With the painful departure of the Seattle Sonics and this region’s 41-year history with the NBA, most local fans of the league find ourselves trying to pick up the pieces. Understandably, some have chosen to totally sever any connection with the NBA after experiencing the emotion-sapping frustration of losing a beloved franchise, while others will maintain a casual interest in the league, heading south on I-5 to get their fill of the NBA in Portland.

Still others may wish to know a little of what is happening with our departed franchise, including the budding career of future superstar Kevin Durant.

What we would like to do here is provide a little of all those things in this blog space. The main focus of this blog will be to report on the incremental steps both the City of Seattle and the private investment group headed by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer are making in pursuing the return of another NBA franchise to this region.

And along with that, we’ll also check in on the major stories happening around the NBA. Those updates will includes stops in Portland where we believe there is in an interest in the Trail Blazers with Seattle natives Brandon Roy and Martell Webster, along with head coach Nate McMillen. And at times we’ll also take a look at what is happening with the boys in Oklahoma City.

We also will use this space to provide semi-regular updates on former Seattle Sonics players, and players from the Seattle-area competing on NBA teams throughout the league.

Most important, this blog will provide another outlet for fans in the Puget Sound region to keep up with the game they love in Seattle’s first season in 41 years without an NBA franchise.