Top 50 Oklahoma City Thunder
This could actually change very quickly.At present, the Oklahoma City Thunder own the history of the Seattle SuperSonics but should Seattle get a franchise back, it would be a shared history and make this all very confusing.
Let’s cross that bridge if we come to it!
The Seattle SuperSonics would enter the National Basketball Association as an expansion team in the 1967-68 season and by the mid-’70s the team became pretty good. The Sonics would go to the NBA Finals in 1978 in a losing effort against the Washington Bullets. They would meet the Bullets again in the Finals in 1979, however, the result was different as this time the boys from the Emerald City took the title, which to date is the only one in franchise history.
Seattle would reemerge as a league power in the 1990s and in 1996, led by eventual Hall of Famer, Gary Payton would go back to the Finals only to lose to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. Good seasons would still follow, but like in the cases of so many other teams, the decline would come and blame would also fall on the facility. This would lead to relocation to Oklahoma City.
With Kevin Durant in tow, the now named Oklahoma City Thunder would reach the 2012 NBA Finals and while they lost to the Miami Heat, there was still hope for a championship in the future, though with the loss of Durant to free agency to the Golden State Warriors, the light has certainly dimmed. It would fall even further after Russell Westbrook left.
This list is up to the end of the 2022/23 season.
Note: Basketball lists are based on an amalgamation of tenure, traditional statistics, advanced statistics, playoff statistics and post-season accolades.
Dubbed “Heavy D”, Small Forward, Derrick McKey was considered by many to be a consummate team player. A good defensive player, McKey would put together three straight seasons for the SuperSonics where he averaged over 15 Points per Game. The former SEC Player of the Year was a popular figure in Seattle and loved for his consistent game and while he would be named to a pair of Second Team All-Defensive squads with the Indiana…
“Big Smooth”, “Sleepy” Sam Perkins did not arrive to Seattle as the player he once was with Dallas and the Lakers but he was still a very efficient player and would evolve into an excellent bench player for the Sonics. He would provide a veteran presence to a very good Seattle front court and was a key contributor come playoff time.
Dick Snyder would have the most productive years of his professional career as a member of the Seattle SuperSonics. Snyder would have three seasons where he had over 15 PPG and would later return to Seattle where he would off the bench help them to their only NBA Title. Not a bad way to end your professional career!
An All-Star in 1991 with Philadelphia, Hawkins joined the SuperSonics after being traded from the Charlotte Hornets in 1995. Hawkins would play in Seattle for four years and would average 15.6 Points per Game in his first year as a Sonic, which would also see him help the team reach the NBA Finals.
Before we talk about the on the court accomplishments of Michael Cage, I absolutely love the fact that his two nicknames are “John Shaft” and the “Windexman”. Seriously, it doesn’t get much cooler than that.
With the Seattle SuperSonics for five of his 16 years in the NBA, Tom Chambers was a workhorse for the club.
From Ontario, Canada, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a promising rookie season (2018-19) when he played for the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers were going for it all, and dealt the young Canadian in a package to OKC for Paul George, and it allowed Gilgeous-Alexander to show what type of player he could be. Gilgeous-Alexander inflated his PPG from his rookie year in L.A. from 10.8 to 19.0, while his PER also jumped from 13.4 to 17.7. While he…
One of the first stars of the Seattle SuperSonics, Bob Rule was a scoring machine and the first option in the franchise’s early days. Granted, the team was not very good, but Rule would average a double-double in his four years plus in Seattle, finishing as high 24.6 Points per Game in his final full season with Seattle. He would go to the 1970 All Star Game.
Arguably the most productive time of Ricky Pierce’s career was the time he spent with the Seattle SuperSonics where he spent the bulk of his time as the starting Shooting Guard. Pierce would be named to his only All Star Team in the year he was traded from Milwaukee to Seattle and would average a very healthy 18.5 Points Per Game tally as a Sonic.
It seems like a lifetime ago doesn’t it? James Harden was the third overall pick in the 2009 Draft and the first ever pick for the Oklahoma City Thunder. In his third year, Harden would a beast off of the bench and essentially formed a young “big three” with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. This unit was so good that they took OKC to the NBA Finals and while they lost the 2012 Finals there…
Lonnie Shelton would lead the NBA in Personal Fouls in his first two years in the league when he was with the New York Knicks, but he had much more control in his third season, where he went to the Seattle SuperSonics and was the starting Power Forward for the 1979 NBA Championship Team. Shelton was very good defensively and would be named to a Second Team All Defensive roster in 1982, which was the…
No, this isn’t a misprint.Enes Kanter would play 180 Games for the Oklahoma City Thunder, and he was never close to being an All-Star but the Turkish Center has put out the most efficient production of his career while playing in OKC. Kanter’s PERin OKC was 24.1 with a True Shooting Percentage of .612. Also a solid rebounder, Kanter would lead the NBA in 2015/16 in Offensive Rebound Percentage. Kanter was not a starter but…
From the nation of Switzerland, Thabo Sefolosha would spend five seasons and change with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Sefolosha was known mostly for his defensive skills putting up good numbers in Steals and was named to a Second Team All Defensive squad for the 2009-10 season. His defense was a nice counter to the offensive minded teammates that he had.
Earning a shot with the Seattle SuperSonics due to his Xavier Head Coach being the cousin of Sonics Coach, Bill Russell, Donald “Slick” Watts went from undrafted to the National Basketball Association. Watts would eventually become a starter and a defensive star and in the 1975-76 season he would lead the league in Steals and Assists.
While Vin Baker is one of those players who is often associated with wasting his potential due to substance abuse, the fact remains that this was a very good player who had some good seasons, one of which was with the Seattle SuperSonics.
Jim Fox was a journeyman for sure. He began his professional career with Real Madrid in the Spanish League, following it with stints in R.C. Mechelen (Belgium), Cincinnati, Detroit, Phoenix, Chicago (Cincinnati again) before he got to Seattle. He would spend three seasons with the Sonics and while he bounced around as much as a basketball, his first season in Seattle saw him average a double-double and almost did so again in his second season. …
Tom Burleson was not in the NBA for long and he only spent three seasons (his first) with the Seattle SuperSonics, however he quietly put together some very good traditional and advanced numbers while he was there. The Center from North Carolina State (he would help the Wolfpack win the NCAA Title) would make the All Rookie Team and in his second year would average 15.6 Points and 9 Rebounds per Game while posting a…
Criminally underrated, Ruben Patterson played only two seasons for the Seattle SuperSonics where he had two offensive seasons over eleven Points per Game. In terms of advanced metrics, his best two years were with Seattle, where he had his best season in terms of PER, Win Shares and VORP. Patterson would have a better overall run in Portland, but his best 82 Game run was with Seattle.
A member of the Seattle SuperSonics for three and a half seasons, Sedale Threatt was used mostly off of the bench, though he would take over the starting role in his last season in the Emerald City. Threatt was an underrated player and he finished with a PER of 16.6 as a Sonic, the highest he would do with any team. He would later be traded to the Lakers where he would be their starter…
Antonio Daniels played for Seattle for two of his thirteen seasons in the NBA, where he was used as a backup Point Guard. It was actually in Seattle where he had has largest PPG (9.7) and had his only 10 Points per Game Season. It is certainly worth noting that his two best PER seasons were with the Sonics, posting numbers of 19.7 ad 18.0 respectively.