Last Updated on August 7, 2026 by Mat Diekhake
League Search Page > NBA > Seattle SuperSonics > Roster & Statistics
The 1988–89 Seattle SuperSonics relied on Xavier McDaniel and Dale Ellis as their primary scoring threats, while Derrick McKey contributed across the board with versatile scoring, rebounding, and defense. Nate McMillan controlled the offense as the lead playmaker and added strong defensive production, and Michael Cage dominated the boards. Seattle’s statistical profile reflected a balanced team built on rebounding, defensive activity, and multiple reliable scoring options rather than a single offensive focal point.
Roster
| No. | Player | Pos | Height | Weight | Age | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nate McMillan | G | 6’5″ | 175 lbs | 25 | North Carolina State |
| 2 | Xavier McDaniel | F | 6’6″ | 215 lbs | 27 | Wichita State |
| 3 | Michael Cage | F | 6’9″ | 225 lbs | 28 | San Diego State |
| 4 | Fred Brown | G | 6’3″ | 180 lbs | 40 | Iowa |
| 5 | James Bailey | F/C | 6’9″ | 220 lbs | 31 | Rutgers |
| 10 | Danny Vranes | F | 6’7″ | 210 lbs | 31 | Utah |
| 11 | John Lucas | G | 6’3″ | 170 lbs | 35 | Maryland |
| 20 | Wally Walker | F | 6’7″ | 215 lbs | 33 | Virginia |
| 21 | Sedale Threatt | G | 6’3″ | 185 lbs | 25 | West Virginia |
| 22 | Tom Chambers | F | 6’10” | 220 lbs | 29 | Utah |
| 31 | Jack Sikma | C | 6’11” | 230 lbs | 33 | Illinois Wesleyan |
| 32 | Al Wood | G/F | 6’6″ | 193 lbs | 30 | North Carolina |
| — | Bernie Bickerstaff | — | — | — | — | Head Coach |
Regular Season Per Game
| Player | Pos | Age | G | GS | MPG | PPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TOPG | FGA | FG% | 3PA | 3P% | FTA | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dale Ellis | SG | 28 | 82 | 82 | 38.9 | 27.5 | 4.2 | 2.0 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 2.7 | 20.9 | .501 | 4.1 | .478 | 5.6 | .816 |
| Derrick McKey | SF | 22 | 82 | 82 | 34.2 | 15.9 | 5.7 | 2.7 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 2.3 | 11.8 | .502 | 1.1 | .337 | 4.6 | .803 |
| Michael Cage | PF | 27 | 80 | 71 | 31.7 | 10.3 | 9.6 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 7.9 | .498 | 0.1 | .000 | 3.3 | .743 |
| Nate McMillan | PG | 24 | 75 | 74 | 31.2 | 7.1 | 5.2 | 9.3 | 2.1 | 0.6 | 2.8 | 6.5 | .410 | 0.9 | .214 | 2.5 | .630 |
| Xavier McDaniel | SF | 25 | 82 | 10 | 29.1 | 20.5 | 5.3 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 2.6 | 16.9 | .489 | 0.4 | .306 | 5.2 | .732 |
| Alton Lister | C | 30 | 82 | 82 | 22.0 | 8.0 | 6.6 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 1.4 | 6.6 | .499 | 0.0 | — | 2.2 | .646 |
| Sedale Threatt | PG | 27 | 63 | 0 | 19.4 | 8.6 | 1.9 | 3.8 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 7.6 | .494 | 0.5 | .367 | 1.2 | .818 |
| Jerry Reynolds | SG | 26 | 56 | 0 | 13.2 | 7.6 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 6.4 | .417 | 0.3 | .200 | 3.0 | .760 |
| John Lucas | PG | 35 | 74 | 8 | 11.4 | 4.2 | 1.1 | 3.5 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 4.0 | .398 | 0.9 | .265 | 1.0 | .701 |
| Russ Schoene | PF | 28 | 69 | 1 | 11.2 | 5.2 | 2.4 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 5.1 | .387 | 1.6 | .382 | 0.8 | .807 |
| Olden Polynice | C | 24 | 80 | 0 | 10.4 | 2.9 | 2.6 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 2.3 | .506 | 0.0 | .000 | 1.1 | .593 |
| Greg Ballard | SF | 34 | 2 | 0 | 7.5 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.0 | .125 | 0.5 | .000 | 2.0 | 1.000 |
| Avery Johnson | PG | 23 | 43 | 0 | 6.8 | 1.6 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 1.9 | .349 | 0.2 | .111 | 0.4 | .563 |
| Mike Champion | SF | 24 | 2 | 0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | .000 | 0.5 | .000 | 0.0 | — |
| Team Totals | — | — | 82 | 82 | 241.2 | 112.1 | 44.3 | 25.4 | 10.5 | 6.0 | 17.1 | 91.2 | .477 | 9.4 | .379 | 29.0 | .746 |
Playoff Per Game
| Player | Pos | Age | G | GS | MPG | PPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TOPG | FGA | FG% | 3PA | 3P% | FTA | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dale Ellis | SG | 28 | 8 | 8 | 38.0 | 22.9 | 4.0 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 0.1 | 2.6 | 20.0 | .450 | 4.6 | .405 | 4.1 | .727 |
| Derrick McKey | SF | 22 | 8 | 8 | 35.8 | 13.3 | 6.5 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 2.9 | 11.1 | .494 | 1.1 | .111 | 2.6 | .810 |
| Xavier McDaniel | SF | 25 | 8 | 8 | 35.1 | 18.8 | 8.4 | 2.8 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 2.8 | 18.0 | .403 | 1.1 | .333 | 5.1 | .756 |
| Sedale Threatt | PG | 27 | 8 | 1 | 25.1 | 12.0 | 1.6 | 6.1 | 2.1 | 0.0 | 1.4 | 10.3 | .476 | 0.5 | .250 | 2.5 | .850 |
| Nate McMillan | PG | 24 | 8 | 7 | 25.0 | 6.8 | 3.1 | 7.9 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 2.4 | 5.0 | .475 | 0.3 | .000 | 3.1 | .640 |
| Michael Cage | PF | 27 | 8 | 0 | 21.9 | 7.1 | 5.8 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 5.0 | .600 | 0.1 | .000 | 2.8 | .409 |
| Olden Polynice | C | 24 | 8 | 0 | 20.3 | 7.1 | 7.8 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 5.1 | .610 | 0.0 | — | 1.6 | .538 |
| Alton Lister | C | 30 | 8 | 8 | 20.0 | 7.0 | 4.8 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 2.6 | 1.1 | 4.9 | .436 | 0.0 | — | 3.3 | .846 |
| Russ Schoene | PF | 28 | 3 | 0 | 14.3 | 4.3 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5.7 | .235 | 2.3 | .000 | 2.0 | .833 |
| Jerry Reynolds | SG | 26 | 4 | 0 | 10.0 | 5.5 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 5.5 | .318 | 1.0 | .250 | 2.5 | .700 |
| John Lucas | PG | 35 | 4 | 0 | 9.3 | 2.8 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 4.3 | .294 | 0.8 | .000 | 0.5 | .500 |
| Avery Johnson | PG | 23 | 6 | 0 | 5.2 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | .417 | 0.7 | .000 | 0.3 | .500 |
| Team Totals | — | — | 8 | 8 | 30.0 | 102.0 | 43.8 | 23.3 | 8.6 | 7.5 | 15.8 | 87.9 | .454 | 10.0 | .263 | 27.6 | .710 |
Regular Season Totals
| Player | Pos | Age | G | GS | MIN | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | FGA | FGM | 3PA | 3PM | FTA | FTM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dale Ellis | SG | 28 | 82 | 82 | 3190 | 2253 | 342 | 164 | 108 | 22 | 218 | 1710 | 857 | 339 | 162 | 462 | 377 |
| Derrick McKey | SF | 22 | 82 | 82 | 2804 | 1305 | 464 | 219 | 105 | 70 | 188 | 970 | 487 | 89 | 30 | 375 | 301 |
| Michael Cage | PF | 27 | 80 | 71 | 2536 | 825 | 765 | 126 | 92 | 52 | 124 | 630 | 314 | 4 | 0 | 265 | 197 |
| Xavier McDaniel | SF | 25 | 82 | 10 | 2385 | 1677 | 433 | 134 | 84 | 40 | 210 | 1385 | 677 | 36 | 11 | 426 | 312 |
| Nate McMillan | PG | 24 | 75 | 74 | 2341 | 532 | 388 | 696 | 156 | 42 | 211 | 485 | 199 | 70 | 15 | 189 | 119 |
| Alton Lister | C | 30 | 82 | 82 | 1806 | 657 | 545 | 54 | 28 | 180 | 117 | 543 | 271 | 0 | 0 | 178 | 115 |
| Sedale Threatt | PG | 27 | 63 | 0 | 1220 | 544 | 117 | 238 | 83 | 4 | 77 | 476 | 235 | 30 | 11 | 77 | 63 |
| John Lucas | PG | 35 | 74 | 8 | 842 | 310 | 79 | 260 | 60 | 1 | 66 | 299 | 119 | 68 | 18 | 77 | 54 |
| Olden Polynice | C | 24 | 80 | 0 | 835 | 233 | 206 | 21 | 37 | 30 | 46 | 180 | 91 | 2 | 0 | 86 | 51 |
| Russ Schoene | PF | 28 | 69 | 1 | 774 | 358 | 165 | 36 | 37 | 24 | 48 | 349 | 135 | 110 | 42 | 57 | 46 |
| Jerry Reynolds | SG | 26 | 56 | 0 | 737 | 428 | 100 | 62 | 53 | 26 | 57 | 357 | 149 | 15 | 3 | 167 | 127 |
| Avery Johnson | PG | 23 | 43 | 0 | 291 | 68 | 24 | 73 | 21 | 3 | 18 | 83 | 29 | 9 | 1 | 16 | 9 |
| Greg Ballard | SF | 34 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Mike Champion | SF | 24 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | — | — | 82 | 82 | 19780 | 9196 | 3635 | 2083 | 864 | 494 | 1381 | 7478 | 3564 | 774 | 293 | 2379 | 1775 |
Playoff Totals
| Player | Pos | Age | G | GS | MIN | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | FGA | FGM | 3PA | 3PM | FTA | FTM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dale Ellis | SG | 28 | 8 | 8 | 304 | 183 | 32 | 10 | 11 | 1 | 21 | 160 | 72 | 37 | 15 | 33 | 24 |
| Derrick McKey | SF | 22 | 8 | 8 | 286 | 106 | 52 | 18 | 6 | 15 | 23 | 89 | 44 | 9 | 1 | 21 | 17 |
| Xavier McDaniel | SF | 25 | 8 | 8 | 281 | 150 | 67 | 22 | 2 | 5 | 22 | 144 | 58 | 9 | 3 | 41 | 31 |
| Sedale Threatt | PG | 27 | 8 | 1 | 201 | 96 | 13 | 49 | 17 | 0 | 11 | 82 | 39 | 4 | 1 | 20 | 17 |
| Nate McMillan | PG | 24 | 8 | 7 | 200 | 54 | 25 | 63 | 10 | 5 | 19 | 40 | 19 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 16 |
| Michael Cage | PF | 27 | 8 | 0 | 175 | 57 | 46 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 40 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 9 |
| Olden Polynice | C | 24 | 8 | 0 | 162 | 57 | 62 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 41 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 7 |
| Alton Lister | C | 30 | 8 | 8 | 160 | 56 | 38 | 2 | 2 | 21 | 9 | 39 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 22 |
| Russ Schoene | PF | 28 | 3 | 0 | 43 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 5 |
| Jerry Reynolds | SG | 26 | 4 | 0 | 40 | 22 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 22 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 7 |
| John Lucas | PG | 35 | 4 | 0 | 37 | 11 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Avery Johnson | PG | 23 | 6 | 0 | 31 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Team Totals | — | — | 8 | 8 | 1920 | 816 | 350 | 186 | 69 | 60 | 124 | 703 | 319 | 80 | 21 | 221 | 157 |
HeatingUp Impact Index: Team Impact Spotlight
| Player Name | Role Tier | MPG | Usage Tier | PPG | RPG | APG | STK | Impact Index* | Notes | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dale Ellis | Primary Scorer | 38.9 | High | 27.5 | 4.2 | 2.0 | 1.6 | 17.65 | Go-to scoring option; high-volume shooter with excellent efficiency; strong perimeter threat | AS, NBA3 |
| Xavier McDaniel | Secondary Scorer | 29.1 | High | 20.5 | 5.3 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 14.75 | Power forward with scoring versatility; excelled in transition; strong slashing ability | 6MOY-5 |
| Derrick McKey | Wing Facilitator | 34.2 | Medium | 15.9 | 5.7 | 2.7 | 2.2 | 13.15 | Versatile small forward; reliable secondary scorer and solid defender; good spacing | |
| Michael Cage | Defensive Anchor | 31.7 | Medium | 10.3 | 9.6 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 11.7 | Key rebounder and interior defender; consistent rim protector; low usage offensively | |
| Nate McMillan | Primary Playmaker | 31.2 | High | 7.1 | 5.2 | 9.3 | 2.7 | 12.15 | Floor general; high assist numbers, defensive-minded; often initiates offense from PG | |
| Alton Lister | Role Rim Protector | 22.0 | Low | 8.0 | 6.6 | 0.7 | 2.5 | 8.9 | Veteran center; defensive and rebounding specialist; limited offensive involvement | |
| Sedale Threatt | Secondary Playmaker | 19.4 | Medium | 8.6 | 1.9 | 3.8 | 1.4 | 7.85 | Backup point guard; provides scoring punch off the bench; steady ball handler | |
| Jerry Reynolds | Spot Scorer | 13.2 | Low | 7.6 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 6.95 | Bench shooting guard; contributes in bursts; decent perimeter threat | |
| John Lucas | Veteran Backup PG | 11.4 | Low | 4.2 | 1.1 | 3.5 | 0.8 | 4.8 | Experienced point guard; situational playmaker; limited scoring | |
| Russ Schoene | Floor Stretch PF | 11.2 | Low | 5.2 | 2.4 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 4.95 | Small forward/power forward; spot shooting role; limited defensive impact | |
| Olden Polynice | Reserve Center | 10.4 | Low | 2.9 | 2.6 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 3.4 | Young backup center; minor minutes; provides occasional rim protection | |
| Greg Ballard | Veteran Reserve | 7.5 | Very Low | 3.0 | 3.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.25 | Limited role in rotation; veteran presence; minimal on-court impact | |
| Avery Johnson | Situational PG | 6.8 | Very Low | 1.6 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 2.05 | Third-string PG; primarily used for situational play; small contribution | |
| Mike Champion | Fringe Bench SF | 2.0 | Very Low | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Minimal playing time; negligible impact |