Sam Presti Articles - Page 2

Sam Presti knows that he has a championship-caliber core in the Oklahoma City Thunder already. They have a fairly complete starting five with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leading the charge. However, some pieces within the roster need to be changed such that they notch the coveted Larry O’Brien trophy. This is why there may be big moves […]

Former Dayton Flyers center DaRon Holmes II is expected to go in the top half of the upcoming NBA Draft. As one of the top big men in his class, the 21-year-old has reportedly been the apple of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s eye. The club feels so strongly about Holmes that they might have privately […]

The Oklahoma City Thunder bowed out of the playoffs in the second round against the Dallas Mavericks, and while this was undoubtedly an encouraging campaign for the team, fans quickly looked back to the trade deadline as a missed opportunity for the Thunder to reinforce their squad. Their biggest move made was for Gordon Hayward […]

While they didn’t make it as far in the NBA Playoffs as they hoped they would, the Oklahoma City Thunder had a successful season. They were the top-seed in the Western Conference and managed to get to the second-round of the postseason despite being a generally young team. Thunder GM Sam Presti, who’s not afraid […]

Don’t lose sight of the forest through the trees. Falling to Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and the revamped Dallas Mavericks in a hard-fought Western Conference Semifinals is still an extremely encouraging sign of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s present and future despite knee-jerk disappointment. It wasn’t even two weeks ago that Oklahoma City absolutely dominated the […]

The Oklahoma City Thunder were eliminated from the playoffs on Saturday night when they suffered a 117-116 loss to the Dallas Mavericks, but it’s clear the future is bright for them. General manager Sam Presti has made a plethora of great moves to build one of the best rosters in the league, but one move […]

Not a lot of people can say they saw the Oklahoma City Thunder’s rise to the top of the Western Conference this 2023-24 NBA season. Sure, many predicted the Thunder to make the jump. But this big of a leap to the apex of the daunting West? Only a few — and they were likely […]

The Oklahoma City Thunder may ultimately heed increasingly frequent calls to make a consolidation trade. With training camp set to tipoff next week, though, Sam Presti seems much more interested in letting his team’s incredibly promising young core develop and evolve together than breaking it up to chase more wins in 2023-24. “You can’t buy […]

Many have clamored for the Oklahoma City Thunder to add a traditional center to compliment Chet Holmgren, but Thunder general manager Sam Presti said that is not necessarily a focus, because the team does not know who Holmgren is as an NBA player yet. “We have a lot more work to do internally, and the […]

The Oklahoma City Thunder continue to exceed expectations this season. Before the 2022-23 campaign began, many assumed that the team would be in the running for generational 2023 prospect Victor Wembanyama. However, this has not been the case more than one-quarter of the way through the regular season. The Thunder, led by guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander […]

Ever since the Seattle SuperSonics were moved and renamed as the Oklahoma City Thunder, fans clamored for the team to return. Seattle is one of the biggest basketball states in the country, Many want the city to get their NBA team back, as they are a die-hard fan of the game. Well, a familiar face […]

The Oklahoma City Thunder have been rebuilding for a few years now. Their general manager, Sam Presti, has done a great job of acquiring draft capital. They also have some young talented players on the roster. One such player is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Gilgeous-Alexander has recently been rumored to be the next name in the NBA […]

Chet Holmgren made headlines on Thursday for all the wrong reasons after the highly-touted Oklahoma City Thunder rookie was ruled out for what should have been his debut campaign due to a major foot injury. There has been a lot of talk surrounding the issue, and for his part, OKC general manager Sam Presti has […]

The Oklahoma City Thunder are finally seeing some of the theoretical pieces of their lengthy rebuild come to life. What started as a journey with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a thousand first-round picks has now yielded pieces that could form an exciting core. Alongside SGA, they’ve added dynamic, positionless talents in the jumbo sized point guard […]

The Minnesota Timberwolves are going big-name fishing to add a star this offseason. But the stars they are looking for right now aren’t on the court. They’re in the front office. The Timberwolves are looking into Tim Connelly, the Denver Nuggets’ president, for the same role in Minnesota. According to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, […]

It’s not preposterous to say that the Russell Westbrook Experiment failed miserably for the Los Angeles Lakers. His fit with the team was like DJ Khaled wearing skinny jeans. Unfortunately for Westbrook, he has been viewed as the scapegoat once again despite playing 78 out of 82 games for the Lakers. His erratic play is […]

Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant isn’t afraid to speak his mind. His most recent eye-opening comments involved his former teams, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors. The superstar made it clear that he is expecting both teams to retire his jersey once he retires from the NBA. Neither team addressed Durant’s bold statement, […]

Oklahoma City Thunder GM Sam Presti is well-known around the NBA for his ability to rack up the draft picks and build this franchise for the future. Aside from that, Presti has also drafted numerous talented players over the years who have turned into legitimate superstars including Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. On Saturday at […]

Rebuilding teams with a boatload of draft picks like the Oklahoma City Thunder should always be open to making significant trades. However, that does not mean trading away the best thing your franchise has going for itself. In other words, the Thunder would be out of their minds to move Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. There have been […]

Sam Presti and the Oklahoma City Thunder did it again, adding yet another first-round pick to his treasure trove with the Kemba Walker deal. The Thunder are getting the No. 16 pick in 2021 along with Walker and a 2025 second-round pick in exchange for Al Horford, Moses Brown and a 2023 second-round pick. OKC […]

The Oklahoma City Thunder somehow have a stockpile of draft picks over the next decade, at least it seems like it. General manager Sam Presti has overhauled the roster, traded away players, and in turn stockpiled an insane amount of assets as the Thunder aim for a full-fledged rebuild and youth rejuvenation after the failed […]

Obviously, the plan for every re-building team is to stock up on young, promising players and obtain as many future assets as possible. However, it seems that the Oklahoma City Thunder and GM Sam Presti are pretty much hoarding at this point. Following their most recent spoils from the 2021 NBA Trade Deadline, the Thunder […]

As the trade deadline draws closer, teams that want to be buyers naturally become a bit antsier when the trigger has yet to be pulled on any moves. As a result of this, more and more names start popping up as teams do their due diligence to check in with other teams. One name that […]

After Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s stellar campaign with the Oklahoma City Thunder last season, general manager Sam Presti has identified what exactly the guard needs to do to elevate his game into superstar status. Last season, Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 19.0 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 3.3 assists across 34.9 minutes of play. He was one of the main offensive […]

A shortened offseason didn’t prevent most NBA teams from making changes as news of trades, signings, and rumored deals were compressed in just over two weeks from the start of free agency. But no team had more changes this offseason than the Oklahoma City Thunder, which will parade a lineup that is almost unrecognizable from […]

Amid low expectations, the Oklahoma City Thunder have managed to clinch a berth in the NBA Playoffs this year. General manager Sam Presti shared his insights on their overperformance, citing the “randomness” of every NBA season. Entering the 2019-20 NBA season, analysts thought that the Thunder were about to enter a long rebuilding process. After […]

Chris Paul is not just one of the best guards in the NBA, but he’s also doing some good work as the president of the NBPA amid the long hiatus brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the countrywide protests going on. Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti has taken notice and […]

The Chicago Bulls reportedly won’t pursue Sam Presti or Masai Ujiri for their top exec job, per Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic. The Bulls are expected to make front office changes. They plan to seek permission to interview Arturas Karnisovas of the Denver Nuggets and Bobby Webster of the Toronto Raptors. Chicago will not pursue […]

The Chicago Bulls have been on the lookout for potential options to run the front office, with Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti and Toronto Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri being two of the most well-regarded options on the list. The Raptors are unlikely to let go of Ujiri. Presti, the next-best […]

The Chicago Bulls are said to be looking to hire a new general manager this summer and Oklahoma City Thunder architect Sam Presti reportedly has a lot of fans in Chicago. According to David Kapman of ESPN 1000, Presti is the Bulls’ No. 1 target in their front office search: https://twitter.com/ChiSportUpdates/status/1234927135715995648   The Bulls are expected […]

With “Sell the team” chants raining in from the crowd at Madison Square Garden during the New York Knicks’ blowout loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday, it’s clear that fans want the team to run in a new direction. Well, fans might get that wish as Knicks president James Dolan would reportedly be interested […]

Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti was stunned when the agent of Paul George approached him on July 2nd about trading George to a team in which he could play with Kawhi Leonard, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. Presti said he would consider it, but he requested a face-to-face meeting with George before […]

Thursday is going to be an emotional night for Houston Rockets superstar point guard Russell Westbrook, as the former MVP returns to Oklahoma City to face the Thunder. Westbrook is the most popular player in Thunder franchise history. He’s going to get his No. 0 jersey retired and will probably get a statue outside Chesapeake Energy Arena one […]

Ahead of the Los Angeles Clippers’ matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday, Thunder general manager Sam Presti expressed his thoughts on All-Star forward Paul George. PG13 will return to OKC for the first time as a member of a visiting team since the summer 2019 trade sent him to L.A. Per ESPN’s Royce […]

A person close to Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti believes his relationship with Thunder owner Clay Bennett is such that if he wants to leave for the New York Knicks or another organization, he’ll be allowed to even while under contract with OKC, according to Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. […]

The New York Knicks are an organization in flux. In the wake of firing head coach David Fizdale last week, the team will forge forth with interim coach Mike Miller. However, the threat of even bigger changes permeates from the front office, with president Steve Mills reportedly facing job security issues of his own. One […]

When the Oklahoma City Thunder let go of Russell Westbrook and Paul George via trade, it was a sign that the team was heading into rebuild mode. However, they admitted that they’re not in a hurry to complete a ‘sustainable’ contending core. The Thunder have been one of the more successful teams in the last […]

When Chris Paul landed in the laps of the Oklahoma City Thunder in their blockbuster deal with the Houston Rockets, many assumed they would instantly trade the veteran guard. However, Paul is still on the Thunder, and it seems like he’s ready to take this young squad under his wing. In an article by Brett […]

Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti was the architect of the franchise’s 2012 NBA Finals appearance, featuring future NBA MVPs in the trio of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden. Now, Presti is overseeing the next transformation in the history of the Thunder. The past offseason saw Presti part with longtime fan favorite […]