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OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER MEDIA CONFERENCE

July 4, 2016

Sam Presti

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

SAM PRESTI: Well, first I just want to thank everybody for coming this evening. Obviously it's a holiday and a little short notice, so I want to thank everybody for being here.

I'd just like to start off by saying, of course we're disappointed that Kevin Durant's tenure with the Thunder organization has come to a close. We'd all like to think that it could continue forward, but that's not the case. In these situations I think before we talk about the future, I do think it's important to be very grateful and thankful, and I'd like to thank Kevin for not only what he did for the team and our organization on the floor but also for what it is that he did for Oklahoma. I think he was synonymous with the Oklahoma City community as well as the Thunder organization, and very rarely in pro sports are you in a situation where a player has that kind of relationship and meaning to a city.

I think he helped Oklahoma City and Oklahoma in general in many ways in addition to just being a fantastic, fantastic basketball player. So we need to be thankful for that, and we absolutely are.

At the same time, we're incredibly proud of the accomplishments that have taken place over the last eight years. Four out of six Western Conference Finals, as most of you know, being, I think, second in the league in playoff series victories, and having the fourth-best record in all of professional sports. He was a contributor to all of those things, and as an organization we should be incredibly proud of what his tenure represented.

Again, when you get into a situation where a player of this magnitude chooses to pursue another challenge in their career, I think we've always shown that we're not going to be deterred. We're going to continue to advance, and we've always taken the approach of things are more new beginnings than endings, and there's a new beginning here for the Thunder. We have to embrace that, and we have to lean into that.

None of us are under the illusion that Kevin Durant would be here forever. We understood that this is a business and he has to do what is best for him, but we also understand that part of the NBA and part of sports in general is change, even when you'd prefer that wasn't the case.

In terms of moving forward, obviously we have a lot of different scenarios that we plan for under these circumstances. We're going to take a step back, look at those carefully, try to make quality, thoughtful decisions, and those of you that have been around us and been with us for the eight years we've been here, we've never been impulsive. We've never been reactionary. We've never been careless with putting this franchise in the best possible position to be strong and be healthy and be competitive, and I feel like we've been able to do that.

So we wouldn't change that right now, so we'll be careful and thoughtful and hopefully intelligent about how we go forward. I don't think we'd be in the position that we are right now in terms of the accomplishments over the last eight years if we hadn't taken that approach.

Although the organization will be different without Kevin, the principles, the values, the things that he helped establish as one of the founding fathers of the organization remain intact and will serve as a bedrock for us going forward.

With that, I would answer any questions that anyone would like to ask me.

Q. Have you talked to Russ yet?
SAM PRESTI: I have not personally talked to Russell. We've communicated through texts and then several of our staff members have talked with him. I've been attending to other parts of my duties, but I'll talk with Russell and the other guys here probably either tonight or tomorrow.

Q. Has he said anything via text as far as where he stands right now and how he's feeling about all of this?
SAM PRESTI: I would probably say even if he did, I probably wouldn't share that with the masses. But we talk to those guys all the time, and they're such a huge part of everything we do. We're communicating with them all the time.

Q. When did you find out? What did he tell you? And what was the prevailing reason?
SAM PRESTI: You know, I found out a few minutes before the media. He called me with his agent and business manager, and we had a conversation. Kevin was great.

Again, I think opportunity to pursue a different challenge and step outside his comfort zone. Those were the things that were conveyed to me. I was more interested in making sure that -- he and I are going to talk probably down the line. We've worked together for nine years. I have nothing but respect for him. Those obviously aren't easy conversations, but they're necessary, and I'm appreciative that he called me himself.

Q. Last time we heard from you, you sounded pretty confident that he'd stay. Were you surprised at all by the decision he made?
SAM PRESTI: Well, I mean, I think that's your categorization of confident. I don't think I ever said that I was confident he would stay. I think what I said up until today was this is a decision that he's earned the right to make. We've worked with incredible intention and integrity for eight years to try to build an organization that had a chance to compete year in and year out, that was synonymous with the core values of Oklahoma and Oklahoma City, and we were hopeful that that would be something he would want to continue to be a part of and represent for a very long time.

But we're under no illusion that he would be back or he wouldn't be back. That was something that we understood and understood for a long time. I wouldn't categorize it like we were confident or we were pessimistic. We just were ourselves.

Q. Did you get any sense in the meetings over the weekend that it might be headed this direction, or did you feel --
SAM PRESTI: Well, I mean, when you do this long enough, you can -- I would say this: I would say we have means known and unknown to try to understand and interpret where things probably are headed, and so we had a pretty good indication, I think, that this was a potential outcome.

But again, this is the NBA, and things like this take shape and they take shape in different forms. Unfortunately this one didn't go our way, but I couldn't be more proud of how our organization, our players and our staff conducted themselves over this I would say probably two-year period of time. I do feel so proud of the fact that even when we were relatively sure that it probably wasn't going to go our way, eight staff members and our owner stayed in New York overnight just to be there to kind of finish it out. We've been at everything for Kevin. We've been at his college jersey retirement and countless community events, first All-Star games, every first in his career we've been a part of, and we wanted to finish it out the right way by being present whenever that decision was made, regardless of how it turned out, and I'm very proud of how we conducted ourselves in a lot of the different things that take place in this business. I think it only serves us going forward.

Q. Back to your saying you're not going to be reactionary, would that then possibly imply that you had a Plan B or C and you'll now act on those plans?
SAM PRESTI: I mean, we have a lot of plans for a lot of different scenarios. But I think the number one thing is we don't necessarily control the environment in which those plans are executed. Free agency is pretty fluid. In this particular marketplace, things have moved really quickly because of the cap spike and the money, and each day things change. We'll sit down, we'll look at where we are, and as I said before, like I think if you're impulsive, you can be limited. We don't want to limit ourselves. We want to take a hard look at what's best for the Thunder, and that's always how we've conducted our business.

And I think it's one of the reasons why even in the situation that we find ourselves, where Kevin Durant has chosen to pursue a different challenge, we can look at our team and feel pretty good about the fact that we have the benefit of having an MVP-level player on the team already. We have a group of young players that have been accumulated to surround Kevin and Russell so that they could compete for championships long into the future, and to look at our organization and the health of the organization relative to players like Victor Oladipo who we just acquired at 23, Steven Adams who has an incredibly bright future, Enes Kanter, Andre Roberson, Cameron Payne, and I could go on down the list, Sabonis, these are all players who we feel like we're excited about.

I'm not trying to lead you down the path that losing a player of Kevin's magnitude -- you can't replace him, but I think given the circumstances, we're also very fortunate because we've prepared ourselves in the event that this was something that did take place.

Q. Other teams use players in their recruitment to bring in guys, Celtics, Warriors. Why didn't you bring in players, particularly Russell, to talk to Kevin?
SAM PRESTI: How do you know that we didn't?

Q. Just reports.
SAM PRESTI: So I guess the first thing I'd say to that is that one of the things that took place was Kevin, Russell and Nick met before the process started. I think it's important to give those guys time away from a meeting setting so that they can talk openly and candidly, and I talk all the time about those guys being the founding fathers, and those guys, they need to have those conversations that are authentic, and I feel really good that given the outcome that they had time together one more time as teammates.

Our players are in touch with Kevin. But I also love our players so much because they respected the fact that he needed his space to make his own decision, to make a decision that he felt was representative of his priorities and what was important to him. For us to judge that or for us to label that, that's not how we operate. Those are his choices, and we're going to support what it is that he feels is the most important thing for him right now, and that means moving to Golden State.

Q. Does this change how you feel with the future, letting this play out this summer and just questioning to Kevin, you've got Russell and replacements coming up? Does that change how you deal with him in free agency?
SAM PRESTI: I don't understand the question exactly.

Q. Well, Kevin basically went to this point. Do you handle Russell the same way in terms of --
SAM PRESTI: I see what you're saying. Again, I think Kevin went to this point because our focus was on having a tremendous season, which if we were thinking about July in October, which I tried to move us not to do, we would have probably not enjoyed the year that we had. We had an incredible season of basketball in Oklahoma City. In my opinion, I think it was our best season.

To, I think, have a 7-5 record against the Warriors and Spurs in the postseason, a winning record against those two teams, to go to Game 7 at Golden State, to be up 3-1, and to also overcome a lot of the different things that were thrown our way, I couldn't be more proud of the team and also to do all that in the specter of a free-agency year for one of our franchise players.

But to me, I think, as I said before, this team spent itself, and it really, really spent itself and gave itself an incredible opportunity.

We're really proud of that.

Q. A few minutes ago, you said what sounded to me like you felt like you had done as much as you could do in acquiring talent and building, winning and those sorts of things, but you also referenced a second ago the change in rules and how that's really almost shifted the sands underneath you without almost a prediction that that's coming. What's been your level of frustration just in dealing with that as the rules have changed with cap and salary and that sort of thing?
SAM PRESTI: Honestly, when I said this earlier, I didn't mean to infer that, and I can't even remember what the question was. I apologize. But you know, listen, the NBA and other businesses, they're not created equally. There's unevenness to things. My grandfather, I get a letter from my grandfather that I keep and I read a lot, and one of the things he said, it's like, it's not what they -- it's not what they make of you, it's what you make of what they make of you. That to me is about adapting and adjusting and continuing to press on and trying to achieve what it is we've tried to achieve, which is to put the team in position to compete for championships in a sustainable fashion, and I feel as if we were able to do that.

Obviously we didn't finish the job, but I think we're also prepared to continue to do that into the future.

Unfortunately we're not going to be able to see that particular iteration of the Thunder through. I think it would have been a special thing. But the circumstances that change around you, you know, that I think we could spend hours talking about that, but it's wasted energy. It's inefficient, and at the of the day, I'm not so sure that many people care.

Q. Was there a point you felt a change in this whole process, through the weekend, all the meetings, or even before that where you felt that maybe he was more considering another team?
SAM PRESTI: As I said before, like we have ways of -- known and unknown, of understanding where things are headed. I don't want to comment on when or how or who or what. It was important to us to finish the process and be there to support whatever decision he ultimately did make. As I said before, because as an organization we consider ourselves a family, and we wanted to make sure that even if it wasn't a decision that was going to go our way, we wanted to be present in the event that he needed anything from us. As I said before, I'll never forget for the rest of my life sitting in -- I can't remember the name of the restaurant. We spent a lot of time there. I don't remember the name of the restaurant. Sitting there in the Hamptons with eight people who I love and adore that I work with, with the owner of our team, who was standing by and sitting there. And even knowing -- after the fact that it didn't go our way and the plane trip home and just knowing that that decision didn't go our way, but it kind of brings you closer in a lot of ways. That was an incredible experience to be honest with you, like a really family experience, because it was disappointing, it was hurtful, but at the end of the day, it's what he felt was best for him.

He's free to do that. He's earned the right to do that.

Q. How do you see Russ's role going forward, not just losing Kevin but you lost Serge, a guy that had been around for an awful long time. What do you see him in terms of that leadership?
SAM PRESTI: Well, as I said before, Russell Westbrook is a force of nature. He is a true leader in the sense that he takes it on. He takes it on, and I think he'll take this on, as well. He has helped establish the standards that we work by, as have Kevin and the other players that have come before us.

But this is a different situation, and I know that Russell will adjust and adapt to that.

Q. Given the timing of the announcement today and having seen so many free agents already lock up agreements with other teams, do you feel limited in your ability to go out and work the free-agent market?
SAM PRESTI: As I said earlier, you know, given the spike in the cap and given the amount of money that's in the system, free agency is going to move faster this year. Again, though, you used that exact word limited. I think to be impulsive is to be limited. Sometimes you can't catch the first wave that comes toward you, and if we were in a habit of doing that, I don't think we'd be in the position to have the foundation that we have, which I think is pretty unique, given the loss that we just took on.

We feel really good about how we're positioned as a franchise, as an organization. We'll look at everything to see how we can continue to make the team better. We'd do that anyway. And we had certain plans that in the event that Kevin would have stayed.

But I think to be impulsive or to be reactionary would probably limit us further, and it's never allowed us or it has never been part of the formula of keeping us at almost a 70-percent winning percentage over the last several years.

Q. You mentioned Kevin's impact on and off the court. What would you tell the fans out there? They're obviously pretty crushed.
SAM PRESTI: Well, the first thing I'd say is Kevin has the -- has earned the right to make a decision that's best for him. We have to be truly grateful for what he represented for the Thunder and also for the city and the community. He gave back with his time. He gave back with his dollars. And we need to recognize that. We need to honor that.

I'd also say that what we have been able to experience in Oklahoma City over the last several years is truly something remarkable. As I said before, I don't want to keep talking about the postseason accomplishments and the different things that have taken place, but it's a really special thing to be a part of a team that walks into the season every year with a chance to win the title and with a group of guys that are passionate, that are hard-working, high-character, not perfect, you know, but putting ourselves in a position to have an enjoyable experience watching the team year in and year out. So we have to be grateful for that.

And I also think that the fans themselves in Oklahoma City are very unique because one of the things that they have done for Kevin Durant and others is they've created unconditional support, unconditional support, and I think in Oklahoma City if you're playing hard and you're giving effort and you are trying to do the right things off the floor, they cheer for you, and that helps in my opinion players grow and thrive, and I think Kevin was a big beneficiary of that, and he'll now take a lot of those things that he has experienced and built on here, and he's going to apply those somewhere else, but that's not a statement or judgment on Oklahoma City or the fans of Oklahoma for sure.

Q. Given your track record in developing draft picks, if something does present itself where Russell can be dealt or acquired for draft picks, does that give you more confidence given your track record, making that kind of deal?
SAM PRESTI: I wouldn't link those two things together. I mean, anything -- listen, I don't have my head in the sand. I understand all the speculation and things that make the internet go around. I think this is what Adam Silver had in mind when he said 2016 free agency was going to blow up Facebook. He was kind of a prophet with that.

But I would say that anything like that with Russell is hypothetical. Everybody knows how we feel about Russell. I think that in regards to our ability to draft and develop, that's an organizational thing. I think -- and I also think it's a community thing, too, because of the support that our fans and the environment our fans create for a lot of our players to thrive and grow and understand the development process. That's part of what makes playing in Oklahoma City to me so unique is the fans and their appreciation of the players as people and not just as athletes.

Q. There were rumors that you guys were interested in Al Horford. He goes to Boston, Kevin goes to Golden State, so, lose your home-grown talent, you don't sign a big-time free agent. What does that say to the guys who are here in the organization already and what does that say to the guys outside the organization that might consider coming here?
SAM PRESTI: Well, I think Al was really, really interested, but obviously the timing of Kevin's situation and his just didn't link up, and that's part of free agency. That's how it goes.

But again, I think we put ourselves in a position on draft night with that trade or that decision to have the flexibility to put ourselves in a position to have that conversation with Al Horford, and now in this case here, to be in a position where we have Oladipo and Sabonis and Ersan to move forward with.

I'm not sure understanding -- I think I know what you're trying to say, but I would say that we've had tremendous success here, and I think that a lot of the players that have played here understand kind of what makes us tick and how we operate and how we treat people, and I think that also permeates through the rest of the league.

Q. With Kevin gone, how are things going to be different in terms of your offense and everything like that? Do you think you have players on your team that can take on a bigger role, not that they're going to average 28, but other guys can take on a bigger role?
SAM PRESTI: Sure. Well, this is what I would say. I would say that Billy -- and this is one of the reasons why I think Billy is so good -- Billy is able to work with and create options on the floor based on who he has to work with. He's really, really masterful at that.

If I know him, which I do, he's probably already thinking and has already thought about style of play, things that we have to do differently. As I said before, you don't replace Kevin Durant. He had the ball in his hands half the quarter probably. And that's going to have to be an adjustment.

As I said before, if we were to try to Band-Aid or quick fix or impulsively try to recreate a team, I think that would probably lead us in a direction we'd be disappointed in.

So we have to take our time to understand where we are personnel-wise, style of play wise, and I have total confidence in Billy and our coaching staff to look at where we are and continue to try to evolve the identity of the team.

Q. Do you put any part of Kevin's departure on yourself personally?
SAM PRESTI: I mean, I'm responsible for everything. I will accept whatever amount of responsibility that you feel I deserve.

Q. How should Oklahoma feel about Kevin Durant today?
SAM PRESTI: How should they feel about him? You know, listen, I'm not going to tell people how to feel or not to judge or what have you. I just think that what he represented for the city was something larger than basketball. I think that he arrived at a time where the city was also on an upward trajectory, a 20-year-old young man in an aspirational city. People kind of snicker and kind of sneer when we talk about that kind of stuff, but my guess is you're probably not doing that right now.

You know, we talk and you guys would hear me say, this connection to this community, and the typing would stop and the eyes would roll. But I was saying that truthfully and authentically because I know how this business works, and I know that these days are possible. And we need to recognize what exactly took place here over the last eight years and recognize it and celebrate it.

They should feel thankful, grateful. They should not -- I can't tell them not to be disappointed, but the one thing I would also say is the city should be incredibly proud of what they've helped create for the Thunder. It's not possible without that. They need to carry that on. They need to carry on the spirit and the fight and the grit, because that was here before the Thunder. That was here before the Thunder, that spirit, that ability to continue to press forward. That's in the water here.

I think all of us, Kevin included, was a beneficiary of that approach and what's in Oklahoma. So my message would be, carry on. Carry on and continue to be proud of what it is that you represent. It's much bigger than the Thunder.

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