Sonics May Open the 1990-91 NBA Season in Japan

The Seattle SuperSonics are one of several teams being considered to open the 1990-91 National Basketball Association regular season with a series of games in Japan.

“Nothing is confirmed, but we’ve been discussing it with the people over there (in Japan),” NBA vice president Brian McIntyre said. “We’re not even sure what teams, but obviously we’d rather the teams were from the West Coast because of the time zones. And we’d like it to be next year.”

Sonics President Bob Whitsitt confirmed some discussion has taken place, and he won’t stand in the way. The Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers also have been mentioned.

“It’s really not our say -- it’s an NBA deal going along with the international trend,” Whitsitt said. “They told us they were working on the possibility of playing a couple of regular-season games and we were being considered.”

The past three years, the NBA has been involved in international play during the exhibition season. The Milwaukee Bucks played host to the first international exhibition in 1987, the Boston Celtics went to Spain the fall of 1988, and the Denver Nuggets toured Italy this past October.

“Let’s just say we’re working on it,” McIntyre said. “I don’t know how far it has gotten, but it’s something we’d like to do some time down the road.”

The Sonics signed guard Jim Farmer to a second 10-day contract Thursday, and placed guard Sedale Threatt on the injured-reserve list.

Farmer, originally signed Jan. 21 to replace Dale Ellis on the roster, has played in just two games and scored four points. But the 6-foot-4 streak shooter became a necessity on the roster when Threatt broke his right hand in a Jan. 27 game against San Antonio and will be out from four to six weeks.

“We re-signed Jim because he’s been through a lot of practices with us, a couple of games, and we still have the open roster spot,” Whitsitt said. “We’re looking for a CBA player with a little more NBA experience (than Farmer) who can stick the open jumper.”

Conner Henry, now playing with Rapid City and averaging better than 20 points a game, fits the description better than most. Originally a fourth-round pick in 1986 by the Houston Rockets, the 6-7 Henry, 26, has played with the Rockets, the Boston Celtics and the Sacramento Kings.

“We’re still looking,” Whitsitt said. “A deal just doesn’t seem like it will work. Everybody we talked to wants a player, the Space Needle, and everything else they can get their hands on because they know we’re down. We can’t do that and in a month have Dale and Sedale come back with this other guy around.”

Farmer, by the way, on Feb. 11 will be finished with the Sonics unless they sign him for the rest of the season. A team can sign a player to just two 10-day contracts.