Technically speaking, the Oklahoma City Thunder are the newest team in the NBA. Until 2008, they were known as the Seattle SuperSonics. In a hotly contested move, owner Clay Bennett bought out the SuperSonics’ lease with Seattle’s Key Arena, and moved the team to Oklahoma City. The Thunder will play their home games at the Ford Center. Their head coach is P.J. Carlesimo.

Early Years in Seattle

The Seattle SuperSonics were born in 1967. They suffered the typical growing pains of an NBA expansion franchise, winning only 23 games in their inaugural year. Led by future Hall of Fame point guard Lenny Wilkens, the team averaged 33 wins in its first seven seasons. Their best season during that stretch was the 1971-72 season, in which they won 47 games but failed to make the playoffs.

The Seattle SuperSonics made their first playoff appearance in the 1974-75 season, Bill Russell’s first as head coach. They beat Detroit in the first round before losing to the Golden State Warriors in the second round.

Championship

The Seattle SuperSonics posted a 52-30 record in the 1978-79 season. Led by Gus Williams, Dennis Johnson and center Jack Sikma, they beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs, four games to one. In the Western Conference finals, they beat the Phoenix Suns in seven games, advancing to the NBA Finals. The Sonics faced the Washington Bullets (now known as the Wizards) in the Finals, defeating them four games to one. It is, so far, the franchise’s only championship.

Karl, and Payton, and Kemp — oh, my!

After enjoying moderate success during the 1980s the Seattle SuperSonics developed into one of the NBA’s best teams for much of the 1990s. Three factors are largely credited for this development: the drafting of forward Shawn Kemp in 1989, the drafting of point guard Gary Payton in 1990, and the hiring of head coach George Karl in 1992.

Karl’s hiring boosted the Sonics from a playoff contender to a Western Conference powerhouse. In the 1992-93 season, the team posted 55 regular season wins and made it to the conference finals, where they lost to the Phoenix Suns, four games to three.

After first round losses in the following two seasons, the Sonics came roaring back. In 1995-96, the team won 64 regular season games. In the playoffs, they beat the Sacramento Kings, the Houston Rockets, and the Utah Jazz en route to their first NBA Finals appearance since the 1978-79 season.

Like the Utah Jazz and the Portland Trail Blazers, the Sonics had the misfortune of going against the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls. The Bulls won the series, four games to two, and despite continued success, the Sonics never made it to another Finals.

Shawn Kemp was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1997, George Karl left after the 1997-98 season, and Payton was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in the middle of the 2002-03 season.

2007-08 Season

In 2007, Sonics star shooting guard Ray Allen was traded to the Boston Celtics for three minor players. The Sonics drafted Texas scoring machine Kevin Durant the same year. Led by Durant, the Sonics won only 20 games in their last season in Seattle.

2008-09 Outlook

The Oklahoma City Thunder may have moved east, but they are still a member of the Western Conference. As such, a playoff berth is not a feasible goal for the Thunder. Rather, a 30- to 35-win season would be considered a successful campaign for the former Seattle SuperSonics.

Greatest Players

Fred Brown, Tom Chambers, Spencer Haywood,  Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton, Jack Sikma, Lenny Wilkens, Gus Williams

The Memphis Grizzlies were born in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1995. They, along with the Toronto Raptors, were part of both a National Basketball Association (NBA) expansion effort and an endeavor to spread professional hoops past its U.S. borders. While basketball seems to have taken hold in Toronto, it did not succeed in Vancover, and the Grizzlies moved to Memphis, Tenn., in 2001. They play their home games at the FedEx Forum. The team’s head coach is former NBA player Marc Iavaroni.

Early Years

The Vancouver Grizzlies entered the league at the same time as their brethren to the east (Toronto Raptors), but have never found similar success. As is the case with expansion teams, the Grizzlies were put together using two processes: the expansion draft (where players are chosen from various teams in the league) and the standard draft. The team’s first pick was Bryant “Big Country” Reeves, a big, classic back-to-the-basket center out of Oklahoma State. Although Reeves was a star in college, he was never better than average as a pro, and retired from the game in 2001. The Vancouver Grizzlies first season was typical for an expansion franchise; their 15-67 record was the worst in the NBA for the 1995-1996 season. They actually fared worse the following year, posting a 14-68 record. Things appeared to be looking up in 1997-98, when the team won 19 games, but the Vancouver Grizzlies only won eight games in the following lockout-shortened season. The Grizzlies drafted Maryland point guard Steve Francis in 1999, despite Francis repeatedly saying he would not go there. The guard forced the Grizzlies to make a three-team deal that sent Francis to the Houston Rockets. The team’s popularity dropped after the lockout, and this led to the Vancouver Grizzlies being moved to Memphis, Tenn., in 2001.

The Memphis Grizzlies

Several factors helped change the fortunes of the Memphis Grizzlies. First was the acquisition of star Spanish forward Pau Gasol, who had been drafted by the Atlanta Hawks. Next was the hiring of general manager Jerry West. A Hall-of-Fame player for the L.A. Lakers (the NBA logo bears his silhouette), West went on to enjoy a highly successful career as a personnel man for the Lakers. He was considered one of the league’s smartest judges of talent and a major coup for the Grizzlies, who were still seeking their first playoff appearance. Gasol’s acquisition and West’s hiring paid almost immediate dividends. In the 2002-03 season, the Memphis Grizzlies racked up 28 wins, the highest total in franchise history. They destroyed that record in the following campaign, winning 50 games and making their first playoff appearance. Had they been moved to the Eastern Conference, they might have had a better chance at advancing. But they faced the San Antonio Spurs in the first round and lost in four games. The following season, the Grizzlies posted a 45-37 record, good enough to make it to the playoffs again. This time they lost to the Phoenix Suns, in another four-game sweep. In the 2005-06 season, the Memphis Grizzlies won 49 games en route to a third straight playoff appearance. However, they ran into the Dallas Mavericks, who sent the Grizz to a third straight first round sweep. The Grizzlies finished 22-60 the following season, after which Jerry West resigned as general manager. Not only have the Memphis Grizzlies yet to win a first-round series, they have yet to win a single first round game.

2007-08 Season

The Trade That Shook The West took place during the 2007-08 season. Pau Gasol, the only All-Star in the history of the Memphis Grizzlies, was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for center Kwame Brown (considered a bust by most NBA personnel people) and other lower-tier players. While other Western Conference contenders scrambled to make trades of their own, the Grizzlies limped along to another 22-win season.

2008-09 Outlook

With so many competitive teams in the West, a successful season for the Grizzlies would be a record at or near .500. Without their best player, even 42 wins seems beyond their reach. The Grizzlies hope some high-flying offense from rookie O.J. Mayo will bring fans to the FedEx forum and add some wins to their record.