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Lakers: In An Alternate Universe, Would Russell Westbrook Still Be A Seattle Supersonic?

Perhaps.

Brooklyn Nets All-Star forward Kevin Durant and Los Angeles Lakers sixth man point guard Russell Westbrook were originally drafted by the now-defunct Seattle Supersonics, a beloved team in one of the country's more bustling cities that was essentially relocated in the middle of the night by a group of charlatan owners who had purchased the franchise under misleading pretenses. 

The club was moved to Oklahoma and re-dubbed the Oklahoma City Thunder. For its first-ever draft pick in 2009, OKC drafted James Harden third (a pretty great selection, yes, but also Stephen Curry was drafted seventh that year).

No shade is meant against Oklahoma City or its fervent fans, who have truly embraced the team, but surely the team would have been able to retain its three eventual MVP players had it been in a major market and had its ownership group not been afraid of dipping into the luxury tax to re-sign Harden as a restricted free agent (Thunder team president Sam Presti essentially prioritized power forward Serge Ibaka over Harden, after the latter had a poor performance in the 2012 NBA Finals)?

It has felt inevitable for a while now that NBA commissioner Adam Silver will bring an expansion team to Seattle. It's too big a market, with too much rich history, to be relegated to the past forever.

Had Seattle never gone away, would all three of Westbrook, Durant and Harden remained on the team longer-term than they did in Oklahoma City?

Longtime Seattle Supersonics combo guard Fred "Downtown Freddie" Brown, who won a title with the club in 1979, spoke weighed in on the matter with Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson of Bally Sports in a recent interview:

"Not too many players drafted in Seattle left," Brown said. "When KD first came here, he was happy as heck, so no I don't think he would have left. Russ played in the Pac-12. That would have been special for him... They probably would have won multiple championships"

Given what we know about Durant's eventual frustration with Westbrook, I'm not sure how much geography really played a role in KD's initial decision to ditch the Thunder for the Golden State Warriors in the summer of 2016. He promptly won titles in 2017 (the year Westbrook was voted league MVP while with the Thunder) and 2018 (the year Harden was voted league MVP for the Houston Rockets). 

All three of Westbrook, Durant, and especially Harden are mercurial personalities, and even despite Seattle being a better fit for an NBA team as a thriving major metropolis, this writer does not think all three members of that volatile group would still be on the Supersonics had the team remained in Seattle to this day.

Westbrook is enjoying playing for his hometown franchise, even though he is now a high-level bench player, no longer an All-Star talent. Durant doesn't exactly seem to be enjoying playing for the Brooklyn Nets, but he himself is having yet another All-NBA season. Harden is hurt, but had been playing well for the Philadelphia 76ers.