Sam Presti and the rest of the Seattle’s brass are pretty happy over in Sonics land. They managed to turn Rashard Lewis’ departure into a positive by getting Kurt Thomas and two first-round picks in return for the $9 million trade exception the team received from Orlando and a conditional second-round pick.

I have heard some complaints about Seattle bringing in an aged, mediocre veteran forward. For those of you that question the trade you should take a look at this blog.

Phoenix fans believed Thomas did the best job of guarding Tim Duncan in the their playoff loss against the Spurs, and some are pretty upset with him leaving.

Think about the Chicago Bulls bringing in veteran Antonio Davis four years ago to help nurture that young team, and you have an idea of how the organization views the affect bringing in Thomas could have on this young Sonics squad.

“He compliments the guys that we have in place up front,” Presti said. “And part of his value comes on the offensive end. He can stretch a defense. You have to rotate to him. He’s someone that can make life easier for his teammates with his ability to shoot the ball.
“Kurt can play both front-court positions. We like the versatility of our core up front.”

It’s unlikely that Phoenix would get the conditional second round pick. Orlando would have to finish in the top five in the east, and if that occurred the pick would be 55 or worse in next year’s draft.

We all know Phoenix should be pretty good in 2008 with Grant Hill in the fold and a solid nucleus back, but by 2010 the Suns could be on a downward slide and Seattle could be cashing in on a pretty good pick.

The move gives Seattle five first-round draft picks in the next three years to build around centerpieces Kevin Durant and Jeff Green.

Sonic fans should be happy this new regime is making moves that seem to be helping the team build for the future. Whether that future will take place in Seattle or not is another matter.

Take a listen to Clay Bennett here. He was on KJR 950 today. Bennett is supposed to get together with Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels in the next week to discuss the possibility of building a new arena for the Sonics.