The NBA has once again captured the imagination of Oklahomans.
The bouncing ping pong balls bounced in favor of the Seattle-soon-to-be-Oklahoma-City Sonics, and now, they have a chance to snag Kevin Durant or Greg Oden. Whichever player is left after the Portland Trail Blazers draft will be scooped up by the Sonics.
And won’t they be glad.
Won’t we be?
I suspect the Sonics’ good fortune in the draft lottery will delay their coming to Oklahoma City until at least 2008. There was a chance that the Clay Bennett-led ownership group would’ve pulled up stakes this summer and moved the team before the start of next season.
But now, the Sonics have a reason to stay in Seattle at least one more year. See how the locals around the Puget Sound react to Durant. (Here’s guessing the Blazers take Oden –check out this photo-shopped picture of him in a Portland jersey — though I’d hitch my wagon to Durant any day of the week.) If Durant’s ends up being as it looks like he will be, fans may go gah-gah over the Sonics. They may pack the Key. They may demand the Sonics stay.
They may even vote to build a new arena.
Here’s betting that doesn’t happen. Folks in Seattle seem apathetic about the Sonics. Putting forth the effort to build an arena and keep the team would go against the tendencies we’ve seen so far.
Thing is, they haven’t had the promise of Kevin Durant before.
Clay Bennett will want to see how this factors into the equation. That means Oklahoma City will have to wait on the Sonics until after Durant is named NBA Rookie of the Year.