Thunder GM Sam Presti Discusses Options With the Draft

This much we know – on Tuesday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder, as expected, drew the 14th pick in the NBA Draft Lottery. From that point forward, what happens with the pick is up to general manager Sam Presti and the multiple options available to him.

In a phone interview with ESPN’s Royce Young, Presti explained that “all options would be considered with the pick.” When asked about the level of talent in this year’s draft, the Thunder GM had this to say:

"“I think this particular draft has a significant amount of depth. I think it’s pretty equally distributed and as the days turn into weeks and we get toward the day of the draft, I think there’s going to be an increased interest in the middle of this draft in particular. It would be really hard to speculate just based on what’s going to happen in front of us and what kind of player could potentially be there. And that’s also making the assumption that we keep the draft pick and select there, that we don’t move back or use the draft choice in another way.”"

Still, despite the talent level, there’s no guarantee the team will even keep the pick, and trading it – to either move up, down or out of the draft – is an option. Presti did admit that if a trade happens, the team would likely “wait until the night of the draft, just because we’d want to know what was coming in front of us.”

He added that securing a top-10 pick would be “challenging” and dependent on finding a willing trade partner “so that you have aligned interests with them.” He added that the next few weeks was all about “having those conversations” with every team in the league to determine how to add a player that adds the “most value to the organization.” Presti told Young that they wouldn’t be limited by position despite the team’s current front court depth.

Young’s questions weren’t limited to just the draft, however. The roster currently holds 13 players and signing restricted free agents Enes Kanter and Kyle Singler would bring it to the maximum limit of 15. Something, as Young put it, would have to give. Presti responded as follows:

"“Certainly, those are facts, but I think with any situation, at least in our opinion, those are good decisions to have. I think furthermore, every team roster and their free agency, their drafts, all of those things are under construction until the first day of the regular season. One of the things we’ve always tried to do is be very methodical in how we make our decisions and be as creative as we can. As I’ve said before, we feel really good about the team we’re bringing back but to transport ourselves or catapult ourselves to what the team is going to look like in early November, that’s really hard to do. There’s a lot of work that has to be done before that, and a lot of things that we can’t necessarily predict until we confront them. All I can say is we like the hand we’re playing right now. We’re excited to see where those things lead and first order of business for us is identifying how to best impact the organization from a value standpoint going forward.”"

One of the options available to Presti and the Thunder is Josh Huestis, last year’s draft pick who has yet to play in an actual NBA game. Presti told Young that they “think very highly” of Huestis and that he has a future with the team, perhaps as early as next season.

But, despite Presti’s detailed observations on the draft, perhaps no response was more important that this statement on Kevin Durant‘s rehabilitation following season-ending surgery:

"“Doing well. Progressing. There are certain benchmarks for him to hit in the offseason. We’re not at the weight-bearing stage, but we’re definitely moving in the right direction and excited about him being back on the floor toward the end of the summer.”"

Good news, indeed.

Check back regularly with Thunderous Intentions for the latest news and updates regarding the draft and any future roster shakeups.

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