And Lo a Savior was born: The Great NW Revival.

Savior: a person who helps people achieve Salvation, or saves them from something

You want a nickname for our new player, be it Durant or Oden I call them The Savior. A chance to save this franchise, save basketball in this town, and make things interesting once again. It feels damn near biblical and I like it a lot.

Already today the impact is noticeable. Hoopshype.com features multiple stories regarding the Sonics covering everything from potential Rashard Lewis trades to the options of building a roster around Kevin Durant. The level of conversation is simply incredibly.

Roster building becomes an interesting concept as a decision must be made regarding Durant and Lewis’ ability to co-exist on the floor. I have long been of the mindset that Lewis would flourish if surrounded by an “alpha male”. He has needed player who just demanded to win and demonstrated the exact aggression that Durant possesses. Whether that alpha male can have such a similar game to Rashard’s is debatable.

Plenty of other gossip out there today. In celebration of the lottery victory Sonics owner Clayton Bennett made a point to visit Kansas City and comment on its viability as a marketplace for the team.

Let me say right now that I’ve been a supporter of Bennet’s but my patience is wearing thin. This ownership group has a good faith clause that reportedly extends to October 31, 2007. They are acting like the legislative session in April was the extent of their obligation. I highly encourage people to contact Bennett at newowners@speakeasy.net. Also feel free to write Tim Ceis at tim.ceis@seattle.gov and let him know that he will pay a significant price if he allows the team to negotiate any type of out from their existing Key Arena lease. It is important right now that we provide as much time as possible for a solution to arise and letting them out after this year would be unforgivable.

Kansas City has been in this mix since day one. For those that know me I have said off the record that I always thought it was the most likely relocation destination. At the opening night festivities it was pretty bluntly stated to me that any assumption of OKC as a destination was ignoring the appeal of Seattle(with a new arena) or a place like Kansas City which has a building established. There are rumors circulating that a group in Kansas City has made offers to purchase either Seattle or Sacramento within a year of their lease expiration. Ultimately I think Clay owns a team in Oklahoma City but I doubt it is the Sonics. They would go to a place like KC with him either selling off early or holding ownership for a couple of years before trading out for OKC.

Enough about Arenas. KEVIN DURANT BABY!!!

Take a second to realize that this team probably added seven nationally televised games to their schedule. Realize that on opening night the probably national doubleheader will be Detroit/San Antonio and Portland/Seattle. Realize that for the next 15 years there will be a rivalry and competition between Seattle and Portland that will be followed nationally. As much I hate Portland it is a truly great thing that they got the other top pick. We have a NW Revival in the NBA and it warms the soul.