New Oklahoma City franchise to announce nickname next week

Aug 27, 2008 - 11:28 PM OKLAHOMA CITY (Ticker) -- Oklahoma City's NBA franchise will announce its new nickname next week, the team announced Wednesday.

The team formerly known as the Seattle SuperSonics will unveil the new name, colors and logo on its web site at 6 p.m. EDT next Wednesday. A simultaneous special unveiling event will be held at Leadership Square in downtown Oklahoma City.

Prior to coming to Oklahoma City, Seattle had been seeking to hold the owners of the Sonics to the remaining two years of the team's KeyArena lease. The two sides reached a deal in order to terminate that lease, which could be worth up to $75 million to the city, and allow the team to move to the hometown of majority owner Clay Bennett.

It has been reported that the team is considering a number of nicknames, including the Thunder, Energy, Wind, Marshalls, Barons and Bison. The Thunder reportedly is the favorite.