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2008–09 Oklahoma City Thunder season

NBA professional basketball team season

Field	Value
team	Oklahoma City Thunder
end_year	2009
wins	23
losses	59
division	Northwest
division_place	5
conf_place	13
gm	Sam Presti
owners	Professional Basketball Club LLC
arena	Ford Center
playoffs	Did not qualify
bbr_team	OKC
prev_name	Seattle SuperSonics

P. J. Carlesimo (games 1–13, fired)
Scott Brooks (interim, games 14–82)
KSBI
Fox Sports Oklahoma
WWLS-AM
FM

The Oklahoma City Thunder played its inaugural season in the 2008–09 NBA season. It was the team's 1st season in Oklahoma City since the Seattle SuperSonics relocation was approved by league owners prior to settling a lawsuit. The team played at the Ford Center.

Oklahoma City hosted the New Orleans Hornets for two seasons, due to Hurricane Katrina's devastation along the Gulf Coast in August 2005.

Until 2021, this represents the Thunder's last losing season.

Key dates

June 26: The 2008 NBA draft took place in New York City.
July 1: The free agency period started.
July 2: The Seattle SuperSonics announced their immediate relocation to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
September 3 The team announces name and colors.
October 8 The Oklahoma City Thunder took the court for the first time in an 88–82 preseason loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Billings, Montana.
October 29 The Oklahoma City Thunder played their first regular season game ever, hosting the Milwaukee Bucks.
November 2 The Oklahoma City Thunder get their first win as an NBA franchise.
November 22 P. J. Carlesimo is fired and replaced on an interim basis by Scott Brooks.
November 28 The Thunder tie the franchise record for consecutive games lost at 14 with a 103–105 loss to the Timberwolves.
November 29 Oklahoma City snaps 14-game losing streak.
January 21 Jeff Green shoots Thunder's first buzzer beater to beat the Golden State Warriors 122–121.
February 14 Kevin Durant wins All-Star Break H.O.R.S.E competition.
April 15 The Thunder won over Los Angeles Clippers 126–85 to end 23–59 in their first season.
April 15 Scott Brooks is named full-time coach of Thunder.

Offseason

Oklahoma City rookies and other young professionals played in the first game of the Orlando summer league. Oklahoma City lost its summer league opener to the Indiana Pacers rookies by a score of 95–78. Earl Calloway scored 16 points and Andre Emmett had 15 for the Pacers, who scored the game's first eight points and never trailed. Jeff Green took the first shot in Oklahoma City's history and it bounced off the rim 43 seconds after tipoff. The first basket came 2:15 into the first quarter by D.J. White, who was drafted by Detroit, traded to Seattle and played in Oklahoma City.
The Oklahoma City franchise released its season-ticket prices on Thursday, August 14. The franchise announced that there will be 3,400 seats available at $10 per game.
- On average, ticket prices were about 36 per cent higher than they were for the 2007–08 Seattle SuperSonics season. The announcement also stated that the average ticket price would be US$47.51 while Seattle's average ticket price last season was $35. While last year's NBA average ticket price at $48.83, Oklahoma City's rates below the league average.
- Season tickets went on sale on Monday, September 8. Chairman Clay Bennett announced that the last of the 13,000 season tickets available were sold on Friday, September 12, and the team started a waiting list for season tickets.

Pre-season

The Oklahoma City Thunder made their debut in an 88-82 preseason loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on October 8, 2008.

First pre-season game

Kevin Durant took and made the first shot in Oklahoma City history.
The Thunder had their home debut on October 14, 2008, against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Draft picks

Main article: 2008 NBA draft

Seattle SuperSonics}}" width="10%"	Round	Seattle SuperSonics}}" width="10%"	Pick	Seattle SuperSonics}}" width="20%"	Player
1	4	Russell Westbrook	PG	United States	UCLA
1	24	Serge Ibaka	PF
Spain	L'Hospitalet (Spain)
2	32	Walter Sharpe	PF	United States	UAB
2	46	Trent Plaisted	PF	United States	BYU
2	50	DeVon Hardin	C	United States	California
2	56	Sasha Kaun	C	Russia	Kansas

The 2008 NBA Draft was the final time that the Seattle SuperSonics made an NBA Draft appearance, as well as the final time that the SuperSonics appeared in official media publications. In early July, the franchise relocated to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and was renamed the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder made their first NBA Draft appearance in 2009.

The SuperSonics entered the draft with two first-round picks and four second-round picks. They retained their original pick in each round, while the remainder were acquired through previous trades.

Roster

P. J. Carlesimo (fired)
Scott Brooks
Mark Bryant
Ralph Lewis
Paul Westhead

Regular season

Standings

Game log

0–2
3
November 2
Minnesota

1–2
4
November 5
Boston

1–3
5
November 7
@ Utah

1–4
6
November 9
Atlanta

1–5
7
November 10
@ Indiana

1–6
8
November 12
Orlando

1–7
9
November 14
@ New York

1–8
10
November 15
@ Philadelphia

1–9
11
November 17
Houston

1–10
12
November 19
L.A. Clippers

1–11
13
November 21
New Orleans

1–12
14
November 22
@ New Orleans

1–13
15
November 25
Phoenix

1–14
16
November 26
@ Cleveland

1–15
17
November 28
Minnesota

1–16
18
November 29
@ Memphis

2–17
20
December 5
@ Orlando

2–18
21
December 6
@ Miami

2–19
22
December 8
Golden State

2–20
23
December 10
Memphis

2–21
24
December 13
@ Dallas

2–22
25
December 14
@ San Antonio

2–23
26
December 16
L.A. Clippers

2–24
27
December 19
Toronto

3–24
28
December 21
Cleveland

3–25
29
December 23
@ Atlanta

3–26
30
December 26
@ Detroit

3–27
31
December 27
@ Washington

3–28
32
December 29
Phoenix

3–29
33
December 31
Golden State

4–30
35
January 6
New York

5–30
36
January 7
@ Minnesota

5–31
37
January 9
Houston

5–32
38
January 10
@ Chicago

6–32
39
January 12
@ New Jersey

6–33
40
January 14
Utah

7–33
41
January 16
Detroit

8–33
42
January 18
Miami

8–34
43
January 21
@ Golden State

9–34
44
January 23
@ L.A. Clippers

9–35
45
January 26
New Jersey

10–35
46
January 28
Memphis

11–35
47
January 30
@ Utah

11–37
49
February 4
Denver

11–38
50
February 6
Portland

12–38
51
February 8
Sacramento

13–38
52
February 10
@ L.A. Lakers

13–39
53
February 11
@ Portland

13–40
54
February 17
New Orleans

13–41
55
February 20
@ Phoenix

13–42
56
February 21
@ Golden State

13–43
57
February 24
L.A. Lakers

13–44
58
February 27
@ Dallas

13–45
59
February 28
@ Memphis

15–45
61
March 4
Washington

16–45
62
March 7
@ New Orleans

16–46
63
March 8
Philadelphia

17–46
64
March 10
@ Sacramento

18–46
65
March 11
@ Denver

18–47
66
March 14
@ Phoenix

18–48
67
March 16
San Antonio

19–48
68
March 18
Chicago

19–49
69
March 20
Utah

19–50
70
March 22
@ Minnesota

20–50
71
March 24
L.A. Lakers

20–51
72
March 27
@ Toronto

20–52
73
March 29
@ Boston

20–53
74
March 31
@ San Antonio

21–54
76
April 5
Indiana

21–55
77
April 7
San Antonio

21–56
78
April 8
@ Denver

21–57
79
April 10
Charlotte

22–57
80
April 11
@ Milwaukee

22–58
81
April 13
@ Portland

22–59
82
April 15
@ L.A. Clippers

Player statistics

Season

|- | Chucky Atkins* || 18 || 0 || 16.6 || .291 || .250 || .917 || 1.0 || 1.7 || 0.4 || 0.1 || 3.9 |- | Nick Collison || 71 || 40 || 25.8 || .568 || .000 || .721 || 6.9 || 0.9 || 0.7 || 0.7 || 8.2 |- | Kevin Durant || 74 || 74 || 39.0 || .476 || .422 || .863 || 6.5 || 2.8 || 1.3 || 0.7 || 25.3 |- | Jeff Green || 78 || style="background:#FF4422;"| 78 || 36.8 || .446 || .389 || .788 || 6.7 || 2.0 || 1.0 || 0.4 || 16.5 |- | Steven Hill || 1 || 0 || 2.0 || 1.000 || .000 || .000 || 3.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 2.0 |- | Nenad Krstić || 46 || 29 || 24.8 || .469 || .000 || .797 || 5.5 || 0.6 || 0.5 || 1.1 || 9.7 |- | Shaun Livingston || 8 || 1 || 23.8 || .538 || .000 || 1.000 || 3.3 || 2.0 || 0.6 || 0.3 || 7.8 |- | Desmond Mason* || 39 || 19 || 27.3 || .435 || .000 || .541 || 4.0 || 1.2 || 0.4 || 0.8 || 7.5 |- | Johan Petro* || 22 || 12 || 15.5 || .407 || .000 || .667 || 4.3 || 0.3 || 0.7 || 0.2 || 4.6 |- | Malik Rose* || 20 || 0 || 15.7 || .378 || .000 || .800 || 3.3 || 1.3 || 0.5 || 0.1 || 5.0 |- | Thabo Sefolosha* || 23 || 22 || 31.1 || .417 || .243 || .833 || 5.2 || 2.0 || 1.7 || 1.1 || 8.5 |- | Mouhamed Sene* || 5 || 0 || 4.6 || .714 || .000 || .778 || 1.8 || 0.0 || 0.2 || 0.4 || 3.4 |- | Joe Smith* || 36 || 3 || 19.2 || .454 || .500 || .704 || 4.5 || 0.7 || 0.3 || 0.7 || 6.6 |- | Robert Swift || 26 || 10 || 13.2 || .521 || .000 || .750 || 3.4 || 0.3 || 0.2 || 0.7 || 3.3 |- | Earl Watson || 68 || 18 || 26.1 || .384 || .235 || .755 || 2.7 || 5.8 || 0.7 || 0.2 || 6.6 |- | Kyle Weaver || 56 || 19 || 20.8 || .459 || .344 || .707 || 2.3 || 1.8 || 0.8 || 0.4 || 5.3 |-

Russell Westbrook
D. J. White

-
Chris Wilcox*

-
Damien Wilkins

-
}

Statistics with Oklahoma City.

Awards and records

Awards

Week/Month

Russell Westbrook was named Western Conference rookie of the month in December and February.

All-Star

Russell Westbrook, Jeff Green and Kevin Durant played in the Rookie Challenge, where Durant was named MVP.
Kevin Durant won the H–O–R–S–E Competition.

Season

Russell Westbrook was selected to the All-Rookie 1st team.

Records

Transactions

Main article: List of 2008–09 NBA season transactions

Overview

Players Added	Players Lost

Trades

February 19, 2009	To Oklahoma City ThunderMalik Rose	To New York KnicksChris Wilcox

Free agency

Re-signed

Oklahoma City Thunder}}" width="5%"	Date	Oklahoma City Thunder}}" width="10%"	Player	Oklahoma City Thunder}}" width="10%"	Contract
September 11, 2008	Robert Swift	Standard

Additions

Oklahoma City Thunder}}" width="5%"	Date	Oklahoma City Thunder}}" width="10%"	Player	Oklahoma City Thunder}}" width="10%"	Contract	Oklahoma City Thunder}}" width="10%"	Former team
November 4, 2008	Steven Hill	Standard	Arkansas Razorbacks
December 31, 2008	title=Krstic gives Thunder another 7-footer	url=https://www.espn.com/nba/news/story?id=3800161	website=espn.com	access-date=November 8, 2022	date=December 31, 2008}}	Multi-Year Contract	New Jersey Nets
Triumph Lyubertsy
March 31, 2009	Shaun Livingston{{cite web	title=Livingston sign multiyear deal	website=espn.com	access-date=November 8, 2022	date=March 31, 2009}}	Multi-Year Contract

Subtractions

Oklahoma City Thunder}}" width="5%"	Date	Oklahoma City Thunder}}" width="10%"	Player
July 1, 2008	Mickaël Gelabale	Free Agency	Los Angeles D-Fenders (D-League)
August 20, 2008	Donyell Marshall	Waived	Philadelphia 76ers
September 9, 2008	Francisco Elson	Free Agency	Milwaukee Bucks
December 3, 2008	Ronald Dupree	Free Agency	Tulsa 66ers
December 30, 2008	Steven Hill	Waived	Tulsa 66ers (D-League)
February 19, 2009	Mouhamed Sene	Waived	Albuquerque Thunderbirds (D-League)

References

Sites, Phil. (October 8, 2008). "T'Wolves Play Spoiler". [[Billings Gazette]].
"CANOE -- SLAM! Sports - Basketball - NBA: NBA season-ticket prices set for Oklahoma City".
(September 13, 2008). "Waiting list begun for Oklahoma City season tickets". ESPN.
[http://newsok.com/oklahoma-city-nba-team-to-face-hectic-pace-in-preseason/article/3282760/?tm=1218596987 Oklahoma City NBA team to face hectic pace in preseason]
Pian Chan, Sharon. (July 2, 2008). "Sonics, city reach settlement". Seattle Times.
(March 2008). "Ford Center / Oklahoma City, Oklahoma". Arena Digest.
[http://www.nba.com/2009/news/01/02/010209rom.release/index.html Bulls' Rose, Thunder's Westbrook named Rookies of the Month] {{Webarchive. link. (January 15, 2009, ''[[NBA]].com'', January 2, 2009.)
[http://www.nba.com/2009/news/03/02/rookies.month/index.html Nets' Lopez, Thunder's Westbrook named Rookies of the Month] {{Webarchive. link. (March 6, 2009, ''[[NBA]].com'', March 2, 2009.)
(July 5, 2008). "Westbrook, White sign rookie deals with SuperSonics".
(August 11, 2008). "Bobcats trade G Weaver to Oklahoma City for pick".
(August 13, 2008). "Cavaliers Acquire Williams in Three-Team Trade".
(August 11, 2008). "Nuggets get another big man in Petro".
(February 19, 2009). "Thunder Acquires Thabo Sefolosha".
(February 19, 2009). "Knicks swap Rose for Wilcox".
(September 11, 2008). "Oklahoma City Re-Signs Swift".
(November 4, 2008). "Thunder signs 7-foot center Hill".
(December 31, 2008). "Krstic gives Thunder another 7-footer".
(August 20, 2008). "Veteran forward Marshall waived by Oklahoma City".
(December 3, 2008). "66ers Acquire Forward Ronald Dupree".

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