The Nuggets' scouting staff took its second hard hit this week with the departure of director Bill Branch, who is going to the Seattle SuperSonics.

Branch's 10-year tenure with the Nuggets, the past five seasons as assistant coach/director of scouting, will end Tuesday, and he will move on to be the Sonics' director of pro personnel. Branch is regarded as one of the NBA's top advance scouts and has 20 years experience working in the league.

"I had a great 10 years here," Branch said in a phone interview Friday. "I enjoyed all the people from coaches I worked for. I worked for a lot of people here in my tenure and I learned a lot of different things.

"Hopefully, it will help me down the road. I told (Nuggets) George (Karl) to be proud and happy for me and that the Sonics wanted me during your command. George treated me like a son."

Mentoring Kevin Durant may be one of the last tasks of Kurt Thomas's NBA career.

Not that he is focused on that. Not yet, anyway.

"No, I don't think like that. I just go out and play. When the time comes, I'll deal with that," the rugged and wise Thomas said Thursday after dining with new coach P.J. Carlesimo and getting a physical with his new team, the Seattle SuperSonics.

The Sonics got Thomas not because he averaged a career-low 4.6 points in 67 games last season for Phoenix, but because he personifies the mentality new general manager Sam Presti wants on his rebuilt team. Thomas has averaged 7.4 rebounds per game in his career and is also known for a commitment to defence.

"Kurt really represents the identity we are trying to develop," Presti said last week.

Seattle SuperSonics center Robert Swift was cleared for full contact Monday, and he should be ready when training camp begins in September.

Team spokesman Tom Savage confirmed Swift has been cleared by doctors. Swift won?t have his first official practice until training camp begins.

Dr. Steven Lombardo of California, who operated on Swift?s knee, gave him the final OK.

More than likely Swift will come back to Seattle in the near future to continue workouts, and will participate in scrimmages with other Sonics players in town at the Furtado Center until the start of camp.

With 14 players under contract and the payroll at $63.4 million next season, Seattle is over the $55.6 million salary cap, though well below the $67.9 million luxury tax threshold that requires teams to pay a dollar per dollar penalty.

If GM Sam Presti continues tinkering ? and every indication shows he will ? then he'll have to do it with more trades or by using the $5.4 million mid-level exception.

There's also a possibility the Sonics will trade either Luke Ridnour or Earl Watson because both point guards share similar skills, were disappointing last season and have three years left on contracts.

Presti has never mentioned a four- or five-year plan, but it's clear he's building for the future. The Sonics have five first-round draft choices in the next three years and will have in excess of $30 million in salary cap room before the 2009-10 season.

In a move to unload salary, the Phoenix Suns traded Kurt Thomas to the Seattle SuperSonics.  

In exchange for taking on the remainder of Thomas' contract, the Sonics will also receive the Suns' 2008 and 2010 first-round draft picks.  

The Suns receive a conditional second-round draft pick and a trade exception of about $8 million.

Before the trade, the Suns' payroll would have left the club more than $10 million over the new luxury tax threshold of $67.9 million.

On the day Clay Bennett called for a resumption of talks regarding a new arena in the Seattle area, the SuperSonics owner finally declared where he'll move the franchise if a deal can't be reached.

To no one's surprise, it'll be Bennett's hometown of Oklahoma City.

Bennett spokesman Dan Mahoney confirmed Thursday that if Bennett files relocation papers with the NBA, Oklahoma City will be the destination. It's the first time Bennett has made a solid declaration about the Sonics' future location if a new arena deal doesn't develop in Seattle.

"Kansas City was being looked at, but the preference is that if relocation is attempted, Oklahoma City would be the market," Mahoney said.

Sonics and Storm owner Clay Bennett called Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels today to reopen talks on the future of the teams at KeyArena. But, Bennett added, those talks might also include how to get out of the arena lease before 2010.

"Anything and everything is on the table," he said.

Bennett, who is in Seattle today, said he asked for a meeting as soon as possible. Bennett has continually said city-owned KeyArena is inadequate for his teams, but this week, on the one-year anniversary of his purchase of the teams, he said he wants to talk.

It's time to "re-engage on this issue," Bennett said in a statement.

Kevin Durant signed a seven-year, $60 million endorsement deal with Nike that includes a $10 million signing bonus, the second-largest rookie deal in basketball.

Nike and Durant's agent's office confirmed Wednesday the deal had been reached.

"We are very pleased to have Kevin as a part of the Nike Basketball family," said Craig Zanon, vice president and general manager of global basketball. "Kevin is an amazing talent on the court and a quality person off the court and we are happy to be partnering with him as he starts his NBA career."

ormer Texas national player of the year Kevin Durant has agreed to a seven-year, $60 million endorsement deal with Nike that includes a $10 million signing bonus.

It is the second-largest endorsement contract for an NBA rookie behind LeBron James' $90 million deal with Nike in 2003.

"After eight weeks of diligent work between [Nike senior director of pro basketball] Lynn Merritt and I, we have structured a footwear and apparel deal for Kevin that becomes the second-largest rookie deal in basketball and includes a line of signature products," Durant's agent Aaron Goodwin, said in a statement.

Sonics forward Kevin Durant scored the second-largest endorsement contract for an NBA rookie when he signed a seven-year, $60 million deal with Nike that included a $10 million signing bonus.

The Beaverton, Ore.-based shoe and apparel company and Durant's agent Aaron Goodwin confirmed the announcement Wednesday.

According to industry sources, Durant declined a seven-year, $70 million deal with Adidas that included a $12 million signing bonus largely because he has a long history with Nike dating to the eighth grade in Washington, D.C.

"At the end of the day, Kevin has been with Nike his whole career and he felt comfortable with them," Goodwin said. "He took the time to give Adidas the opportunity and they're a great company, but he chose the company that he's more familiar with. And we build brands on authenticity and it's more authentic for him to be somewhere where he wants to be and he's comfortable."

Durant's sneaker deal will include a signature shoe that will be unveiled after his rookie season.