OKC Thunder GM, Sam Presti post draft presser – sounding like ‘scared money’

OKC Thunder General Manager Sam Presti’s post draft presser offered limited insights but reading between the lines salary is a definite emphasis.

Almost a year ago OKC Thunder General Manager, Sam Presti quoted a song lyric to make a point. The lyric was from A Tribe Called Quest ‘Scared money don’t make none’. The reference was made on Paul George‘s documentary which at the time was chronicling the superstar’s free agency decision. At the time, many were in awe of Presti for his onions to take the shot at trading for what everyone and their mother deemed was a one year rental. Many more were shocked Presti would know who ATCQ was let alone be capable of spouting their lyrics.

Flash forward a year and the past few weeks have witnessed continuing narratives about Presti’s desire to try to trade the Thunder draft pick (which ultimately became Darius Bazley) along with assets in order to shed salary.

To be clear, it’s generally wise to take news leaks regarding the OKC Thunder with a grain of salt. That’s not an arbitrary statement by yours truly. Rather, it’s based on experience, since It’s a fact Sam Presti keeps franchise business in house. Moreover, he does it to the nth degree, not even sharing which prospects the team works out prior to the draft with OKC Thunder fans. Even teams who maintain secrecy don’t tend to go to that level.

However, as they say ‘where there’s smoke, there’s fire. When numerous National Media outlets and respected writers are reporting something of this nature it’s hard to ignore. And, while Presti did end up drafting Bazley, it doesn’t mean he still wasn’t trying to sell the pick.

And so as Presti took to the post draft podium to address the media it was a typical exercise in trying to dissect what he said or more accurately what he didn’t say. And this particular session was more frustrating than most.