The City of Seattle and the Oklahoma City-based owners of the Seattle SuperSonics National Basketball Association franchise made the announcement that they have reached a settlement that will allow the team to break their lease and play their games in Oklahoma starting in November.

PBC will first pay $45 million to the City of Seattle and possibly another $30 million in five years. The contingency will not be paid if another NBA team settles in Seattle.

Another element of the settlement is that the franchise will not use the name Sonics or SuperSonics, the team logo or colors. A new name, logo and colors is to be announced soon.

Seattle SuperSonics guard Kevin Durant will be named NBA Rookie of the Year. 19 year old Kevin Durant will become the first Sonics player to win rookie of the year honors. His points per game were third-best among rookies in the last 10 years. Durant, James and Elton Brand — have averaged at least 20 points in their first season. He led all first-year players in scoring, assists and free-throw percentage,beating out Atlanta Hawks forward Al Horford to become the first Rookie of the Year in Seattle franchise history. The NBA is expected to officially announce the award on Thursday.
Durant averaged 20.3 points per game in 2007-08 — the highest scoring average for a rookie since Carmelo Anthony had an average 21 points per game and LeBron James averaged 20.9 ppg in 2003-04.