Photo by Zach Beeker/NBAE via Getty Images Presti finally deserves his respect From the start of his career as a general manager, Sam Presti has been regarded as one of the best general managers in the NBA. He is the executive who assembled a core of three MVP-level talents in consecutive years and turned a small market team into legitimate title contenders. His 15 years have been nothing short of exceptional and yet the honour of Executive of the Year eludes him. Sam is one of the best executives in the league and has been so for the last decade but that trophy has never landed in his cabinet ..read more

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports Joe is playing at an incredibly high level this season The summer months of the year are when GMs remake their rosters and reload for another title tilt. Fall is usually a different story, front offices use September and October to drill down into the rosters and work out their weaknesses. In October of last year, Philadelphia had an issue with overcrowding at the guard spots. Between Tyrese Maxey, Furkan Korkmaz, De’Anthony Melton, Matisse Thybulle, Shake Milton and Isaiah Joe, they had six guards fighting for three roster spots. It was not an envious situatio ..read more

Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports OKC pressure the ball, sink down to the paint and allow corner threes Over the course of the season, the Thunder have been a tough, stingy defensive unit. OKC are 10th in defensive rating and have achieved this statistical feat while being one of the youngest teams in the league. Young teams are typically terrible on defense and generally struggle to get stops consistently. Unlike offense, defense requires co-ordination and teamwork among all five players on the court at any one time. This is the aspect of the game that young players can tend to have issues with ..read more

Rich Storry-USA TODAY Sports Waters III was added to the main roster after Eugene Omoruyi was waived earlier this week On Tuesday afternoon, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that Lindy Waters III has agreed a two-year deal with the Thunder and will now finally be added to the main roster. Eugene Omoruyi was waived to create a roster spot so that Waters III could be signed. The Oklahoma City Thunder are signing two-way guard Lindy Waters III to a new two-year, $3.8 million deal, with a team option for 2023-24, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. — Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) Februa ..read more

Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports J-Dub has found a crucial role in the starting lineup The Thunder’s draft night in 2022 was broadly defined by two storylines. OKC landing Chet Holmgren was shocking, everybody expected Orlando to pass up Paolo and take the Gonzaga center. The other story was the Thunder’s decision to trade three firsts for the 11th pick, Ousmane Dieng. The trade itself seemed like lopsided and there was a lot of discourse about whether Sam Presti overpaid for the talented, young Frenchman. The Dieng selection meant that Presti’s next pick flew under the radar. For Jalen Williams ..read more

Lon Horwedel-USA TODAY Sports Saric’s player profile seems to fit neatly with what Coach Daigneault wants at the center spot At the trade deadline, the Thunder acquired Dario Saric from the Suns for Darius Bazley. It was a move done to shore up the front-court after Mike Muscala was shipped out earlier in the day. I had expected for Saric to play in the Thunder’s game against the Pelicans but the Croatian did not play. Coach Daigneault chose to bring Jeremiah Robinson-Earl back into the rotation after a long spell on the sidelines due to injury. This meant that Saric did not make his debut and ..read more

Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports In the Thunder’s last game, J-Will subdued Anthony Davis and found his groove on offense Before we get into talking about the Thunder, I would like to congratulate LeBron James on passing Kareem as the league’s all-time leading scorer. James has played at a top level for twenty years and his ability to sustain his performance year in year out is hugely impressive. For the Thunder, the game against the Lakers was massive. The possibility of LeBron making history meant that the game was flexed onto national television and 200 journalists descended on Los Angeles. It ..read more

Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports Oklahoma City made moves around the edges and dealt away a fan favourite As the dust settles after the trade deadline, it is clear that the Thunder have been more active than what many expected. In the run up to the February 9th, there was a belief that a move for Darius Bazley would be done if the right move could be found for him and the Thunder. However, a trade involving Bazley did not seem particularly likely. The market around Darius has been quiet for the last year or so and his recent absences from the rotation meant that his stock did not have much buzz a ..read more

Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports Kevin Durant will be on the market and can help usher in a new era of Thunder basketball On the 4th of July 2016, a hundred thousand Thunder hearts sank as they read the Players Tribune. Their homegrown star, Kevin Durant had chosen to move to new pastures in the Bay Area and leave the Thunder. At the time, it was a gut punch. The bedrock of Thunder basketball was built on three core players. You had the scowling defiance of Russell Westbrook, the ferocious defense played by Serge Ibaka and Kevin Durant’s reliable, efficient scoring. Durant came in at ground zero ..read more

Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports OG has been recently been placed on the market by the Toronto Raptors as they look to retool In the last few days, the noise around the Toronto Raptors has grown stronger. Since the start of the season, we have heard murmurings of discontent among players and the front office alike. The Raptors are #12 in the Eastern Conference with a record of 23-30 and are currently slipping away from the competitive pack. For years, Toronto have prided themselves on being competitive every single season but it now finally appears that the cycle for this group has reached an end ..read more