There's No SuperSonic Booms in OK City, Only Thunder

With the drama of the move from Seattle to Oklahoma City aside, the near future looks quite bleak in the win column for the newly-named Thunder. Besides the talented Kevin Durant as the leader of an extremely young NBA squad, there is much to be desired for greatly talented veterans in their prime, but there is hope.

The aforementioned Durant will most certainly improve, having adapted somewhat to the haste of the NBA schedule and the residual pointing that the body can take. He also gained the knowledge and short wisdom of playing the shooting guard exclusively in the prior season, something that he was unaccustomed to doing full-time in prior amateur years at 6'10". Jeff Green will be counted on as well, using his versatility as a combo forward to take advantage of good matchups and he pairs favorably with veteran forwards Chris Wilcox and Nick Collison. Rookies D.J. White and Russell Westbrook also figure to be significant members of the team, with White providing even more depth at the power forward position and the former UCLA guard looking to supplant Earl Watson as the starting point guard.

And then, of course, is the Thunder's three-headed monstrosity that was carried over from the Seattle SuperSonics in Robert Swift, Johan Petro and Mouhamed Saer Sene. All standing at least seven feet tall, their potential has largely been unfulfilled for both very understandable and mysterious reasons. For Swift, having been a high school prospect that immediately jumped to the NBA as a 2004 lottery pick, his development was halted by his extremely thin body, then a terrible ACL injury, and then the setbacks from the injury that were ignited by his adding 40 pounds of muscle, which halted his recovery. Petro, a Frenchman and a first-round selection in 2005, really doesn't have much of an excuse beyond his youth and general inexperience; he hasn't really gotten much better in the three years that he spent with Seattle and needs to really be more consistent, but playing for losing teams doesn't always help either. In Sene's case, he was a top-ten pick in the 2006 NBA Draft on potential alone, but clearly didn't have the skills to play immediately, once he stepped on the floor; the Senegalese young man will be playing for a second contract this season, but he has already established himself as a quasi-defense presence with his knack for blocking shots.

For Desmond Mason, the old man of the roster as an original selection of the SuperSonics in the 2000 NBA Draft, is coming home to play for his hometown fans. Having played in Oklahoma City as a collegiate star at Oklahoma State, then having played with the New Orleans Hornets when they were relocated to Oklahoma City for two seasons, Mason is making his third career trip to the Midwestern state as a hometown star. He projects to be a community ambassador of sorts for his teammates in the new city for the franchise.

Don't expect too much from the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008-09, but with the young talent, a smart front office and a riled-up fan base, the Thunder won't be expected to be mincemeat.