Presti: All options with the 14th pick to be considered
The Thunder are getting the 14th pick. That’s done and settled. What they’re doing with that pick, though, is not. They could trade it down, trade it up, keep it, or move out altogether. Sam Presti, as you’d expect, said all options would be considered with the pick, but did note that the Thunder are more likely to trade down than trade up.
Here’s a transcript of a brief phone call with him tonight:
On this draft’s quality and if he thinks a player could be available to help immediately at 14: “I think this particular draft has a significant amount of depth. I think it’s pretty equally distributed and as the days turn into weeks and we get toward the day of the draft, I think there’s going to be an increased interest in the middle of this draft in particular. It would be really hard to speculate just based on what’s going to happen in front of us and what kind of player could potentially be there. And that’s also making the assumption that we keep the draft pick and select there, that we don’t move back or use the draft choice in another way.”
On possibly trading the pick: “I think if we were to do anything trade-wise, we’d probably wait until the night of the draft, just because we’d want to know what was coming in front of us. Unless there was something obviously that made us think twice. In terms of how seriously we’d consider it, the best way for me to answer that is, we have to consider everything. And until we get closer to draft night it’ll be tough for us to determine what those options really are.”
On with the depth up front already if they’re targeting wing or backcourt players: “Not necessarily. I think we’ll probably have to look at how to add the most value to the organization with the draft pick. And that could come a lot of different ways and I wouldn’t limit ourselves from a positional standpoint. We not only look at the positions, but we look at skillsets, we look at complementary attributes with regard to out entire team and combinations of lineups that might be able to used together. I think it’ll be an exercise for us to determine what those attributes are, but I certainly wouldn’t limit us to any specific position.”
On not anticipating having this pick after trading it earlier in the season: “Our job is to try and be prepared for every scenario. I feel really good about the work Will Dawkins and our scouting staff has done to this point. They’ve followed a really methodical and rigorous process to prepare for different scenarios that could get presented throughout a season. And what’s really exciting for us is the idea of continuing to layer our team and organization with another person that fits our environment and fits our culture and has the opportunity to grow within a role here in Oklahoma City.”
On possibly moving up: “I think history shows it’s not an easy proposition to move up into the lottery period. When you get to the place where we’re currently anchored, to penetrate into the top 10, it becomes a little more challenging. It always comes down when making a transactions with another team is finding how to partner so that you have aligned interests with them. That’s what the next several weeks will be about is having those conversations. I could probably write your stories for you guys already, because we’ll have conversations with teams that are in front of us, we’ll have conversations with teams that are behind us, and we’ll probably have conversations with teams that aren’t even in the draft, without picks. So that shouldn’t come as a surprise to anybody, that’s part of the job at this point. It’s part of part of the thorough and rigorous process, but certainly moving moving up is a different formula than moving out or moving back.”
On having 13 players under contract already, with Kanter and Singler possibly making 15, meaning something having to give: “Certainly, those are facts, but I think with any situation, at least in our opinion, those are good decisions to have. I think furthermore, every team roster and their free agency, their drafts, all of those things are under construction until the first day of the regular season. One of the things we’ve always tried to do is be very methodical in how we make our decisions and be as creative as we can. As I’ve said before, we feel really good about the team we’re bringing back but to transport ourselves or catapult ourselves to what the team is going to look like in early November, that’s really hard to do. There’s a lot of work that has to be done before that, and a lot of things that we can’t necessarily predict until we confront them. All I can say is we like the hand we’re playing right now. We’re excited to see where those things lead and first order of business for us is identifying how to best impact the organization from a value standpoint going forward.”
On if Josh Huestis will be with the team next season: “He’s someone that we think very highly of and we think he has a future of the team. That could be as early as next season.”
On if Russell Westbrook is banned from the lottery for failing tonight: “Russell’s not banned, but that particular shirt may not make another appearance. The only disappointing thing for us this evening is that no one got to see his pants.”
On Billy Donovan possibly being an asset during the draft evaluation having been in the college ranks: “I think for sure Billy, and any college coach that has experience with recruiting and USA Basketball, is certainly an asset for a team like ours. I also think the NBA is getting younger and younger. The vantage point and perspective in dealing with today’s younger athletes and the pressures and the distractions that come with being a young person in the industry of professional basketball, and I think that’s a tremendous advantage to have in our organization and I think Billy has that at a very high level. Certainly we’re going to have a lot of discussions about the players and I think he’ll have a unique perspective on them.”
On Kevin Durant’s rehab: “Doing well. Progressing. There are certain benchmarks for him to hit in the offseason. We’re not at the weight-bearing stage, but we’re definitely moving in the right direction and excited about him being back on the floor toward the end of the summer.”
On what the team wants to see from Josh Huestis for him to be on the roster next season: “First thing for us is we have a pretty significant body of work with his season with the Blue team. And we’re very, very confident with his ability to impact our team in the future. Just like all the players we’ve draft, at some point we expect them to be with our team and Josh certainly could be with us this coming season.”
On where they’re at with Donovan’s coaching staff: “We’ve been methodically working through that, making progress and having the necessary conversations. We’re not going to make individual announcements or provide updates, I would rather just wait until we have a full staff to announce. That’s generally the way these situations are handled. But thus far, Billy’s had very productive conversations and is working toward putting together, I think an excellent group around him.”
