The Oklahoma City Thunder General Manager Sam Presti met with the media in Oklahoma City on Monday and within the over two-hour-long press conference, Presti touched on the plan for NBA Summer League. The OKC Thunder organization will participate in two NBA Summer League sessions this season, first in Utah followed up by the traditional Vegas summer circuit setting.
Playing in two NBA Summer Leagues throughout this offseason will allow the Oklahoma City Thunder more time to evaluate players. With at least four new players coming in, with four NBA Draft selections in the top 35 this year, the organization has to make room for their incoming rookies. That will lead to difficult decisions made by Sam Presti from now until the end of NBA Training Camp in October. These are just two more platforms to evaluate incoming and outgoing talent for the Thunder and the rest of the league.
Oklahoma City Thunder to participate in two NBA Summer Leagues, Josh Giddey, Aleksej Pokusevski, Tre Mann to headline participants according to Thunder General Manager Sam Presti
During his exit interview media session, Sam Presti took the time to answer every question asked to him by the media. The topic of the NBA Summer League was brought up with the team playing July 5-7th in Salt Lake City Utah, and the 7th-11th in Vegas. Presti confirmed prized now second-year player, 6th overall pick in 2021, Josh Giddey will participate in NBA Summer League during the Utah portion. Giddey, who has not taken the floor since February 24th, will get to satisfy fans’ cravings to watch the dazzling playmaker again.
Aleksej Pokusevski will also take part in the Utah portion of the NBA Summer League, He did not participate in the summer league this past offseason and Presti explained the decision as simply time. Last offseason was still a condensed one and spent focused on conditioning and strength training for Pokusevski. Now, with a fully functional NBA offseason, there is enough time for Aleksej Pokusevski to do both.
During the player sessions of exit interviews, last week, Tre Man and Lindy Waters III confirmed they will also play in the NBA Summer League. Sam Presti gave a peek into how the team will use Summer League saying Utah will be mainly veteran players and Vegas will mainly be rookies.