Once the upheaval from the coaching change settles, Vitaly Potapenko said he will ask the Sonics for a trade, perhaps as early as next week when the team returns from its five-game trip.

Since new coach Bob Hill, who replaced Bob Weiss on Tuesday, has decided to reserve minutes at center for Johan Petro and Robert Swift, Potapenko believes his services are no longer needed in Seattle.

"I'm not going to lie, I'm not happy," he said. "I still want to play. It's not like I'm 35 years old. But he's the coach. It's his decision, and I'll see how it goes.

"If the team doesn't need me, I don't want to be here. It's nothing personal. They have two young centers, and I think they should develop them and develop them by playing.

But we'll see how it goes. It's just so many changes right now. They got rid of the head coach. They got rid of Mateen [Cleaves]. There's a lot of changes right now."