Upcoming Match-ups
Tmrw
17
Aug
4:05 PM
BOS
WAS
-188
+160
7:15 PM
NYM
STL
-120
+100
7:15 PM
DET
CLE
-118
+100
9:40 PM
ARI
SD
-118
-105
10:10 PM
MIL
LAD
+120
-140
Monday
21
Aug
7:20 PM
NYM
ATL
--
--
8:10 PM
SEA
CHW
--
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  • NBA Championships: 1
  • Last NBA Championship: 1979
  • Claim to Fame: Former teammates Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook have all won NBA MVP honors
  • Claim to Shame: The Thunder traded Harden and let Durant leave via free agency.

The franchise, formerly the Seattle Supersonics, was sold to Clay Bennett and relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008.

The wheels were in motion to prominence in their new locale, as the Sonics, in their final year, drafted a budding young star named Kevin Durant. The next season, the team drafted UCLA product Russell Westbrook, and in 2009 they drafted Arizona State star James Harden.

Just two years later, that core found itself in the NBA Finals against the LeBron James-led Miami Heat. While they had moments, OKC eventually fell in five.

It was the last game Durant, Westbrook and Harden would play together.

That summer, cap concerns led OKC to deal Harden to Houston. The duo of Westbrook and Durant played on, and in 2015, the pair had Golden State on the ropes in the Conference Finals, but blew a 3-1 lead in the series to lose in seven.

That summer, Durant signed with those same Warriors.

Down to one superstar, Westbrook became a one-man wrecking crew, becoming the first player since Oscar Robertson in 1961-62 to average a triple double for a season. However, the Thunder were bounced in the first round by the Rockets.

Last season, the organization worked to get him the help he needed to compete for a title. They landed All-Star Paul George in a trade with Indiana, and Carmelo Anthony in a deal with the Knicks.

Westbrook again averaged a triple-double for the season, but the team was ousted in the first round, this time by the Utah Jazz.

This year, OKC made big commitments to come back stronger, inking George to an extension, while moving on from Anthony. They made a trade to bring in point guard Dennis Schroeder from Atlanta and took a flier on young but uber-athletic big man Nerlens Noel.

They’re in a loaded West, but OKC has the makings of a title contender if everything breaks right this season.

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