By Mike Kahn
SportsLine Executive Editor

SEATTLE -- The Pacific Division and Western Conference championship banners hang in a neat column along the backside of the training facility, the first with the old colors and logo, the rest with the brighter, more striking look.

The only common threads: the Space Needle and the name Sonics. But with the five banners -- ranging from 1993 to the present -- what is of utmost importance is the tradition of building the franchise of the Seattle SuperSonics.

It begins with team president Wally Walker, who played for the only Sonics championship team (1979) and new head coach Paul Westphal, who was his teammate two years later.

"Paul and I talked about getting the former Sonics and working on building the tradition here," Walker said. "Paul spent a good portion of his career with the Celtics, that have more tradition than just about anybody, and you see what it has done for that organization and we'd like to do the same thing here."

THEY'VE GOT A GOOD START, AND IT ranges far beyond those two. After 12 seasons as a Sonics point guard, and plenty as captain, Nate McMillan retired and Westphal named him an assistant coach shortly thereafter. Last season, Dale Ellis, an All-Star guard for the Sonics from 1986-91, was brought back on a one-year contract, and recently signed a three-year deal at the age of 38.

And just last week, Olden Polynice, the center drafted by the Bulls and traded to the Sonics in the 1987 draft in the infamous Scottie Pippen trade that helped bring the Bulls six championships, was re-signed by the Sonics to a $1 million deal after spending the last seven years with three different organizations.

Polynice, who lives in Los Angeles, had a chance to sign bigger deals with more security on a variety of teams. But the entire concept of returning to the Sonics with McMillan and Ellis still around, not to mention the development of Gary Payton into a superstar as opposed to the mouthy youngster Polynice played with in the early 1990s, made it an easy move.

"It never occurred to me to come back to the Sonics," Polynice said. "There were a lot of options out there, and I had no idea what I was going to do. Living in LA, I thought a lot about staying there, but I wasn't too sure about playing for the Clippers. Then all of a sudden, the Sonics called me last week and it made the whole thing easy. I love Seattle, and the way they've treated Nate and bringing Dale back again, it told me a lot about how they care about taking care of their players. It's one of those little things that can make a big difference on a team."

WESTPHAL WAS A LOT MORE CALCULATING in his analysis of the situation. He conceded tradition is important ... under certain terms.

"It sure doesn't hurt that the Sonics have a fine tradition," Westphal said. "You want that in your organization. But it's not something (so strong) that we'd take guys like Olden and Dale if they couldn't play."

The transition will be a huge challenge for Westphal. He follows in the footsteps of immensely popular George Karl, who was fired after last season despite fashioning a franchise-best .703 winning percentage in his 6½ seasons with the Sonics. What Westphal has that Karl never got was a championship ring (1974 with the Celtics), and that seemed to irk owner Barry Ackerley whenever the commentary strayed to Karl's exceptional record. It also spawned Ackerley's now-famous comment, "Where are my (championship) rings?"

Paul Westphal wants Sonics Green to have the same feel as Celtic Green. (AP)

Now it is Westphal's turn. He struggled with the names of some players during introductions as camp convened Friday night. After all, Walker hastily put together this team that had only six signed players and he traded one of them -- starting center Jim McIlvaine -- for Michael Cage, who retired, and aging Don MacLean, who is likely to be destined for spot play or a trip on the injured list. No doubt, the 204-day lockout during collective bargaining will be the ultimate test for personnel directors, coaches and players.

Add recent high school grad Rashard Lewis, who just turned 18 in August and Vladimir Stepania, a 22-year-old from Slovenia, to this dramatic patchwork quilt Walker has sewn. Also on the roster will be a third rookie, 21-year-old former UCLA enigma, Jelani McCoy.

It was Stepania who created the buzz Sunday night. Out of the great tradition of exceptionally skilled European big men who are long on offensive tools and short on strength and defense, he certainly has Walker bubbling over. Nicknamed Lado (pronounced "Lotto"), Stepania was nothing short of spectacular in Sunday night's scrimmage. Besides draining a 3-pointer, the skinny 7-footer spun on All-Star Detlef Schrempf from the wing for a dunk, and his squad ultimately beat Payton's team at the buzzer. The highlight came when Stepania blocked Payton's drive to the basket as time ran out.

"He's got wonderful tools that we are real excited about developing," Walker said. "Rashard can play and we'll bring him along too. Jelani has a great body for this game and we'll just have to see how much he wants to improve. What I tried to do is bring together a blend of experienced guys and young guys. Ideally, you want to win and develop young players at the same time."

HE CAN ONLY HOPE. AT LEAST THAT is the concept he's got in this 50-game season that begins on Feb. 5. The Sonics, with All-Stars Payton, Schrempf, Vin Baker and Hersey Hawkins, have been considered one of the favorites in this oddly scheduled NBA season. The new collective bargaining agreement allowed them not only to bring in three rookies without salary cap considerations, but they also were able to utilize the expanded cap to sign Ellis, Polynice and versatile veteran Billy Owens as free agents.

They also have one of the most favorable schedules with which to start the season, as seven of their first nine games are at home. Whether or not a championship banner (or even a fifth Pacific Division banner of the decade) is in order will be determined shortly. Already, good feelings abound in camp, stoked by the presence of Sonics past, present and future.

"None of that hurts," Westphal said. "All that matters are the wins and losses, and we'll find out soon enough. We've got the talent. Now it's my job to make it work together."