Thunderous Intentions
Fansided

OKC Thunder front office ranks among NBA best as Bulls interest highlights

By Tamberlyn Richardson

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - MAY 6: San Antonio Spurs GM, R.C. Buford talks to OKC Thunder GM, Sam Presti before Game Three of the Western Conference Semi Finals on May 6, 2016 at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - MAY 6: San Antonio Spurs GM, R.C. Buford talks to OKC Thunder GM, Sam Presti before Game Three of the Western Conference Semi Finals on May 6, 2016 at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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OKC Thunder
OKC Thunder Head Coach Billy Donovan, General Manager Sam Presti (Photo by Layne Murdoch Jr./NBAE via Getty Images) /

Is it any wonder no one in Thunder Nation even broke a sweat that Sam Presti would leave the warm confines of Chesapeake or the franchise that only he has run? Few GMs ever get a shot to build a franchise from the ground up and Presti is getting his second shot at doing that with OKC.

The Thunder Magician gets to create that blueprint with an additional eight first-round draft picks and four first-round draft swaps landed in the trades this past offseason. And, after 64 games he moves forward with Chris Paul being arguably as valuable as he was prior to going to Houston and with cornerstone talent Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to build around.

Presti is in a prime position and has a great relationship with owner Clay Bennett. Again, no one with any knowledge of both organizations ever took those rumors seriously.

Now that Karnisovas is in power the Bulls haven’t stopped eyeing the OKC Thunder who clearly is a franchise Chicago wants to emulate. That’s not me opining on the matter or reading into whispers it’s fact.

In spite of the former Nuggets hiring, the Bulls remain in the spotlight for how they are handling the front office rebuild. The most topical of that attention is why Chicago only interviewed white candidates.

Clearly, the Bulls ownership is highly intrigued by the OKC Thunder way of doing business. This became clear based on the Bulls looking at other members of the Thunder front office or with experience there.

Yahoo Sports writer Vincent Goodwill noted the Bulls asked to interview Thunder VP of Basketball Operations Troy Weaver and Raptors GM Bobby Webster.  Both franchises denied access.

"COO Michael Reinsdorf, the son of Jerry Reinsdorf, spearheaded the hiring of Karnisovas, and the Bulls asked for permission to interview Oklahoma City Thunder vice president of basketball operations Troy Weaver, an African-American. But they were denied by the Thunder, league sources told Yahoo Sports. The Bulls also tried to interview Toronto Raptors general manager Bobby Webster, a Japanese-American, but were also denied."

But, the attention on this matter is fair with so many quality candidates available who were ignored beyond the two above. Especially when Chicago took time to interview Bryan Colangelo and Danny Ferry both who had less than stellar recent performances.

Also per Goodwill, Karnisovas intends to hire a person of color as the new General Manager. Someone who could be in the mix who also has experience within the Thunder front office is Nazr Mohammed. The former player also spent time with both the Bulls and Thunder and while he’s interviewed previously with Chicago it wasn’t for the GM role.

It’s interesting to note two of the best franchises with stellar reputations (Thunder and Raptors) are denying access to their personnel. Given Weaver did interview twice last summer for the Wizards the denial is curious. Perhaps Weaver, like Presti envisions the OKC Thunder future as among the brightest in the Association. Or the Wizards job may have been more compelling given Weaver is a native of D.C. and the job was the top position in the organization.

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