Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti thought Alex Abrines would be the next breakout star for the team. Injuries and personal problems forced the organization to waive the Spaniard, leaving a lack of wing depth in the roster.
Per Maddie Lee of The Oklahoman, Presti blamed himself for not making the ample moves to fill in the void left by Abrines.
“The spot on the roster to me that we didn't have redundancy and continued support was when we lost Alex,” Presti said in his end of season press conference Monday. “And that's on me.”
The Thunder selected Alex Abrines as the 32nd overall pick in 2013. In his tenure with the Thunder, the 25-year-old showed flashes of brilliance, especially beyond the arc. However, in the recently concluded regular season, Abrines played a mere 31 games. He had to sit out most of the season due to injuries and personal matters.
Sam Presti revealed that the Thunder were eyeing veteran guard Wesley Matthews as Abrines's replacement after Matthews was waived by the New York Knicks following the Kristaps Porzingis trade. However, their plans went down the drain when the Indiana Pacers picked up the guard.
“Once Wes Matthews went to Indiana,” Presti said Monday, “there really wasn't a lot of other options out there, and that put some stress on us offensively, and you never want to be in that position.”
Given these facts, can we expect the Thunder to make big offseason moves in search for a wing player? From the looks of it, it seems that will be the case.
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