He was on the bubble all last season and coming into this season things did not seem any better.  Now, with the Sonics a lock for the playoffs and Nate McMillan a strong candidate for ?Coach of the Year? the Seattle Supersonics must now start negotiates to keep a man simply nicknamed, ?Mr. Sonic.?

?It is different,? Coach McMillan said. ?You finished the regular season, which is what we talked about as the ?end of the year.? When I talked about the end of the year, that is regular season. What did you do with the regular season? You made the playoffs. Is that what you want to go off of?

?If we didn?t make the playoffs, the end of the year is when we would talk (and management would say), ?You didn?t make the playoffs. You are 33-49 or whatever and they are not bringing you back.?