I really enjoyed watching them too. Thought they had a great chance to win it all in 94 and 95 when Jordan was playing baseball but they never could get out of the west.
In fact, the Sonics matched up great (Kenny Smith admits this as well) against the Rockets who won it all in both 94 and 95 but the way the seedings/upsets played out the Rockets were able to avoid playing the Sonics both years .
Loved the NBA back then!