Storied OKC Thunder executive Sam Presti is one of the best asset collectors and overall team builders the league has ever had to offer.
From the club's big-three of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden back in the 2010s to the current iteration that's led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren, throughout his 18 years at the helm, Oklahoma City has regularly found itself sporting one of the best collections of talent in the association.
However, even with all of his success stories, during his nearly two-decade-long tenure with the organization, there have also been a few moves made that, in all likelihood, he looks back on with a bit of regret.
One, in particular, that he and Thunder fans have constantly been reminded of throughout the 2024-25 campaign is the decision to part ways with former Virginia standout Ty Jerome back in 2022, for, only three seasons later, he now finds himself serving as one of the biggest X-factors on the Eastern Conference Semifinals-bound Cleveland Cavaliers.
Former Thunder guard one of key figures on second round-bound Cavs
A member of the short-lived, post-Chris Paul rebuild, Jerome served as a regular contributor within coach Mark Daigneault's rotation, seeing 19.6 minutes per game during his two-year stint in OKC and averaging 8.6 points, 2.8 assists, and 2.1 rebounds on 35.3 percent shooting from deep throughout.
Despite proving himself to be a quality spark plug offensive weapon off the pine, in his efforts to continue utilizing and, in turn, creating roster space for his treasure trove of draft capital, Presti opted to trade the former undrafted free agent ahead of the 2022-23 season.
Of course, while this aforementioned transaction directly helped free up roster spots for the likes of Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, and Ousmane Dieng, it also saw the franchise part ways with a player who, now in his sixth season in the association, has become one of the NBA's breakout guards.
Currently in his second season in Cleveland, Jerome found himself posting career-best averages virtually all across the board, as he wrapped up the regular season averaging 12.5 points, 3.4 assists, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.1 steals on 51.6 percent shooting from the floor and 43.9 percent shooting from distance.
As a result of his on-court production and overall impact on the number one-seeded Cavs, the point guard finished as a top-three finalist in the 2025 Sixth Man of the Year race.
More impressive than this respect given in the polls, however, is the fact that he's only managed to step up his game under the bright lights of this year's postseason.
Serving as a major difference-maker in the club's first-round series sweep over the Miami Heat, Jerome provided lights-out scoring efficiency (16.3 points per game on 52.4 percent shooting from deep) and elite passing contributions (9.50 assist-to-turnover ratio) in his 22.9 minutes per night while pacing the title-hopeful Cavaliers in plus-minus at +22.0.
Monday night, he was found serving as one of the primary catalysts in Cleveland's series-clinching win down in South Beach, as he poured in 18 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, and a block on 62.5 percent shooting from the field and 60.0 percent shooting from beyond the arc in just under 21 minutes played.
Now, at the end of the day, this Thunder squad truly has nothing to regret as far as the steps Presti and co. have taken over the years to create such a dominant team.
With that being said, it appears that Cavaliers GM Koby Altman has benefited from OKC's incredible roster-building, for it was their overflow of incoming young, talented ballers that forced the ball club to move on from Ty Jerome in the first place.