Article:REPORT: Seattle SuperSonics to become Oklahoma City Thunder

NBA fans already know the Seattle SuperSonics are leaving the Emerald City. That's been a done deal. How the events which led to this franchise's departure from the Pacific Northwest has been well documented. The history of the Sonics' name and its history are being left behind in Seattle just as was the case with the National Football League's Cleveland Browns. Will there be a new Sonics team down the road? We'll have to see, but for Seattle basketball fans, at least they can hope history repeats itself in which their patience is rewarded as Browns fans were.

With the relocation destination already a certainty, widespread speculation has continued to mount over what will the new name of the team.

Over the course of this weekend, a report from KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City has surfaced that the transplanted SuperSonics may end being called the Oklahoma City Thunder.

As part of what SportsXtra's Mark Rodgers and KOCO-TV have done in detective work is track down registered internet domain names to find clues as to what the SuperSonics brass have reserved. Among those include the Barons, Outlaws and Thunder. As it is more apparent according to Rodgers, the Thunder appears to be the frontrunner for the new name.

No formal announcement has been made and no press conference has been set, but one thing is for sure. We will officially know the name of Oklahoma City's new full-time NBA franchise very soon. Oklahoma City won't be a temporary home as it was for the New Orleans Hornets in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. This will be the Show Me State's first professional-level sports franchise they can call their own and for real. Either way, the state of Oklahoma and Oklahoma City are surely excited about a new chapter in their sports history.