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OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER MEDIA CONFERENCE

June 23, 2016

Sam Presti

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

SAM PRESTI: Just before we get started, I want to just acknowledge the work of our scouts and staff. These are people that spend the majority of their time in airports and on roads and going to all places to identify future Thunder players. And I know whenever I stand up here and say this, no one ever writes it, but I've got to say it anyway because I really mean it: We are so fortunate to have a group of people that work as hard as our scouts, and I trust them implicitly and they're critical to nights like this.

Obviously, I do also want to begin by thanking Serge. He's been absolutely integral to helping us create a foundation of sustainable success for the Thunder. He's been a great citizen of Oklahoma City, and we're confident that he's going to continue his career trajectory with the Magic in Orlando.

Tonight was a pretty unique opportunity for us as an organization. I think the thing that we have to ac knowledge and recognize is that the reason why we're able to make decisions and capitalize on opportunities like this is because of the development and continued evolution of some of our players, namely Adams and Roberson, and some of the things that we're able to see in the postseason gave us the opportunity to look to add to other parts of the team. I think credit to Billy, as we went through the Playoffs, seeing some different things.

Again, like I said before, the opportunity to add a player like Victor, a player like Ersan and Domantas, our guys that we really feel like fit our team and are continuing this evolution of the team.

Obviously Daniel Hamilton we got later in the draft, and we're excited about adding him to the program. He fits a profile of sorts for us in terms of versatility and ability to put the ball down on the floor. So, exciting, exciting night for us, and we're looking forward to welcoming these new members of the organization.

Q. I guess at one point did you think it was time to trade Serge?
SAM PRESTI: I don't think there's a certain point in time. But the thing we're always focused on is how we make the organization better. How we look to aggressively pursue progress, pursue improvement, and we thought this was an opportunity to do that. As I said before, the combination of players that we're getting back, we feel really fit our team. And, and we always have to do what is best for our team.

Q. With Victor, how important was it to get a solid two-way player at that spot?
SAM PRESTI: I think the number one thing with Victor is his make-up. You know, this is a guy that we've looked at for a long time. He is tough-minded, he's competitive, he's selfless. He is a guy that we really feel like not only brings things on the floor for us, but I think he's going to be a real add to our environment, our culture on an everyday basis.

So he's, I mean, we were thrilled about having him. But I think there is a common thread with the three players that we brought back in this particular trade. These are really serious basketball players. Really high-character people, and guys that I think understand how to contribute to winning and understanding.

Sabonis, I'm incredibly impressed with his understanding and advancement of, not just the game, but the way he goes about it. I think all three of them are good fits for us because they represent where we want to be.

Q. How does this impact the chase for Kevin Durant? Was there any conversation before or after the move with Kevin about it?
SAM PRESTI: I couldn't speculate on the first part of your question. As I've said throughout the off-season so far, we have a lot of conversations with our players throughout the year, and I wouldn't get into the details of those. But I also have to make the decisions that I think are best for the franchise. But we're talking to those guys throughout the year about the team all the time.

Q. Talk about Sabonis' approach. What makes him special to you as a player?
SAM PRESTI: Well, I think, again, make-up, but also I think he's pretty diverse in the sense that we have not really had a player at that position or size that has the passing ability that he has. He plays with force. He understands, like I said, what goes into winning. And I'm excited to watch him continue or to get acclimated with our group because of the way he fits with Steven and Enes and our other bigs, quite frankly. But competitiveness, and force, and IQ for the game. I think he has a chance to be a good player in time.

Q. Talk about Victor as a starter?
SAM PRESTI: Yeah, I anticipated that question. The thing I would say is what we're trying to do is build the best team, and I think Billy has shown that he'll figure out how to maximize a group. I don't know, honestly who plays where. But first we're looking for the type of people that we're looking to try to add to the group, and Victor, obviously, fits with that. But he also is a guy that can play multiple positions, and we have a lot of different -- I think we have a lot of options across the board, not just at that position.

But what I'd like to see is how he goes about putting it together. I have a lot of confidence in Billy. Like I said before, I think his creativity and his ability to continually find different come nations gives us the opportunity to try to go out and capitalize on things like this in a trade.

Q. Were there workouts or communication about Sabonis before the draft?
SAM PRESTI: Yeah, no, we had a chance to interview him. I was impressed by him. But we've watch ed film. He had an open workout in California. But this is a guy that our scouts Will Dawkins, Troy Weaver, Brandon Miller, Ryan Lambert, these guys have watched him throughout the year and felt like he would be someone we'd want to add to the program.

Q. Sounds like Kevin has had a relationship with Victor. There was even some story about a mentor role?
SAM PRESTI: Yeah, I don't -- Kevin, when you play basketball the way Kevin does in terms of like -- you know a lot of players. If there's a ball bouncing somewhere he's usually playing in the game. But, yeah, so I think he probably knows Victor. But I couldn't speak to the relationship specifically.

Q. (No Microphone) has a partial guarantee before July 1st? Is that something you took advantage of, maybe take advantage of the trade (No Microphone)?
SAM PRESTI: No, we traded for him because we think he's a good, complementary player to our core players. He led the league in charges taken last season. He's a 74, 75 percentile, three-point shooter at that position. He's an excellent offensive rebounder. He stretches the floor and as we know in today's league, having people that do that is hard to find.

But that thing, again, like I said for a lot of these guys, he has a toughness that we really like.

As you mentioned, I think we have a lot of flexibility and different things we can look at as a result of what it is that we're able to do tonight. But we like the player, and we like how he fits with our group.

Q. I know a lot of things get factored into the decisions you make, but how convinced were you with Victor Oladipo in the two performances he had with the Thunder and the triple-double and the 37-point game?
SAM PRESTI: Honestly, I didn't think about that. I think that's one of the most dangerous things you can do when you're making these decisions, because if you're only looking at one or two games and how they play against you, you can really fall into a trap. So I didn't realize that (laughing).

But I would say it's more a body of work, starting at Indiana and just watching his development as a player. I just think with him, again, there is a force that he plays with and defensively I think he has a chance to be really, really special in our system, given the different players that we have that he's around.

Q. (No Microphone)?
SAM PRESTI: Well, he went two, right? Yeah, so, I would say that like there are certain guys in every draft that we look at and really feel strongly about that really would be great fits in our organization. You never -- very rarely can you get them because everyone's looking for high-character, competitive, team-first guys that are also really good players. You know, he's on a short list. Then when those guys are coming around to you, it's a rare opportunity.

But like I said before, the reason why I think we're in the position to make that choice is because we've got another one in Steven Adams, and that one did work out for us. He was on that list too. And his emergence as I think an impact defensive player is allowing us to look to continue to add to the team and make it deeper, more robust, more skilled. And that's why we've always talked about the ability to compete year-in and year-out and maintain a performance level, because we've been able to organically grow and use those opportunities when people outgrow roles to sustain the performance of the team and be in a position to stay with the second best winning percentage in the NBA over the last six years, and the four out of six Conference Finals which is a great feat.

Q. Assuming that you got Victor on board now, what's that do for Dion Waiters?
SAM PRESTI: You know, that's an interesting question, because we really like the fact that we could potentially have several players on our team now that can attack the paint, that can guard different positions. They all play with force. It's intriguing. Like we have to sit down and sort through that, but I think it's pretty rare that you have all of these different players that can play pick-and-roll, that can get into the lane, that have good vision. So that remains to be seen.

But, obviously, Victor gives us coverages there. At the same time Dion has shown to be a really good fit the same way. So I'm interested to see that, to be honest with you.

Q. It seems like since you've been here that two guards cause kind of defense first and that will improve the offense. Is that kind of a change of philosophy now?
SAM PRESTI: No, I think the thing I would say is what we're looking to do is build the best team, and when you have players like we've been fortunate enough to have, we're not going to try to do it like everyone else does because I think you get average results. We're trying to get the guys that we feel like fit the best and complement one another more so than fit like a specific profile.

I think when you're building teams, you have to find cohesion and I think the inner play of the skill sets are really important because they're not just playing by themselves. All the things have to fit together. So I'm interested to see what we do.

Like I said before, Billy's excellent, excellent in that way. And I don't think we'd be in a position to make these decisions unless we saw some things, you know, that were playing out in the postseason.

Q. What does your research tell you about Daniel Hamilton? Could you just not stay out of the draft?
SAM PRESTI: What do we like about Daniel Hamilton? I think, again, versatility, size for the position. Needs some development, but one of the things we take a lot of pride in is continuing to work with guys. Christian, Dakari Johnson are guys that have come leaps and bounds since being in our program, and we take a lot of pride in that. We want to be a place where people get better. We want to be a place where players improve, and I think Daniel has an opportunity to do that. He's got size and skill, I just think he needs some more time.

Q. (No Microphone) Hamilton play in Summer League, Hamilton and Sabonis?
SAM PRESTI: Again, there is a process administratively that everything has to go through, but that would be our hope. But as you've seen before, you know, there's all kinds of stuff that can come up. But that would be the plan.

Q. How much when you discuss this with him in many terms of what Billy can do with the players? Is it something that maybe fits him better with his coaching style or is it something you guys discuss?
SAM PRESTI: In terms of?

Q. In terms of the moves you make? Like bringing in Ilyasova?
SAM PRESTI: Sure, I would say, of course, we're always talking about the team. We're always talking about how we can improve. We're really passionate as an organization. How to pursue progress, maintain performance, and how to do it for a long period of time. Obviously, Billy's critical to that.

But I talk to everybody about the team. I want to know from the people that I work with every single day what they think, what ideas they have. They may have different ones than myself. As I said before, Sabonis, our scouts did, I think, a really thorough job on him, a really, really good job. I can't credit them enough. So I wish I could tell you I was watching every -- I was at every game that he played, but our guys did a great job covering him.

Q. Have you talked to Serge since the trade, and if so how did he take it?
SAM PRESTI: I haven't been able to reach him. He's overseas. I do hope to talk to him. I sent him a text message, and I'm sure I will. And when I do, I'm going to thank him because he's been, as I said before, critical to the success of the team, and he's grown as a player while he was here.

Q. Oladipo for Ibaka seems like a pretty good swap. How did you get them to throw in a pick in the draft? It seems like that would have been a decent little trade just the one?
SAM PRESTI: I don't know. You're always looking for deals that work for everybody. Obviously I have a relationship with rob. He knows the player very well. I think he's going to fit their team excellent. But you're trying to figure out ways that make it work for everybody, and everybody would be willing to commit to that type of deal.

You're just trying to find ways to make sense because oftentimes, I said this recently, it's not so much about the things you want. It's about the things that are made available to you. So to your point a little bit, like it's not about things you want in NBA personnel or identifying what you would like. That's not the part that's challenging.

The part that's challenging is actually making decisions that impact winning from what's actually available. So I think when these types of players are not often available, they matched up well.

For us, Sabonis was a significant aspect to it, as was Ersan's ability to fill in around our core players. So you're just trying to find deals that make sense for everybody.

Q. About Kevin, and what teams think they can do, what they can offer. While you're making this deal, in the back of your mind do you think what's Kevin think about? If you don't run it by him, do you think how he would maybe perceive it, or are you just thinking about the deal itself?
SAM PRESTI: Well, I'd like to think, number one, when we talk with him or we talk with some of our other players, we're always learning about what we think is best for the Thunder and what makes the Thunder what it is. So I feel like that's an ongoing conversation all the time.

But my hope would be that whatever we're doing to improve the organization, whatever we're doing to try to build a great program, one that can sustain high performance is one in the same, you know, one in the same with what he's about.

So that's, I guess, that's the best way I can answer that question. Like we're striving to build a great organization, and I think I don't want to speak for him, but I think for the last eight years he's been striving for the same thing.

Q. (No Microphone).
SAM PRESTI: Again, I think as I said before, I wouldn't say so much the finances so to speak as much as just the way the cap works, and making sure that we can continually sustain the performance that we've had over the years and give ourselves every opportunity to win a championship.

I think, again, like in regards to the strategy or things of that nature, that's becoming very much what the NBA's about, especially with the increase in the salary cap. So the ability to have an Oladipo whom is eligible for an extension in July along with Andre, along with Steven at 23 years old, that's important for our team. And Sabonis, obviously, will be on a rookie contract going forward.

I think more than anything, I think there are a lot more options. I think there's more flexibility for us, and an opportunity for us to continually and relentlessly try to put the best team together for Oklahoma City.

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