Wally Szczerbiak, Earl Watson wary of possible trade

The house is already packed and the items have been shipped to New York.

Only it's not some ritual Wally Szczerbiak is creating with the NBA trade deadline lingering nine days away.

Sure, he and fellow Sonics Luke Ridnour and Earl Watson have come up as trade bait throughout the season. And the return of forward Mickael Gelabale from the development league has spurred speculation that a deal could be made.

Yet, this move to clear out Szczerbiak's Seattle home is simply because his wife, Shannon, is expecting their first son. Shannon, who is due March 1, took their two daughters to New York.

Szczerbiak, the team's third-leading scorer (13.1), will join the family for the delivery, hopeful he's still a Sonic after the Feb. 21 trade deadline.

"With all of the travel we have in March, I thought it would be best if they were situated there," said Szczerbiak of the 10 road games in March. "I'm just trying to stay in shape and play hard. Whatever happens, happens.

"I love the guys on the team and I've really grown a bond with my teammates. That's one thing about being traded. I've been traded before and I'm starting to get comfortable here with the guys on my team and I've made some great friends. Kurt [Thomas], Nick [Collison], Luke — we've become close. Any time you get traded, you've got to start over and you've got to reestablish your role and place on the team."

Told by coach P.J. Carlesimo early on that his cheerleading-type leadership wasn't needed, Szczerbiak has become a locker-room example of health and discipline, working his way back from an ankle injury in Boston last season.

The Sonics (13-37) have won four of their past six games and every player has contributed, also banding together to play solid defense like Carlesimo wants.

Szczerbiak will earn $13 million next season in the final year of his contract, a deal that is difficult to move, especially since the Sonics appear interested only in clearing cap space or acquiring young talent.

"You've got to look out for the betterment of your career," Szczerbiak said. "I've always said the writing is on the wall here at my position and they're in a rebuilding mode. I'm at the point where I want to win games and want to get back to the playoffs. If a change were to happen, I want to make the most of it."

Several sources have tempered the likelihood of the Sonics making a trade, but Seattle has two trade exceptions from offseason deals. The exceptions could help teams over the salary cap complete a trade or could help teams that need to shave payroll to avoid paying the luxury tax — a dollar-for-dollar penalty for teams that exceed $67.87 million.

The Sonics have a $2.5 million trade exception from the Ray Allen swap that landed Szczerbiak, Jeff Green and Delonte West and $1 million left from the Rashard Lewis deal where $8 million was used to acquire Thomas and first-round draft picks in 2008 and 2010 from Phoenix.

"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 told The Times last month. "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."

Watson, who has started 44 games for the Sonics, said he's going to focus on games, starting tonight against Utah at KeyArena. He has been linked to deals with Miami the past two years.

Even the Heat's latest deal with Phoenix for Shaquille O'Neal didn't unnerve him. Meanwhile, Ridnour isn't comfortable even though New York, which was rumored to want him, reportedly wants to keep itsguards, making it less likely it will acquire the Sonics guard.

"I'm obviously comfortable," said Watson, who is shooting 52.5 percent from the field in his past five games and averaging 8.6 assists during the same span. "But it's a business. If Shaq can get traded, anybody can get traded."

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