2008–09 NBA season

Infobox sports season
title =2008–09 NBA season
league =National Basketball Association
sport =Basketball
logo =
pixels =
caption =
duration =October 28, 2008 – April 15, 2009
attendance =
TV =ABC, TNT, ESPN, NBA TV
playoffs =Playoffs
playoffs_link =2009 NBA Playoffs
conf1 =Eastern
conf1_link =Eastern Conference (NBA)
conf1_champ =
conf1-runner-up =
conf2 =Western
conf2_link =Western Conference (NBA)
conf2_champ =
conf2-runner-up =
finals =Finals
finals_link =2009 NBA Finals
finals_champ =
finals-runner-up =
finals_MVP =
finals_MVP_link =-->
seasonslist =List of NBA seasons
seasonslistnames =NBA
prevseason_link =2007-08 NBA season
prevseason_year =2007-08
nextseason_link =
nextseason_year =2009-10

The 2008–09 NBA season will be the 63rd season of the National Basketball Association. It will be the first NBA season since 1966-67 without a Seattle franchise, the SuperSonics having moved to Oklahoma City in July 2008, becoming the Oklahoma City Thunder. It will also be the first NBA season in which Oklahoma City will have a team all to itself (the New Orleans Hornets having split their home schedule with Oklahoma City during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons following the effects of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans). The Thunder will play at the Ford Center and will retain Seattle's franchise history while leaving the old nickname, logo, and colors in Seattle for possible future use. [http://downloads.newsok.com/documents/sonicssettlement.pdf]

The Phoenix Suns will host the 58th Annual All-Star Game on February 15, 2009. In addition, the Philadelphia 76ers will host the Chicago Bulls on March 13, 2009, but not at their regular home, the Wachovia Center. Instead, the game will be played at the Wachovia Spectrum, which will close in the summer of 2009. The Sixers left following the 1995-96 season to move to the former John F. Kennedy Stadium site.

Notable occurrences

* On June 26, 2008, the Milwaukee Bucks agreed to trade Bobby Simmons and Yi Jianlian to the New Jersey Nets for Richard Jefferson. [ [http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AvJ51jnJzXIoD66lhDDJ2S.8vLYF?slug=ap-bucks-netstrade&prov=ap&type=lgns Nets trade Jefferson to Bucks for Yi, Simmons - NBA - Yahoo! Sports ] ]

* On June 26, 2008, the Indiana Pacers agreed to trade Jerryd Bayless and Ike Diogu to the Portland Trail Blazers for Brandon Rush, Jarrett Jack, and Josh McRoberts. [ [http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=rotowire-errydaylessradedtoor&prov=rotowire&type=fantasy Jerryd Bayless: Traded to Portland - NBA - Yahoo! Sports ] ]

* On June 26, 2008, the Indiana Pacers agreed to trade Jermaine O'Neal and Nathan Jawai to the Toronto Raptors for T. J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovič, Roy Hibbert, and Maceo Baston. [ [http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AiuBDN1gGca4gltttIVADzK8vLYF?slug=ap-raptors-pacerstrade&prov=ap&type=lgns O'Neal confirms Pacers sending him to Raptors - NBA - Yahoo! Sports ] ]

* On June 26, 2008, the Memphis Grizzlies agreed to trade Kevin Love, Mike Miller, Brian Cardinal and Jason Collins to the Minnesota Timberwolves for O. J. Mayo, Antoine Walker, Marko Jaric and Greg Buckner. [ [http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AqTduL5L0YAfZEGcE5wnPcu8vLYF?slug=ap-grizzlies-timberwolvestrade&prov=ap&type=lgns Wolves trade Mayo to Memphis for Love - NBA - Yahoo! Sports ] ]

* On July 2, 2008, the city of Seattle and the Seattle SuperSonics reached a settlement that allowed the team to relocate to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, retain the SuperSonics' players, coaches, and contracts, and "share" the SuperSonics' franchise history with a hypothetical future Seattle team. However, the SuperSonics name, colors, and logo will remain reserved for a future Seattle club. [ [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008030229_sonitrial02.html Local News | Sonics, city reach settlement | Seattle Times Newspaper ] ] The team was named the Oklahoma City Thunder on September 3, 2008.

* On July 23, 2008, restricted free agent Josh Childress signed with Euroleague club Olympiacos for three years and $20 million net (the biggest signing in Euroleague history), marking the first departure of an American-born player to Europe in the prime of his career. [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3501488 ESPN - Ex-Hawk Childress signs with Greek club team - NBA ] ]

* On July 29, 2008, the Sacramento Kings agreed to trade Ron Artest to the Houston Rockets for Bobby Jackson, Donté Greene, and a 2009 first-round pick. The deal was completed on August 14, 2008. [cite web | title=It's official: Rockets acquire Ron Artest in blockbuster trade | work=NBA.com | url=http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/Itrsquos_official_Ron_Artes-280197-34.html |accessdate=2008-08-14]
* On October 3, 2008, Shaun Livingston, who hasn't played since February 26, 2007, signs a two-year deal with the Miami Heat in attempt to make comeback from a serious injury to his left knee. [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3624290- Livingston gets chance to come back from injury with Heat] ]

Team standings

:"Standings as of July 1, 2008, 0000 UTC"

By division

By conference

Current NBA stats leaders

alary cap

The NBA announced that the salary cap for the season would be $58.680 million, immediately going into effect on July 9 as the league's "moratorium period" had ended and teams could begin signing free agents and making trades. [http://www.nba.com/news/salarycapset_080709.html NBA Salary Cap for 2008-09 Season] , "NBA.com", July 9, 2008.]

The tax level for the season was set at $71.150 million, with each team paying a $1 tax for each $1 by which it exceeds $71.150 million. The mid-level exception was $5.585 million for the season and the minimum team salary, which was set at 75% of the salary cap, was $44.010 million.

For the 2007–08 season, the salary cap was set at $55.630 million (profit$3.05 million), the tax level was $67.865 million (profit$3.285 million) and the mid-level exception was $5.356 million (profit$229,000).

References