Northern Exposure

Sonics games are getting picked up more and more by national broadcasts.
The only value to the team I can see is that they player value to the fan and possibly then to the other team might increase. Familiar names have more value. It becomes an easier sell in trades if the fans on the east side of the planet have actually seen somebody play more than the one time they arrive in town.

Also, when players like Rashard put up 35 and 11, even in a loss to the Wizards, and it is seen by more than the people reading this page then he's likely going to get more consideration for allstar voting, endorsements, little stuff like that.
Who is the backup PG for the Hornets? Not too many people in the west would know (including me) and they'd be PO'd if there team traded for him no matter how talented he is (or isn't). The backup SG on the Sonics is Flip Murray and the more people see him the more value he has to a fan base in trade.

The "Flip" side is that if you are familiar, not necessarily more talented, the perception might be that you are under achieving by not living up to your name recognition (I'll call them the "Name Blazers"). There are individual Name Blazers as well. Guys that were on TV a lot but were not really all that good, but, fans know who they are, they get bigger contracts or land on teams when they should get the hell out of the NBA (Travis Best, this means you).
Just my guess.