subject: The Oklahoma City Thunder Tickets : Oklahoma City Did Not Make Any Major Moves In The Offseason [print this page] The Oklahoma City Thunder is a professional basketball franchise based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with their home arena at Oklahoma City's Ford Center. The Thunder's NBA Development League affiliate is the Tulsa 66ers, which it also owns. As of 2010, the Thunder are the only team in the Big Four North American sports leagues in the state of Oklahoma.
Formerly the Seattle SuperSonics, the Thunder were relocated in 2008 after a dispute between owner Clay Bennett and lawmakers in Seattle, Washington. As the Seattle SuperSonics, the club qualified for the NBA Playoffs 22 times, won its division six times and won the 1979 NBA Championship. In Oklahoma City, the team qualified for their first playoff berth during the 2009/2010 season.
The Thunder's previous incarnation, the Seattle SuperSonics, were formed in 1967. Early in their history they appeared in two consecutive Finals against the Washington Bullets (now Washington Wizards), losing in seven games in 1978 and winning in five in 1979. Seattle's victory remains the only modern era championship in major Seattle sports history.
During the course of the next decade, Seattle had moderate success until it drafted the duo of Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton in 1989 and 1990 respectively. Alongside Nate McMillan, coach George Karl and other notable players, the Sonics rose up among the rank of title contenders in the early 1990s. The team qualified for the playoffs every year between 1991 and 1998.
In the 1995/96 NBA season, the Sonics established the franchise mark for most wins, 64/18 (.720) and earned their third NBA Finals berth. Seattle met the record/setting 72/10 Chicago Bulls in the 1996 NBA Finals and lost in six games. The Sonics' fortunes slowly spiraled after that season, with most of the core retiring or departing from Seattle.
The next decade would not fare better as the franchise, aside from a surprising 2004/05 NBA season in which the Sonics won 52 games, disappointed with playoff futility. The Sonics drafted cornerstones Kevin Durant and Jeff Green in the 2007 NBA Draft. Despite their talent, the club endured the worst season in franchise history in the 2007/08 NBA season, losing a team/record 62 games.
In 41 years that the SuperSonics spent in Seattle, they compiled a 1,745/1,585 (.524) win/loss record in the regular season and 107/110 (.493) in the playoffs. The franchise's titles include three Western Conference championships and one NBA title.
After an inaugural season filled with many adjustments, the Thunder hoped to improve during their second season in Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City did not make any major moves in the offseason, other than drafting James Harden from Arizona State University with the 3rd overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft.
The Thunder selected Rodrigue Beaubois with the 25th pick in the 2009 draft, before immediately trading him to the Dallas Mavericks for the 24th pick, C Byron Mullens from Ohio State University. The team then added veterans C Etan Thomas and G Kevin Ollie. The last major change to their roster occurred on December 22, 2009 when the team traded for Eric Maynor from the Utah Jazz. Maynor immediately supplanted Ollie as the backup point guard.
From the outset, the young team looked determined and cohesive. The increasing leadership of Kevin Durant, along with the growing experience of the team's younger players, were encouraging signs that the Thunder were improving. The 2009/2010 season included several victories over the NBA's elite teams, including a 28 point blowout over the NBA Eastern Conference Champion Orlando Magic and a 16 point blowout of the reigning NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers.
Road victories over the San Antonio Spurs, Utah Jazz, the Miami Heat, the Boston Celtics, and the Dallas Mavericks greatly enhanced their reputation. Though they hovered around .500 for the first half of the season, they eventually went on a 9/game winning streak that set them into serious playoff contention. Kevin Durant became the youngest player in league history to win the scoring title, averaging 30.1 points per game while playing in all 82 games.
The Thunder finished 50/32, more than doubling their win total from last season. They finished fourth in the Northwest Division and eighth in the Western Conference playoff standings. They secured a spot in the 2010 NBA Playoffs, but lost to the defending/champion Los Angeles Lakers in the first round, 4 games to 2. On April 22, 2010 the team secured their first playoff win as the Oklahoma City Thunder when they defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 101/96. This was also the Thunder's first playoff win at the Ford Center.
Oklahoma City ranked twelfth in overall attendance in the NBA, and seventh in percentage of available seats occupied (98%, including 28 sellouts in 41 home games). The team's operating situation also continued to improve in 2009/2010. Forbes Magazine estimated the team's franchise value at $310 million (an increase of $10 million over the prior year) with a estimated operating profit of $12.7 million (the first operating profit in years for the franchise).
