The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the San Antonio Spurs 123-108 in Game 3 to take a 2-1 edge in the Western Conference Finals behind 76 bench points. Thunder fans aren’t shocked as Sam Presti has built arguably the deepest team in NBA history. OKC saw Alex Caruso score 30 off the bench in Game 1. They followed it with four reserves putting up double figures in Game 2. It went to another level on Friday night with McCain netting 24 and Jaylin Williams and Caruso combining for 33. Ultimately, the Thunder’s architect deserves the credit.
Jalen Williams was out with a hamstring injury. Everyone expected Ajay Mitchell to step up, but an injury limited him to just 17 minutes. No other team would survive being without two key scorers against the Spurs, but Oklahoma City rolled to a dominant 15-point victory.
Presti traded for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and the Thunder’s development staff helped him become one of the best players in NBA history. This is not Presti's first rodeo building a contending roster or helping a superstar blossom. They had Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook in their first build. Now, Presti has taken it to another level.
Sam Presti has built depth that no other team can match
The Spurs are a deep team. Dylan Harper is a future star coming off the bench. Keldon Johnson just won Sixth Man of the Year, and Harrison Barnes is a longtime starter. San Antonio got 23 bench points in Game 3, which was absolutely no match for OKC.
The Thunder had 53 more bench points on Friday night, and their reserves were far from tapped. Fans have seen Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins, and Kenrich Williams be impactful role players. They played a combined 11 minutes of action in Game 3. Nikola Topic was one of the top players in his draft class, and he can barely see the floor.
Oklahoma City just keeps coming, thanks to Sam Presti. He has meticulously built this roster. It was a bold move to trade Josh Giddey for Alex Caruso. Presti dumped Ousmane Dieng and has 15 players capable of making an impact in the playoffs.
The Thunder love to target players capable of dribbling, passing, shooting, and defending. If you have three of those four traits plus positional size, there is an NBA role waiting. Presti has cracked the code.
He is not afraid to get what he wants. Presti signed Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency. Lu Dort was an undrafted free agent. The Thunder took Ajay Mitchell in the second round and just traded for Jared McCain. Presti is never afraid to be bold and always finds a way to make the pieces fit. It takes role buy-in to be this deep, so credit to him for finding the right players.
The Oklahoma City Thunder dropped Game 1, but have roared back to win two straight. Jalen Williams' injury hasn’t slowed them down. Sam Presti’s incredible roster has just kept on rolling. The Thunder are inching closer to dynasty status, and Presti is their biggest edge. He just keeps adding pieces, and all 29 other teams are finding it impossible to keep up.
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