RASHARD LEWIS NEVER played a game for the Oklahoma City Thunder. But in one obscure way, the two-time All-Star, who spent the first nine of his 16 NBA seasons with the Seattle SuperSonics -- the precursor to the OKC franchise -- is directly connected to the defending champions.
Lewis is well aware of the connection.
Random fans have presented it to him more and more in recent years as the Thunder have ascended, winning an NBA title in 2025 while barreling toward a potential repeat this season.
They point out the ridiculous, unlikely nature of it all -- how a 2007 sign-and-trade that sent Lewis from Seattle to the Orlando Magic marked the first of five moves, all of them connected, that helped form the foundation of the Thunder's current championship core. And they ask Lewis if he can believe it.
Lewis thought back, connecting the past and the present, and thought of the through line: the architect behind each transaction and the Thunder team that has earned the top seed in the Western Conference for the past three seasons.
"It just shows you," Lewis said, "what type of general manager Sam Presti is."
OKC's title run can be traced back to one date -- July 11, 2007 -- and one player: former Seattle SuperSonics forward Rashard Lewis. AP Photo/Jeff Lewis ON MAY 22, 2007, Tony Dutt, Lewis' agent, was at his home in The Woodlands, Texas, watching the NBA draft lottery when the Sonics landed the No. 2 pick.
He imagined that the Portland Trail Blazers, who had landed the top pick, would likely draft Ohio State star center Greg Oden and that the Sonics would then likely draft Texas phenom Kevin Durant, who was about as tall as Lewis and played the same position.
It wasn't hard for Dutt to imagine that Lewis' time with Seattle, which had drafted Lewis in 1998, might be over. Lewis himself had been contemplating that very idea. He was 27, and the Sonics had posted losing records in four of their past five seasons. He wanted to win.
Four days later, Lewis opted out of the final two years of his contract, becoming an unrestricted free agent that summer. But with whom Dutt and Lewis would be negotiating from the Sonics was unclear.
Two months after Clay Bennett -- who led a group of Oklahoma City businessmen to buy the Sonics in July 2006 -- ousted the team's general manager, Rick Sund, he had yet to land on a replacement despite months of searching.
A former San Antonio Spurs minority owner during the mid-1990s, Bennett had asked Spurs general manager R.C. Buford if he'd be interested. It was a bold request; the Spurs had won three titles since 1999 and were en route to winning a fourth that season, but Bennett figured he had nothing to lose.