Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may be the face of the OKC Thunder franchise and the one who receives all the attention and accolades, but just as important to the ball club's recent top-billed successes is Sam Presti.
One of the longest-tenured executives currently in the association, Presti has led the charge in the front office for the organization since 2007, dating back to their days in Seattle as the SuperSonics.
After 17 years at the helm, the storied executive finally managed to bring an NBA Championship to the Sooner State, as the Thunder took down the Indiana Pacers in seven games during the 2025 NBA Finals this past June.
Now, with the Larry O'Brien Trophy officially in their possession, Oklahoma City appears to be on track to become the league's next great dynasty, and, considering how they're currently constructed, the odds of becoming so seem to be in their favor.
Of course, the key to accomplishing this feat is presumably to keep the quartet of Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, and Presti together for the long haul, though, if recent reports are true, there's a chance that the latter may not be as much of a lock to stay as the Big Three.
'New Owner Syndrome' could have affect Sam Presti's Thunder tenure
A few weeks back, Berry Tramel of Tulsa World revealed that current chairman Clay Bennet and the Professional Basketball Club, LLC will eventually wind up selling the Thunder due to the rising valuations of NBA teams, especially now that the Los Angeles Lakers were sold for a record-breaking $10 billion.
Considering their initial investment of $350 million back in 2006 has now turned into roughly $4 billion, Tramel suggests a sale could come "sooner than later."
Now, while the seasoned columnist did make sure to note that, based on the club's accomplishments and the way they've endeared themselves to the state of Oklahoma, the expectation is that the Thunder "have done enough to solidify itself in the city" under new ownership, when discussing the concept of a sale ESPN's Tim Bontemps believes there's a chance Sam Presti may not be so lucky.
On a July 16 episode of the Hoops Collective Podcast, Bontemps praised the organization's current ownership regime, stating that their approach has been "hand the keys to Sam Presti and saying 'Do your thing, we're not going to get in the way.'"
However, when it comes to a complete sale of the team, he questioned whether the GM would have the same amount of freedom to operate as he does now, saying "we've seen a lot of new owners have a lot of impacts in a lot of places," an act his ESPN cohort, Tim MacMahon, coined as "New Owner Syndrome."
With the ongoing talks of league expansion, concerns about Presti being poached have already been percolating. Now, with the recent report of a sale on the horizon, Bontemps has added the fear of possible internal meddling from new ownership as a reason for the beloved executive to potentially consider jumping ship one day.