a starting center in Thomas and first-round picks in 2008 and 2010.

"The trade exception could certainly prove to be valuable around the trade deadline, but it has to be something that works for both teams," general manager Sam Presti said. "It can't just work for the team that's trying to utilize our trade exception. It's hard to predict whether or not those things come into play, but it will be driven by whether it can help our team in the immediate or in the future."

The Sonics also have players who might pique interest in teams looking to add another piece to a championship puzzle. Earl Watson and Luke Ridnour have reportedly been mentioned in deals with teams needing a point guard.

Seattle has two first-round and four second-round picks in this year's draft.

Note

• C Robert Swift is expected to visit Santa Monica, Calif.-based surgeon Dr. Stephen Lombardo on Wednesday for a checkup. Lombardo performed arthroscopic surgery on Swift that repaired a torn anterior cruciate ligament Nov. 22, 2006. Coach P.J. Carlesimo said he's not expecting the 7-foot-1 center, who has had recurring tendinitis, to return any time soon.