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OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER MEDIA CONFERENCEJune 24, 2017Sam PrestiBilly DonovanTerrance FergusonOklahoma City, Oklahoma SAM PRESTI: I just want to welcome everybody here this morning. I thank the Boathouse District for having us. It's an honor to be here and have an event like this. Also want to welcome Terrance Ferguson's family and also his representation from Clutch to be here to support him on such a special day. I want to start just by saying what an exciting day it is for the Thunder to welcome not only a player but a person like Terrance to the organization. He represents many of the things that we strive to bring into the Thunder and also into the state of Oklahoma, who he's obviously relatively familiar with, with his roots here, so that's another wonderful aspect to him being a part of the organization. And as I said earlier, it's rare to find a player with this type of makeup but also skill set, and we're looking forward to many great years with him wearing Thunder blue. With that, I'd turn it over to Billy and let him make a few comments and then Terrance. BILLY DONOVAN: Well, I'm very excited about Terrance. I've had a chance to watch him for quite a long period of time. I saw him, we were talking last night, when he was going into his junior year of high school, and the year that I came here, I was supposed to coach the USA team that Terrance played on, and Sean Miller coached him, and I know a lot of the people that have been so close to Terrance and have enjoyed watching him grow, and we're really, really excited to have him part of the organization, and I think he'll be a great fit, not only as a player but as a person. TERRANCE FERGUSON: I just want to give thanks to the Thunder organization just for believing in me. It's been a long journey, many sacrifices, but I'm proud to be here. I'm back home. I'm thankful for my family for being by me every step of the way, and it's exciting. I'm ready to start my journey. Q. Terrance, first of all, what was it like for you when you heard your name called by the Commissioner? TERRANCE FERGUSON: Honestly, it was too much yelling inside the building, so I could barely hear my name. All I heard was Terr, and everybody started screaming. But it was really exciting, like I say. I was surrounded by my family and my close friends, so like the moment is something I can't take back. Q. Terrance, how do you think playing in Australia helped you or will help you in your first year in the NBA? TERRANCE FERGUSON: Australia was a great experience for me, but I've moved forward for now. I've matured a lot, learned a lot as a player and as a person, but now I'm excited to be a part of the Thunder family. Q. Terrance, you didn't play a lot of minutes in Australia, and you're 19 years old, you're still developing as a player, but if there's anything you think that you can bring to the team that can help immediately from the day you get here, what do you think that is? TERRANCE FERGUSON: Just my hard work, my work ethic, just leaning on Coach, leaning on other players and just working as hard as I can and just play my game and have fun. Q. Many people describe you as a three-and-D player. To you, what does that mean? TERRANCE FERGUSON: Three and D, I mean, that's pretty much my game, but I know I can expand it even further. I know people tell me this. But I can do pretty much anything, but three-and-D is what I rely on. Q. Have you had a chance at all to talk with your new teammates, and what do you think about playing with someone like Russell Westbrook, who may be the league MVP as of Monday night? TERRANCE FERGUSON: I mean, you saw what he did last year, the caliber of player he is. It's amazing. To be by his side and my other teammates is very exciting. I can't wait. Q. Did you have an idea that you were going to be -- I assume you worked out for the Thunder, but did you have a feeling you would get drafted by them? TERRANCE FERGUSON: I actually didn't. I actually didn't. But I was really relying on it, especially when they said the 20th pick, I put my phone down and I was just waiting, just waiting for my name to be called. I just put my head down, just like, please call my name, and when I got the information that I was coming, I want to tell you I went crazy, everybody went crazy and I was just full of tears. Q. As a Tulsa native, what are your thoughts on being back home and having a chance to play in front of one of the loudest fan bases in the league? TERRANCE FERGUSON: Oh, man, there's nothing like home. I don't think anybody can say there's nothing like home. So to be back at home and playing with the Thunder is definitely a huge opportunity and blessing for me. Q. What aspect of your game are you most proud of? TERRANCE FERGUSON: Definitely my defense. My defense, I'm going to work as hard as I can and just play defense. Q. You go overseas, you play, you're back home. That's an interesting journey that you have had. How have you grown from that, and how have you changed as a person, not only as a basketball player but as a guy? TERRANCE FERGUSON: Oh, man, that trip overseas was definitely a learning process for me, especially just as a person moving to a different country, having to expand your life. But like I said, I learned a lot, I'm mature, and now I'm here, so I'm blessed. Q. Billy, just from Terrance's game, what stands out the most? BILLY DONOVAN: Well, I think with the way we would like to play on offense, and I've said this before, I think Russell is the best transition player in the league. He is a phenomenal runner that can get out ahead of plays, and obviously an exceptional shooter, but I think his speed in the open floor, Terrance, and being able to run and play ahead of the basketball is important, and then I think that his ability defensively to guard multiple positions, to physically put his body in plays, he'll continue to grow and develop as a young man physically, but he's got a mentality competitively that I think is very, very unique, I think will fit very, very well inside of our team. But the biggest thing is he is a transition player and a guy that can change ends of the floor and will fit in very, very well, I think, with a guy like Russell and some of the players that we have. Q. Terrance, what was the biggest maybe cultural adjustment to that year in Australia? What was the most different? What did you miss most about home? What was the hardest part? TERRANCE FERGUSON: I think the hardest part was probably driving on the opposite side of the road. You can't just get used to that. But when you don't have no choice, you've got to learn quick. But that was probably the hardest part, honestly. Q. Is there somebody in the league now that you've always thought you have patterned or would like to pattern your game after? TERRANCE FERGUSON: Oh, no, sir, not at all. I pattern my game after Terrance Ferguson, and Terrance Ferguson, that's it. Q. Did you reach out to anybody? When you were going through that process of deciding whether to play overseas or go to Arizona, did you reach out to anybody and talk to them, and what kind of advice did you get? TERRANCE FERGUSON: I reached out to my former teammate, which is Emmanuel Mudiay, because he went to China. I reached out to him just to ask him questions, and he just gave me positive feedback, so I just went with it. Q. When you were putting the draft together, Sam, obviously it's different than when you had two top-five, -ten players in the league. Did that change how you went about evaluating needs and things of that nature in terms of what you have now as opposed to what you had in the past? SAM PRESTI: Not really. I mean, the draft, as I've said before, I think really more than anything, it's just about opportunity, opportunity to find value for your team, both short-term and long-term. We've always approached it the same way. We're looking for players and people that we feel like are good fits for us, for Oklahoma City, for the organization, that we feel like can thrive in the environment that we have, and not only that, but ultimately add to that. It's just kind of the way we've always looked at it, and Terrance represents a lot of those things. I think that not only will he be someone that thrives with us because of his personality, his makeup and obviously his attributes as a player, but I also think there's a real genuine nature to him that I think will help kind of foster and help that environment that the next player that comes in will benefit from. Q. Terrance, kind of take us through maybe what you know so far of your next few days. Will you be at the facility and working out with some of the players who are there, and do you plan on going on to Orlando and playing in the Summer League? TERRANCE FERGUSON: Definitely can't wait. It's an exciting year, but it's a business first. I'm leaving it to my agency to tell me when to be there, but I can't wait to put a jersey on. Q. Terrance, I know there was a lot of social media interaction from your video that you posted. What were your thoughts when you see something like that go viral, and what would be your message to the OKC fans? TERRANCE FERGUSON: Wait, which video? Q. The post that you had about the Golden State Warriors. TERRANCE FERGUSON: That's actually pretty funny because I turned my notifications off just because of that video. But that video is just -- because me and Steph Curry are Under Armour family, so Under Armour, we're really close. Everybody is pretty much each other's brothers, so whenever they were playing I was cheering the Golden State Warriors on, but now I'm Oklahoma City Thunder, so that's all that matters. Q. The Thunder is big on giving back to the community. Being from here, how important is it to you to make that connection with Oklahomans and representing the team? TERRANCE FERGUSON: Oh, community is everything and I'm a big part of that. I think my personality can spread around a community and just have fun with it. Q. What's the biggest adjustment you think you'll have to make to the NBA even though you played overseas for a year? What do you think the biggest adjustment will be? TERRANCE FERGUSON: I don't think it'll be a big adjustment, because, like you said, I played overseas, so I got that one year of experience of professional basketball, so I don't really think it's a big adjustment, but mostly I'll just lean on my coaches and my teammates, like I said before, and just roll with that. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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