Oklahoma City has released 35-year old forward Donyell Marshall. Marshall played in 26 games (1 start) with the Sonics and Cavaliers last season and he averaged 13.1 minutes, 3.8 points, 2.9 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. This could be the end of the line for Donyell Marshall as he’s getting old and didn’t play well last season. Marshall has now played in 932 games (422 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 26.7 minutes, 11.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.

Oklahoma City acquired 33-year old forward Joe Smith from Cleveland and Desmond Mason from the Bucks today. The Cavaliers got point guard Maurice Williams from the Bucks and the Bucks acquired guards Luke Ridnour and Adrian Griffin from Oklahoma City and guard Damon Jones from the Cavs. 33-year old Joe Smith is a very good player to have coming off of the bench to play 20-25 minutes per night. Smith played in 77 games (36 starts) last season for the Bulls and Cavs and he averaged 22.4 minutes, 10.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. Oklahoma City will be able to keep Joe Smith or flip him during the season like they did with Kurt Thomas. Smith has now played in 893 games (612 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 28.3 minutes, 11.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. G/F Desmond Mason was a fan favorite of Oklahoma City when he was with the Hornets a couple of years ago. He will likely be the 6th man for Oklahoma City and he’s a good one. Mason played in 59 games (56 starts) with the Bucks last season and he averaged 28.8 minutes, 9.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Oklahoma City made this deal because of the depth they have at point guard (Russell Westbrook, Earl Watson) which made Luke Ridnour available. Desmond Mason has now played in 599 games (362 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 30.9 minutes, 12.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.

Oklahoma City has acquired rookie guard Kyle Weaver from the Bobcats for a 2nd round pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. This was a good move for Oklahoma City as Weaver will likely be Kevin Durant’s backup as a rookie. He is 6′6″, 201 pounds so he has nice size and he has a decent all around game despite not excelling in any one area. Weaver played in 121 games (103 starts) at Washington State and he averaged 9.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.6 steals per game. Look for Weaver to get some minutes off the bench backing up at shooting guard as a rookie but he might do a whole lot more in the future.

The Supersonics have left the city of Seattle to move to Oklahoma City. As part of the deal the city of Seattle gets to keep the team colors and name to allow the Sonics to break the lease early. I am a Cleveland Browns fan so I know how you feel. You will learn to hate Oklahoma City and you will feel exhilaration when the NBA returns to your city and it won’t even matter who the players are….as long as the front of the uniform says “Seattle Supersonics” on it.

Ira Newble only got to play in two games for the Sonics before they waved bye-bye to him. He averaged 8.5 minutes, 2.0 points and 0.5 assists per game for the Supersonics. He only shot 2 of 7 from the floor. The Sonics would rather give Newble’s playing time to younger players.