Seattle Supersonics guard Ray Allen will make his regular season debut tonight at home against the Phoenix Suns.

He probably won't start but that doesn't matter to him now.

"It doesn't really matter," Allen said. "I know eventually I will work my way into the starting lineup. At this point, it is time for me to get back in the lineup and give the team a boost. However I can do that, I am looking forward to it."

Allen has missed the team's first 25 games due to surgery on Nov 1 to remove a loose particle from his right ankle.

Are the Seattle Supersonics looking to make a deal that involves Ronald "Flip" Murray? It sure sounds like a possibility.

Said one GM: "They (the Sonics) could dump some of those bad contracts if they parted with Murray."

Sonics general manager Rick Sund acknowledged that Murray could be packaged with less-desirable players (We are guessing a big contract like Vitaly Potapenko and/or Jerome James).

However, Sund sounds hesitant to make a move.

"The worst thing we could do is move too soon," he said.

Seattle guard Ray Allen will return to practice today.

However, he warns that it's not going to automatically get the team more wins.

"Just because I'm out there, that doesn't mean we'll win more games," he cautioned yesterday. "I hope it does. But this is a different team than last year. ... There's no guarantees."

SEATTLE (AP) SuperSonics forward Rashard Lewis strained his left shoulder but is expected to play Tuesday night at Phoenix.

Lewis was injured in Sunday's win over Milwaukee. He didn't practice Monday after scoring 10 points and four rebounds in 25 minutes, then missing most of the second half against the Bucks.

There was some soreness Monday but doctors told Lewis there's little reason for concern.

``They said as long as it hasn't slipped out of place, it should be fine,'' Lewis said. ``If it comes all the way out, that's when we have to be worried. It's just kind of moving around right now.''

Lewis, who is averaging 19.8 points and scored 50 in a victory over the Los Angeles Clippers this season, has been bothered by a sore left shoulder during his six NBA seasons.

He didn't need surgery when the shoulder flared up during the preseason in 2002. The previous spring, however, he was forced out of Seattle's playoff series against San Antonio when he partially dislocated it.

Team officials didn't know if the injury will heal on its own or whether surgery might be needed eventually.

``I'm always concerned,'' general manager Rick Sund said. ``He's always been working to strengthen the ligaments. He doesn't want to have surgery.''

Lewis said the shoulder ``slipped'' during a game last week in New Jersey but ``it went away two minutes later.'' The soreness returned early in the third quarter Sunday against the Bucks, though Lewis felt he could have returned.

Seattle Supersonics guard Ray Allen is on the way back after surgery to remove a bone spur in his right ankle.

"By the end of the week, I want to be practicing," Allen said.

Seattle Supersonics guard Ray Allen could return to practice today.

"He's not expected to participate in team-oriented drills and won't be subjected to physical contact, but he should be able to take part in shooting drills."

According to the sources, the essence of McMillan's message was this: "Forget the owner. Forget the CEO. Forget the general manager. From now on, we are doing things my way. I am not here to develop players who don't deserve playing time. I am here to win. I am going to give minutes to the players who earn their minutes. I am going to play the guys who played like I played: hard, scrappy, defense-first."
McMillan, Sonics CEO Wally Walker and general manager Rick Sund convened last Tuesday evening, sources confirmed, to clear the air and to try to get back to some semblance of unification.

SEATTLE (AP) Ronald Murray started the season as an NBA sensation, an unlikely star who put together a slew of high-scoring games while grabbing plenty of ``Who Is This Guy?'' headlines.

So why wasn't he upset when Seattle SuperSonics coach Nate McMillan benched him?

Murray said it's because he understands he remains a novice, no matter how well he's played during his first real opportunity to prove himself in the league.

``I'm still just learning the game,'' said Murray, a second-year guard who's averaging 20.1 points this season, the same as Shaquille O'Neal. ``Knowing when to take a shot and when not to, stuff like that. I've just started playing. I'm not a vet. It's going to come along, slowly but surely.''

Despite his eye-opening start, Murray was grounded last weekend when McMillan replaced him with Antonio Daniels in the starting lineup against the Houston Rockets.

``He's been professional all along in the way he played when he was given the opportunity and in the way he has played and responded to being brought off the bench,'' McMillan said.

``I like what I see. He knows he'll get his opportunities to play.''

The 6-foot-4 Murray is a little-known scoring guard from Division II Shaw College in Raleigh, N.C., who seized his big chance when All-Star teammate Ray Allen went down with an injury.

He answers to Ronald but prefers to go by his nickname, Flip. A friend joked with him that he resembled one of the characters in a movie they saw together, and the nickname stuck.

``I got it from a movie, 'Above the Rim,''' Murray said.

Being benched didn't dash Murray's hopes, since his NBA career could be viewed as good fortune in its own right. His arrival from Milwaukee in the Allen-for-Gary Payton trade was another good break.

``I thought it might be a chance for me,'' said Murray, thrown into the deal along with Kevin Ollie to make the salaries match. ``I knew I wasn't going to get a chance to play in Milwaukee.''

In 14 games last season with the Bucks and Sonics, Murray scored 27 points.

He drew raves from scouts, though, for his summer-league play. Then with Allen sidelined by ankle surgery, Murray opened the regular season by scoring at least 20 points in 10 of Seattle's first 11 games.

His name instantly was listed among the NBA scoring leaders, right up with Tracy McGrady and Kevin Garnett. Murray became a fixture on highlight shows, though he's tried not to notice.

``I haven't been paying a lot of attention to myself, which is good,'' Murray said. ``I can't let that interfere with what I'm trying to do on the basketball court: Stay focused and play hard, and play within the team concept.''

McMillan began to have concerns after Murray committed 28 turnovers during a recent seven-game stretch. And lately, Murray's defense has been soft and his shot selection questionable.

Murray also was receiving more attention from defenders, and his scoring average started to drop.

``He had a lot of success early,'' McMillan said. ``He has to learn this game. That's what he's doing. No one can really tell him how to handle the situation he was put in. It's a learning process.''

Murray has accepted his new role with the same indifferent expression he wore when questions were flying at him about his spectacular start.

``It's not going to change my game,'' he said with a shrug. ``I came out here and showed people I could play, that I could score. It's just a different mind-set for me. My focus is defense now.''

McMillan heard about Murray three years ago from his brother, Randy, who lives in North Carolina. The Sonics coach saw that Murray could score, and now he wants to see some defense.

``He has to play. He has to learn,'' McMillan said. ``I told him I know he can give it to us on both ends of the floor.''

Murray has said since the season began that the Sonics remain Allen's team, and he knew he'd go back to the bench eventually. If he stays with the second unit, at least the Sonics maintain some scoring off the bench.

``I'd rather go into it knowing there's more I can learn,'' Murray said. ``That way, when it's time for us to go into the playoffs, I know I'll be sharp. I'll be ready.''

Before the Knicks' 95-87 loss to the Sonics last night, sources said the Blazers have tried to pry Doleac from the Knicks, who are looking for a backup shooting guard.

"Since July we've said we're trying to improve the character of the team," Blazer GM John Nash said yesterday.

If Dr. Richard Ferkel gives the OK today, Ray Allen will fly with the team to Toronto and practice with the Sonics at the Air Canada Centre on Saturday afternoon, his first workout in nearly six weeks.

"I'm going down there to hear this doctor tell me that I'm ready to get back on the court," said Allen, who has missed every game this season since undergoing surgery to remove a bone fragment from his right ankle. "That's what I'm going to hear. Anything less than that, then I'm going to be disappointed."