SEATTLE — One day, and that day is feeling closer by the minute, we’re likely to see the Sonics return to Seattle. And if it happens, it may just be the most glorious reunion between city and franchise in sports history.

Seattle is a hooper town. The enthusiasm you see whenever an NBA preseason game comes here, the pandemonium that occurs when Jamal Crawford’s CrawsOver league starts up in the summer … fans around here need their roundball fix.

But for those (justifiably) upset that Seattle isn’t represented in the NBA standings, take some solace knowing it’s well-represented across the NBA.

On Monday, Seattle native Paolo Banchero had the type of game the Magic fantasized about when they picked him first overall in the draft two years ago. The power forward and former Rookie of the Year went for 50 points in a win over the Pacers, scoring 37 in the first half.

The effort made the 21-year-old the second-youngest player in league history to drop 50 in a game, the youngest being LeBron James. This wasn’t stat-stuffing either — Orlando needed every Banchero bucket in their 119-115 win.

Anytime someone from the 206 has an evening like that, it’s going to prompt some pride from folks back home. And these days, Banchero is in fairly elite King County company.

Take Renton native Zach LaVine. For a minute, LaVine was known primarily for his Slam Dunk Contest titles — most notably his controversial victory over Aaron Gordon in 2016. Since then, however, he has become one of the NBA’s more prolific scorers, averaging at least 23.7 points (and 27.4 points in 2021) in each of the past five seasons in which he has played at least 30 games. Four games into this season, he’s at a 26.0 point average through four contests — about what the Bulls were hoping for when they gave him a five-year, $215 million contract.

Dejounte Murray isn’t quite that rich, but he won’t have to settle for 87 octane anytime soon. The former Husky inked a four-year, $114 million deal with the Pelicans after averaging at least 20.5 points per game in his three previous seasons, which were spread out with the Spurs and Hawks. This was a guy picked 29th in the 2016 draft — not typically a spot reserved for future All-Stars (LaVine is also outperforming his draft status, as he went 13th). And though Murray suffered a hand fracture in New Orleans’ season-opening win earlier in the month, he should return in the four to six weeks and make an impact.

How about Corey Kispert, the Edmonds native? The shooting guard/forward went the increasingly rare route for first-round draft picks, spending four seasons at Gonzaga before going 15th overall in 2021.

The man is a study in year-to-year development, as he averaged 6.7 points as a freshman, 8.0 as a sophomore, 13.9 as a junior and 18.6 in his first-team All-American senior year. Now, he’s posting 12.3 points per game for the Wizards and is averaging 10.9 points over his four-season career — all while shooting 38.7% from three-point distance.

We can head south to Federal Way High School, where Jaden McDaniels played. He was a top-10 national recruit, but shortcomings at UW pushed him all the way to the 28th pick of the draft. Now, however, he can say he had two consecutive seasons in which he posted a double-digit scoring average with the Timberwolves. He also can say he was a key cog in Minnesota advancing to the Western Conference finals — proving worthy of that five-year, $136 million deal.

The Blazers’ Matisse Thybulle is a former Washington Husky who’s now in his sixth year in the NBA and playing on a three-year, $33 million contract. The Pistons’ Isaiah Stewart is a UW product in his fifth season making $15 million a year. Michael Porter Jr. won a mythical national championship while playing for Nathan Hale (he’s not from Washington state and played here just one year), won a title with the Nuggets and is bringing in $36 million per year.

Rainier Beach’s Kevin Porter Jr.? Now with the Clippers in his fourth year. Hale and Garfield’s MarJon Beauchamp? Now with the Bucks.

Seattle is the 18th most populous city. Seattle-Tacoma is the 13th-largest market. Yet the area continues to flood the NBA with players, and there seems to be about as much local talent there as there has ever been.

There is no one team to root for in the NBA (well, maybe anyone playing Oklahoma City, where the Sonics relocated in 2008), but there are plenty of people. So before Seattle has 15 players on one roster, enjoy the players on all those other rosters.

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