Let’s remember when the Sonics drafted Kevin Durant, on this day in 2007 (June 28)

Seattle SuperSonics rookie Kevin Durant signs a basketball for Senior Airman Troy Bame, 62nd Operations Support Squadron,Wednesday at the Sonics practice facility in Seattle. Four McChord Airmen and servicemembers from other branches of the militarywere invited to the facility to watch a practice, meet and eat lunch with the players, and attend Wednesday night’s gameagainst the New Orleans Hornets.

When the Sonics had the number two pick in the NBA draft, it briefly buoyed the chances of the team staying in Seattle.

As the Times noted at the time:

The Sonics changed the face of their franchise today, selecting Texas freshman Kevin Durant with the №2 pick in today’s NBA Draft and trading seven-time All-Star guard Ray Allen to the Boston Celtics. The Sonics traded Allen and the №35 pick for the Celtics’ №5 pick, guard Delonte West, forward Wally Szczerbiak and a future second-round pick.

New Sonics general manager Sam Presti has talked about improving the Sonics’ defense since being hired June 7 and his first bold stroke was shipping Allen, Seattle’s leading scorer the past four seasons. Picking Durant was the obvious move after Portland took Greg Oden with the №1 pick.

“Kevin is a key component to the Sonics becoming a better basketball team,” Presti said in a statement. “He is a young man of tremendous character who possesses terrific basketball skills. We look forward to welcoming him to Seattle and preparing him for his rookie season.”

Durant earned player-of-the-year honors from The Associated Press, the National Association of Basketball Coaches, the United States Basketball Writers Association, CBS/Chevrolet and The Sporting News. In addition, he was the winner of the Adolph Rupp Trophy, the Naismith Award and the Wooden Award, becoming the first freshman in NCAA history to win any of those awards.