What happened to the inept Sonics that Seattle has come to know and love… well, okay, just know? Where’d they go?

Funny what a draft pick can do to your franchise mentality. The second overall draft pick inspired the Sonics to suddenly become a semi-competent front office, and I think new GM Sam Presti is the sign that the Sonics’ plans have been foiled by the dumb luck of falling into getting Kevin Durant. What was once a strategy to fail, and fail at new lows never before witnessed outside of the LA Clippers organization, is suddenly a decent aim at rebuilding a franchise with Durant, Jeff Green, and possibly Rashard Lewis. This means the team would be stuck with five power/ small forward types… but the team is not so much concerned with position as they are enthusiastic to have some players with some actual promise.

“What we see in these players is tremendous versatility,” Presti said. “We see guys that are skilled with the ball and have a great size-to-skill ratio.”

On the flip side of all of this is the Boston Celtics, who after losing out on Durant and Greg Oden, seem to be doing business as usual. This brings WBRS Sports Blog to ask the question: “What Does Danny Ainge Have To Do To Get Fired?”

It’s funny, how much the lottery might have drastically shaped the course for these two franchises; both once mired in mediocrity, now have two very different outlooks on life.

Ah, the simple magic of the ping-pong ball.