OKC Thunder: 5 key takeaways from Sam Presti media call
How the team is dealing and expectations for the future:
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is set to talk to media today to answers questions and provide an update. Given this week’s update regarding practice facilities, it would be surprising if Silver has any specifics on a return date in mind. What’s more likely is the Commish will provide another date for when they’ll reassess and have more of an update available.
Presti on if the season ended now, how he’d view it:
— Brady Trantham (@BradyDoesSports) April 30, 2020
“Every thing that we encounter is a building block for us. When you play a long time, there will be things that are out of our control. When we return, even if it’s next season, we (the NBA) are experiencing it together.”
With that, it wasn’t surprising Presti’s comments reflected the precarious position all teams currently reside in and how everyone is navigating the situation with a view to adaptability.
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Once again, in typical Presti fashion, he didn’t budge on a return date stating: “We don’t know when we’re coming back or if we’re coming back.“ Although the NBA will most definitely follow the medical experts’ advice it seems unlikely they would fold the season if at all possible.
More likely is a quarantined effort by the teams in a centralized location. In terms of structure, the NBA is looking at options to finish the season completely or a reduced slate of games and also considering a play-in tournament for the bottom seeds. As for the playoffs, the league will likely consider the regular full process or potentially reduce the first and second rounds to fewer games.
Presti noted the team stays in touch via regular Zoom calls but he doesn’t stay on the calls long allowing the players to have time with each other. Felt kind of like a Dad saying the kids wanted some privacy.
Those Zoom session, for now, will have to suffice until the OKC Thunder GM decides it’s safe for his players to return to the practice facility. As with everything Presti does this will be something he enters into cautiously with every ‘i’ dotted and every ‘t’ crossed.
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