OKC Thunder: Sam Presti’s greatest magic act occurred a year ago today

Often dubbed ‘The Magician’ OKC Thunder head man Sam Presti pulled off his greatest magic trick a year ago today.

OKC Thunder executive vice president Sam Presti was confronted by an offseason that would forever change the direction of the franchise. Equipped with a strategy entering the summer of 2019 it quickly changed with one phone call from Paul George. How the Thunder chief basketball officer navigated those precious few days was nothing short of miraculous.

There were multiple options at his disposal. He could straight up ignore George’s request since the wingman was committed for another two seasons with an option in the third year. Alternatively, Presti could pull a similar act to what the Spurs did with Kawhi Leonard and send George to another far less desirable destination. Or he could concede and trade him to the Clippers.

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The deal was made with LA but to say Presti acquiesced to PG’s demands would be disregarding the nuances of what occurred in those precious few days. Presti quickly recognized he had a small window to operate and the Thunder had all the leverage since Leonard’s signing with the Clippers hinged on LA landing George.

The tricky part was keeping everything under wraps. If the news had leaked the OKC Thunder would lose that leverage and the package they could get back from a desperate Steve Ballmer. If news broke that George wanted out the upper hand would quickly shift to PG and the Clippers.

Fortunately for Presti, his Toronto counterpart kept the situation under wraps. This in spite of the fact Masai Urjri’s Raptors was the only club to lose a top tier superstar without anything in return. Every other team who lost an elite level superstar last summer gained assets via a sign and trade. This included Leonard’s first and second choices to join him in LA (Jimmy Butler and Kevin Durant). In addition, Kyrie Irving and Kemba Walker also departed via sign and trades.

Not one of those four superstars was happy with their old clubs and yet every single one of them helped the teams they were leaving. In contrast, Leonard had been treated with kid gloves, load managed, and won his second Larry O’B.

Regardless of whether you believe that championship was won solely by the man dubbed ‘The Klaw’ I’ll point you to a 17-5 record without him in the lineup and NBA finals that wouldn’t have transpired without the efforts and production of Kyle Lowry, Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, Marc Gasol or Serge Ibaka. Each of those players played a pivotal role and in more than any of the three series leading up to the Finals were arguably collectively more responsible for the title given Leonard was severely hobbled by that point in the postseason.

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Although the majority of available free agents were already aligned with other clubs, Ujiri could’ve put feelers out for a trade, or (like many teams do) contacted agents or other GMs which would’ve resulted in leaks to the press.

That the Raptors lead man didn’t take those actions can be equally credited for the massive package of assets and picks that Presti negotiated. Suffice to say don’t be surprised if sometime in the future the OKC Thunder and Toronto Raptors coordinate on an equally beneficial deal.

Ultimately, the Thunder GM proved yet again why many believe he possesses a Magician’s skills. And, despite eventually losing two superstars positioned the OKC Thunder for a quick ascent back with the West’s elite. He refused to back down on the inclusion of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander a player deemed untouchable.

Similarly, he demanded the extra draft pick and held fast to that request although it almost became the reason the trade didn’t go through. As Doc Rivers tells it he finally convinced the Clippers brain trust they couldn’t look at what they were giving up just for George. Instead, Rivers framed the trade as the cost of landing two superstars as per Los Angeles Times columnist Arash Markazi.

"“Steve Ballmer was nervous about the picks. I said, ‘Steve, you keep saying six picks for Paul George is insane, but you’re saying it wrong. It’s not six for Paul; it’s six for Paul and Kawhi. So three for each. I would do that.’ You have to look at it in those terms.”"

Of course, that position may be true, but when fans and analysts reflect back on the trade the semantics of the deal will say Paul George was traded to the Clippers for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, the Clippers 2022, 2024 and 2026 unprotected first-round picks, the Miami Heats 2021 unprotected and 2023 protected (1 through 14) first-round picks plus the right for the Thunder to swap their first-round picks with the Clippers in 2023 and 2025.

Abracadabra, Presto Presti delivers yet again!