Durant takes a tip to hand off the ball

Kevin Durant already can predict what's next for Sonics teammate Kurt Thomas.

"I think he's the type of guy that's going to be a coach," Durant said recently.

The rookie guard is already getting valuable pointers from Seattle's veteran forward. One lesson was what to do when Durant comes off screens.

"Angle it a little farther and throw it to me," Thomas advised. "I'm going to knock it down."

It worked. Most of Durant's assists come from Thomas hitting jump shots.

As he works toward superstar status, Durant's latest lesson has been on distributing the ball when he's crowded on the court. He has trimmed the ill-advised shots and learned to utilize his teammates, particularly a solidifying front line that has helped the Sonics win their past two games.

Durant has 14 assists in his past three games, compared with three in the five before that.

Thomas has been a beneficiary, averaging 13.6 points in the past three games. He's part of the Sonics' four-player rotation inside. The group will be tested tonight against New York and the Knicks' Zach Randolph and Eddy Curry, if the latter is able to play despite flulike symptoms.

The Sonics (11-35) defeated the Knicks in New York 117-110 in December. Randolph had 27 points and 16 rebounds in that game. Curry is shooting 57 percent from the field this month.

Thomas finished with 16 points on 8-for-10 shooting in a victory over a LeBron James-less Cleveland on Thursday.

"I've been fortunate that I've been shooting the ball well," Thomas said. "Kevin has definitely been finding me. He draws so much attention, and as long as I set a good screen, if he doesn't have a shot, I can get open for a shot."

Sonics coach P.J. Carlesimo said he was in a quandary after the Sonics' win against a Tony Parker-less San Antonio on Tuesday. All four of Seattle's posts were playing well, but the coach had to sit two in the fourth. Thomas and Johan Petro played; Nick Collison and Chris Wilcox cheered from the bench.

"It's very rare," Thomas said of all four playing well. "But hopefully we can keep it going. Johan has been playing unbelievable. He's been playing limited minutes, but he's been taking full advantage of his opportunity.

"If one of us has the hot hand going, we definitely feel that person should be in the game. We know when you have four big guys, your minutes can be limited. Whenever you get the opportunity to get out on the floor, you've just got to hope to be successful and take advantage of that opportunity."

The Sonics, whose running joke is that they haven't had a quality center since Jack Sikma, circa 1979, may even have another big man join the mix. Robert Swift (right knee) was cleared to practice this week, but will not play until the team has enough healthy bodies in its sessions to practice five-on-five drills at least twice with Swift.

Carlesimo said Swift should travel next week to Sacramento and Phoenix.

"He looked really good in practice today, and that's a good sign," forward Wally Szczerbiak said. "Whenever you can solidify your frontcourt, that's huge in the NBA."

Wilcox agreed.

"We're all just playing hard, and that's what's changing this team around," he said. "The bigs are going and grabbing rebounds and running the floor. It looks like the bigs are getting more comfortable now. ... Guys have been trying to give it their all to get some wins."

Notes

• Durant was honored with his third consecutive Western Conference rookie of the month award for January. He leads all rookies in scoring (19.4) and ranks seventh in rebounding (4.0).

• Szczerbiak (sprained right ankle), Collison (right calf strain), Thomas (left quad tendon strain) and Jeff Green (left ankle sprain) did not practice Friday and are listed as game-time decisions tonight.

Jayda Evans: 206-464-2067 or jevans@seattletimes.com