Sonics future looks bright: Wheelings and dealings has teamed primed for playoff run just in time for Oklahoma City

Clay Bennett and his Petroleum Club buddies who bought the Seattle SuperSonics got lucky with the lottery that put Kevin Durant on their roster.

Then they made their own luck with the hiring of general manager Sam Presti.

The Whiz Kid from San Antonio, the 30-year-old turning Seattle into the SuperSpurs, has dealed and wheeled since his June 6 hiring, clearly charting a path for this team, which might not know where it's playing beyond this season but most assuredly knows where it's going. Straight up the Western Conference standings.

That's why the next 15 weeks, as Oklahoma City waits out Seattle's apparent apathy for the Sonics, will be even more anxious than the usual market-in-waiting.

OKC could be getting more than its own NBA franchise. We could be getting the league's hippest team.

Counting 2007 additions Durant and Jeff Green, Presti has given the Sonics seven first-round draft picks in a four-year span. Two this year, the Sonics' pick the next three drafts and the Suns' slots in 2008 and 2010.

That's an incredible infusion of talent. That's Extreme Makeover: NBA edition.

The Sonics last season were the worst kind of team. Bad and old, at least at the top. Seattle went 31-51, and its star was a one-dimensional 31-year-old, sharpshooter Ray Allen; his sidekick was a one-dimensional 27-year-old, gunner Rashard Lewis.

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