Positioning OKC Thunder as the international hotbed of NBA

While the OKC Thunder may not be on the shortlist of most free agents they are developing a reputation as a landing spot is on the international market.

That might not seem like much to crow over but with the association moving to play more positionless basketball it’s relevant. European’s have long been at the cutting edge of working with their big men from a young age to fully develop all their fundamental skill sets. It’s only a recent trend for North American frontcourt players to work on ballhandling, playmaking, and stretching their shots out to the perimeter.

For the executive vice president and general manager, Sam Presti it makes complete sense to target the international market. OKC already is known as a place with a strong culture and reputation so he has that working in his favor.  Building upon that image could help to raise the profile of the Thunder and make it a desirable landing spot for international players.

Presti’s recent draft choices also speak to the openness of the Thunder to build the next era of the franchise with numerous foreign players. In 2020, the bespeckled executive made a deal to nab high-risk/high-reward Serbian prospect Aleksej Pokusevski. Two international guards were added with deals for Theo Maledon of France and  Vit Krejci of the Czech Republic.  Cornerstone Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is North American but hails from Canada, ditto for Luguentz Dort.

Presti aims to position OKC Thunder as the international hotbed of NBA

This year another international player was the focus for Presti who used the club’s top draft selection to bring in Australian Josh Giddey.

Turns out where there’s smoke there’s fire as Giddey recently told Nick Gallo his desire was to be selected by the Thunder:

“Ever since the pre-draft process started, Oklahoma is where I wanted to be. I said to my agent, ‘You’ve got to do everything you can to talk to these guys and get them to draft me.’”

If we’re to read into the comments Presti made to Gallo (in the same article) my theory may have some legs. The vp noted the success of LaMelo Ball and R.J. Hampton both of whom played with the NBL instead of participating in the NCAA.

Going back further in time the NBL has long been a league the OKC Thunder have ties to. Devon Hall was sent to play with Cairns Taipans in the NBL to develop his game further. Terence Ferguson spent his pre-draft year in Australia playing for the Adelaide 36ers

In recent years the Thunder have featured several international players such as Steven Adams (New Zealand), Danilo Gallinari (Italy), Dennis Schroder (Germany),  Serge Ibaka (Republic of the Congo), Abdel Nader (Egypt), Alex Abrines (Spain), and Enes Kanter (Turkey).

Every franchise would prefer to be on an even playing field with the clubs in the two largest NBA markets (New York, California). Yet, the reality is small markets need to carve out their own niche and find their own advantages.

Although every franchise wants the shot of luring LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard, and free agents of their ilk it’s almost unfeasible for a small market. Even during the best OKC Thunder years with three future MVPs on the team, ring chasing vets weren’t clamoring to join electing to play in the larger markets LA (Lakers) and Miami (Heat).

The US just won another Gold medal at the Olympics proving their dominance on the world stage once again. However, international players are catching up to the Americans. Nikola Jokic (Serbia) was the 2021 regular-season Most Valuable Player while Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece) won the two prior years. Joel Embiid (Cameroon) and Luka Doncic (Slovenia) were in the mix to win this past season and will likely be on the shortlist again.

The point is it sure seems like Sam Presti, is a step ahead of his small market counterparts as he seeks to establish the OKC Thunder as a top landing spot for international players.  While it might not have the same sparkle of the VP’s typical magic trades the ‘prestigious’ payoff may pay the greatest dividends.