The owner wanted to rave about his wonderful afternoon and the rookies he drafted to support his star players.

So Sonics guard Ray Allen listened patiently as Howard Schultz wailed into a cellphone, imagining a team in which Kansas senior forward Nick Collison collects a rebound to ignite a fast break led by Oregon junior guard Luke Ridnour.

"This guy will find you, Rashard (Lewis) and Brent (Barry) and get you the ball," Schultz said. "He's a lot like Steve Nash. ... We're going to be running next year."

After the platitudes, Allen reminded his boss: "Don't forget about Kevin Ollie."

Schultz replied: "What we did in the draft has nothing to do with his situation."

Allen then interjected that the two "situations" are intertwined.

"If we get KO back, Kevin could help a young player like Luke Ridnour," Allen said. "What he does has always been taken for granted. He's been overlooked his whole life by people looking for something better.

It was a day in which the itinerary seemed as clear as the skies over Seattle.

The NBA draft had concluded Thursday, and the team won't introduce the Sonics' new rookies Nick Collison and Luke Ridnour until Monday.

Time for the Sonics to relax. Breathe deeply.

Yeah, right.

This is the NBA, and teams can begin negotiating with free agents on July 1. That's Tuesday, which is why Sonics general manager Rick Sund was tucked in his office yesterday, scanning for clouds.

The Sonics will seek to re-sign three free agents:

Howard Schultz smiled a devilish grin as he drove his Volkswagen convertible through the parking lot of the Sonics' practice facility yesterday, confident that his team acquired the draft picks that will return Seattle to the NBA playoffs.

"Great day for the Sonics," the owner said. "This is a turning point for the franchise. These are the guys we wanted. Believe me. Honestly. It couldn't have worked out any better."

Afterward, Schultz drove off into the sunset leaving general manager Rick Sund and coach Nate McMillan to celebrate a draft-day haul in which Seattle selected Kansas senior forward Nick Collison with the 12th pick and Oregon junior guard Luke Ridnour of Blaine at No. 14 in the NBA draft.

The blockbuster trade that had been rumored this week never materialized, although the Sonics did deal their second-round pick ? ? 41st selection Willie Green of Detroit Mercy ? to Philadelphia for 6-foot-4 French guard Paccelis Morlende, selected 50th, and an unspecified amount of cash.

"We were trying to be as adaptive as we could," Sund said. "We looked into the possibility of moving down or getting some young veterans in the league, but as it turned out, we were very fortunate with Nick. We didn't think he was going to fall to us and we need a power forward.

"With Luke, we went offense over defense. What we basically said was coach McMillan wanted to talk about running next year and let's face it, the strength of our ballclub is shooting and we wanted to get somebody to get the ball to people."

Moments after the Seattle SuperSonics made Kansas power forward Nick Collison the 12th selection of the NBA draft Thursday, ESPN broadcaster Mike Tirico asked Dick Vitale to weigh in on the choice.

Vitale, college basketball's unofficial goodwill ambassador - this is a man who would find something positive to say about mouth blisters - typically portrayed the acquisition of Collison as a package of sunshine, lollipops and rainbows.

"He's a winner!" shouted Vitale, pointing out that Collison's high school and college teams were a combined 214-30. "A flat-out winner! And after four years of college, he's fundamentally sound! Solid! Plus, he'll never give anybody a problem off the court!"

So when ESPN's Exclamation Point Man was consulted for his opinion on the Sonics taking 6-foot-1, 167-pound point guard Luke Ridnour with the 14th selection of the first round, I almost expected Vitale to compare the dynamic playmaker with the late Pete Maravich, who was dishing out no-look passes in an era when a backdoor layup was considered the ultimate in crowd-wowing showmanship.

Instead, Vitale blasted the choice.

"I woulda went with Reece Gaines," he said, referring to the 6-6 point guard from Louisville. For the next 30 seconds, as the network replayed a succession of classic Ridnour passes, Vitale talked of how much he admired Gaines' game.

Then former Duke star Jay Bilas, a keen, articulate observer of basketball not known for using cheap shots to amuse a studio audience, joined in.

"All Ridnour can do is shoot. But he can't cover the chair I'm sitting in, and he can't even bench-press 180 pounds," said Bilas, whose comment was met by a chorus of disapproving jeers from the fans watching the telecast in New York's Madison Square Garden.

Point guards don't come prepackaged, but perhaps they are predestined. At least that's how Ernie Grunfeld, Milwaukee Bucks general manager, has heard it described.

"They say point guards aren't made," he said, "they're born."

If only it could be noted on a birth certificate. A box to be checked.

Boy or girl.

Point guard or not.

That would make it easier for scouts to separate the prospects from the pretenders in today's NBA draft.

Point guards usually are the shortest players on the court, but one of the biggest mysteries of any draft. There is no larger issue facing the Sonics today, as they hold two first-round picks and one glaring vacancy on the roster.

And on the 26th day (of June), Luke Ridnour will relax. At least he will kick back as much as one can, knowing the end of the day will bring events that will determine the future.

Golf? That's out. He couldn't, even if he were inclined. A week ago, he pulled a stomach muscle during a workout for the Milwaukee Bucks, so he'll simply be lying low up in the little town, Blaine, that spawned a cinch NBA first-round draft pick.

Ridnour, the Pac-10 player of the year from Oregon, has been enduring the repetitive grind of working out for 10 NBA teams in recent weeks, hopping on and off cross-country flights, trying to ease the doubts that would prevent him from being a lottery pick.

"I don't know if I'd recommend it to too many people in their lifetime," his father, Rob, said yesterday. "I can't imagine what he's going through. I'm a nervous wreck.

"It's not as much fun as I thought."

The Toronto Raptors are acting more and more like the team that will make the first major move in what is expected to be an active night of trades during tomorrow's NBA draft.

Officials from the Knicks and Raptors sat side-by-side for several hours yesterday working out prospects at the Knicks' training facility in Greenburgh. Although a deal between the Raptors and Knicks is unlikely, Toronto's presence in New York indicates the Raptors are strongly considering trading the fourth overall pick in the draft.

Why else would they be scouting players who are not regarded as candidates at No. 4?

"I don't think we know what we're going to do right now," said new Raptors coach Kevin O'Neill, a former Knicks assistant under Jeff Van Gundy. "There's a lot of things that could happen."

If Toronto keeps the fourth pick, it is expected to select Georgia Tech center Chris Bosh. However, there are rumors that the Raptors and Sonics are working on a deal that would consist of Seattle sending Vladimir Radmanovic and the No. 12 pick to Toronto for the fourth pick and another player.

Vladimir Radmanovic is in Seattle, just like he has been for the past three weeks as he prepares to play for the Sonics' summer-league team.

That's unlikely to change despite a report on ESPN.com yesterday that said he would be part of a trade to Toronto for the fourth pick in the NBA draft tomorrow.

The report said the Sonics were weighing a trade of Radmanovic, guard Brent Barry and the No. 12 overall pick to the Raptors for the No. 4 pick, center Michael Bradley and forward Jerome Williams.

As far as rumors go, it was a hot one. It also may be little more than hot air, since the first time the Sonics' front office heard about the proposed deal was reading it online yesterday.

David Bauman, Radmanovic's agent, had heard the rumor about his client going to the Raptors. Miami and Chicago have been other rumored destinations for Radmanovic.

Up until the weekend, the Seattle SuperSonics were having discussions with the Chicago Bulls about acquiring one of the Bulls' two point guards: Seattle native Jamal Crawford or Jay Williams, the second pick in the draft last season.

However, a motorcycle accident that has put Williams' career in jeopardy abruptly halted the discussions, leading both teams in new directions with the NBA draft looming on Thursday.

It is believed the Sonics were offering their 12th and 14th picks for one of the point guards, whom Chicago management believed could not play together in the same backcourt.

One source said that the Sonics were offering Vladimir Radmanovic, but a Sonics team source vehemently denied that Radmanovic was included in any of the discussions.

That is not to say, however, that Radmanovic has not been and will not be included in trade talks either in the next few days or when free agency begins July 1.

The uncertainty can be maddening for those who try to predict where each teenager, unknown prospect, college All-American and foreigner will land in Thursday's NBA draft.

To eliminate the ambiguity, Nate McMillan retreats to his office, turns off the lights and turns on the television and VCR. The Sonics' coach does what all coaches do: He watches and studies videotape.

He is a connoisseur of basketball footage, and anyone the Sonics select should share his passion, which is why McMillan invites draft prospects to sit with him in his office.

If they can watch old Sonics games and critically examine his team like he can, then the coach believes he may have found a gem in this draft that offers few guarantees.

"That's part of it, just talking to these guys and looking into their eyes," McMillan said. "Talking to them about their families. Every night we go through film sessions with the guys just to see how they think on the court.