Oklahoma City Thunder News

Sam Presti says he's sure opening night will be a great evening with the banner and rings ceremony: "We also have a hell of a team we have to play against that night."

Sam Presti on the Thunder bigs depth after losing Thomas Sorber for the season: "We don't talk enough about Branden Carlson... I think he's got a bright future."

Sam Presti “I don’t think we talk enough about Branden Carlson.”

Sam Presti on Thomas Sorber: "First off, super disappointed for Thomas. He was playing great. He was playing 5 on 5 and was anxiously waiting for the rest of the team to show up. He's got the right mindset. He's got great energy. He also has the benefit from a couple players who have been in this position before, Chet and Nikola."

Sam Presti talked about how Thomas Sorber was playing 5-on-5 and playing great anxiously waiting for the season to start before tearing his ACL. “Certainly disappointing”

Sam Presti on Lu Dort reflects back to OKC's rebuild: "When we were getting our teeth kicked in.. Lu was making what we call catalyst plays. Like, we might be down by 15 points.. and we'd be outmatched at times.. but he'd be diving on the floor, harassing somebody up the court.. To me, that's what stands out about Lu. The things we've seen on the biggest stages, he was doing those things when there wasn't incentive to do them."

Nets fans, this one's for you. Sam Presti on Acie Law, former OKC Director of Amateur Scouting, being hired as Director of Player Personnel: "He's got a bright future. He'll help Brooklyn significantly."

Sam Presti on Isaiah Hartenstein being so involved in OKC with his foundation: "He could play here for 10 more years.. people are going to remember him as a great player but also as a great community ambassador."

Sam Presti on signing players long term: "A big part of that is guys wanting to be here."

Sam Presti with an important quote: "Our ownership group is fiercely committed to supporting the team."

Sam Presti addresses all the CBA/keeping OKC together talk. This is worth a read. "There's nothing in the 2nd apron that would prohibit us from keeping anyone on our team. The challenge is for every team that has a sufficient collection of talent is the finances that come with that.. Assuming we're a contending team this year, that will be 3 years as a non-tax payer as a contender.. We won't hit any type of repeater penalties until we're in a new CBA." Presti mentions the new TV deal, a new arena and potential expansion (both domestic and in Europe) as being positioned well for future finances coming in.

Sam Presti on Chet Holmgren coming back from injury to his performance in the NBA Finals: "To be able to perform at that level, at that level of competition... for Chet to be able to.. at times dominate defensively is pretty remarkable."

Sam Presti on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: "He's on an endless pursuit of how good he can be. I have so much trust in him as a person."

Sam Presti: "People talk about expectations all the time. The problem with that is the word 'expect'."

Sam Presti: "We won the championship last year. We have to rest ourselves and have the humility to approach it in that fashion. We won 68 games. We don't get to bring 12 of those with us. We start at 0."

I asked Sam Presti what he thinks of all the potential dynasty talk with the Thunder. He says on one hand, there's dynasty talk. And on the other hand, there's talk that OKC won't be able to keep the team together. "Every team that's won the last 7 years, the same thing's been said about them"

Sam Presti said he thinks the team benefited from playing in the West. That great competition “accelerated” the Thunder’s development.

Sam Presti on Chet Holmgren

Sam Presti on Chet Holmgren: "To be able to perform at that level, at that level of competition... for Chet to be able to.. at times dominate defensively is pretty remarkable."

Sam Presti on Jalen Williams: "The thing about Dub that makes him so unique is he has an engine that runs on both ends of the floor. That gives him such a high floor as a player."

Sam Presti on Mark Daigneault: "Mark's emblematic of so many things in our organization. So many things that we were able to accomplish last year, so many were established in 2021."

"It may have expedited his development in some other ways" Presti was asked if the wrist injury hurt JDub's development this summer.

Sam Presti on JDub's wrist surgery: "He'll be able to speak more directly to that on Monday. It may have expedited his development in other areas. It's not like he's sitting on his couch looking at his wrist. He's been working his tail off."

Sam Presti: "The NBA is not a chess game, it's a poker game." He says in chess, everyone has the same pieces. "It's poker, everyone has a different hand they've been dealt."

The NBA is not a chess game, it’s a poker game. Everyone has a different hand that they’ve been dealt. Sam Presti