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 and eight-time All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook, who was dealt to the Houston Rockets to reunite with Harden in the backcourt. The move came off the heels of sending All-Star wing Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers to team up with two-time Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard. Between the two moves, Presti and OKC received a boatload of picks alongside a young, promising guard in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and veteran point guard Chris Paul.

Presti stressed the need to develop the team over time along with a “no shortcuts” message to reporters on the organization's media day on Friday (via Dorian Craft in USA Today Sports' Thunder Wire).

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“We’re still a hundred percent focused on building the most sustainable path for an elite team in Oklahoma City, realizing that that’s something that eventually we’re going to embark on, but we’re not at that point yet, and we think that this season is one that we should really dive into and experience.”

He made sure to caution fans that there are no shortcuts between where the organization is now and where they ultimately want to be.

“What we want to do is be playing meaningful basketball at the end of the year. We want to try to do everything we can to put ourselves in position to optimize the group that we have, and there’s just no shortcuts to that. It comes back to the commitment to the process that’s in place and being willing to be patient with that as we go through, especially with this much change as we’ve experienced.”

The next season may be challenging for OKC along with fans, although at their core the team still has viable pieces that could help them contend in the now. Nevertheless, Presti has designed the near future to be focused on acquiring talent and collecting assets vis a vis the long list of future picks owed to the Thunder.