Oklahoma City Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti announced today that the team will retain interim coach Scott Brooks as head coach.

"We are excited to have a Head Coach in Scott Brooks who believes in our philosophies and consistently leads with those values," said Presti. "He has a passion to help our players develop, continue to foster accountability and selfless play, and has the ability to communicate with every player on our roster.?

Brooks was named interim head coach of the Thunder on November, 22, 2008. The Lathrop, California native guided to the Thunder to a 21-47 (.309) record in his first stint as a head coach.

Brooks spent six years as an NBA assistant coach with the Thunder (2007-2008), Denver Nuggets (2003-2006) and Sacramento Kings (2006-2007) following an 11-year NBA career. Brooks saw action with seven teams during his career. He also served as an assistant/head coach with the Los Angeles Stars of the ABA, guiding the club to a 23-14 record.

Brooks graduated from UC-Irvine, playing two seasons for the Anteaters, where he led the team with 23.8 points per game as a senior.

Thunder guard Earl Watson doesn't think he'll be a part of the team's plans past this season, whether or not coach Scott Brooks returns.

"I don't think I'm going to be here regardless," said Watson, who has one year and $6.6 million remaining on his contract.

"You never know, this business is incredible. But going into the last year of my deal business-wise you become an attractive contract. And for the last month I haven't been playing. So why would I be here?"

Rookie point guard Russell Westbrook and Chucky Atkins have been playing ahead of Watson for a majority of the season.

Save Our Sonics (SOS) supporters will once again be on hand in Portland when Oklahoma City come to town on Monday, the Seattle Times are reporting.

Ever since losing the SuperSonics to Oklahoma City, the group have been trying to show the NBA that there still is a future for basketball in Seattle.

"The message we want to continue sending is we still believe we are a viable NBA town even with the downturn of the economy," SOS co-founder Steven Pyeatt said. "As we saw with soccer here, you bring something in and you develop some excitement around it, we're going to pack the house."

"We do believe this is the message we have to send to the NBA to remind them they made a big mistake letting this team leave and it's a mistake they can fix."

The Thunder didn't win a whole lot of games this season, but forward Kevin Durant believes that the team has improved.

"We might not have piled the wins up, but we're getting better," Durant said in an interview with the Oklahoman.

"Throughout the whole season, we've gotten better and it showed in the win column."

The Thunder are 22-57, a slight improvement over last season's 20-62 record.

Thunder guard Thabo Sefolosha dislocated his left index finger during the second quarter of Oklahoma City's win over Charlotte on Friday night, according to a report by The Oklahoman.

Shaun Livingston strongly considered signing with the Nuggets before eventually agreeing to join the Thunder.

?I got the feeling it was pretty close," said George Karl.

?It was an option,?? Livingston said of the Nuggets. ?We looked at Denver. They were probably up there because of the opportunity to play in the playoffs.??

Desmond Mason, who is out for the season with a knee injury, still wants to return to the Thunder next year.

"I've voiced my opinion about it," Mason said. "It's up to the direction they're going, how they see me fitting in."

Mason added that he would have pushed harder to return this season if Oklahoma City had been in the playoff hunt.

"I'm well ahead of schedule, but we don't need to rush anything," Mason said. "Going into the summer, we want to make sure to have a full recovery. In a week I'll be on a treadmill doing some stuff. "I've been on a bike the last two to three weeks, weight bearing and balance stuff."

The Nuggets defeated the Timberwolves on Sunday night, which means that they will not have one of the top 20 picks in June's NBA Draft.

Oklahoma City will receive the selection from Denver as part of a Jan. 7 trade. The Nuggets also sent the Thunder guard Chucky Atkins while getting center Johan Petro and a 2009 second-round pick in return.

If Denver landed a top 20 pick they would have kept this year's selection, and sent Oklahoma City their 2010 first-round pick.

Oklahoma City Thunder GM Sam Presti announced that the team has recalled forward D.J. White and guard Kyle Weaver from the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League.

White has appeared in six games (five starts) for the 66ers during three assignments to the D-League. The 6-9 forward averaged 18.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 31 minutes per game while with Tulsa.

The Thunder aren't looking at point guard Shaun Livingston, who they signed this week, as a project.

They believe he can work all the way back from his knee troubles to become a very good NBA player.

"We're not looking at it as a project," said Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti. "We're looking at it as an opportunity to work with a talented player, someone that continues to have a great focus about getting back to where he wants to be. And we're excited to have him."