GM Sam Presti 2023-24 End-of-Season Media Availability | Full Press Conference | OKC Thunder
uh good morning um it’s really great to have everybody with us today as we close out the uh 16th season of Thunder basketball um and look forward to the 17th um want to just start with a few thank yous just want to thank all of our fans uh from around the world in the city in the community uh all of our partners people that are involved with the team engag with the team support the team um everybody in basketball operations that gives up so much time uh in their personal lives to be a part of what it is that we’re doing uh on a day in and day out basis and um again just a special thanks to the community and uh the relationship that we have with them as well as uh everybody in the room the media everybody that uh tells our story to the team to the to the uh to the fans on a daily basis and has done that for so long such a big part of um what it is that we do so we’re super grateful for that I also just want to take a second to uh recognize um I was thinking about Bob Barry Jr recently and uh you know it will be nine years uh in June that we lost him he was obviously a huge factor in uh the community a huge member of the media uh I think it’s important that we continue to keep his his uh memory alive he was a he was a great supporter of the team had a great great energy about him so never want to lose an opportunity to to reflect on the people that have been a big part of our of our journey so um want to make sure we do that um so would that open up with uh any questions you guys have Sam you’ve had some great players here over the course of time some Hall of Fame level players here uh over the 16 years and you’ve got this kind of new group of players now some of those guys who are really tracking towards uh having incredible careers I just wonder you know what you think these guys have maybe in in common or or different from some of the the other high level high level players you’ve had here over time we we’ve been super blessed with a lot of different um elite players in a short amount of time uh and we’re we’re always grateful for that um in my experience uh so far the thing that I have tried to really study and try to learn as much as I can is you know what makes and separates these Elite guys um because I think it’s more their differences than their commonalities obviously you can’t get to that status unless you know you’re a hard worker you know you take your profession seriously I mean there’s some just Baseline things um but each one of them that I’ve had the ability to be around and observe um you know has something about them that is like a point of difference um and and I’ve really tried to understand like how like why they’re in it why they’re doing it how to try to support their goals and the potential that they’re trying to to recognize regardless of where they are in their career and it’s been a big learning experience for me personally the one thing that I do think is a big differentiator um I guess you could call it a commonality but the best players are the secure players the best players are the secure players the players that can see clearly their own limitations um and not just the limitations of their teammates or their opponents but also that Clarity and security allows them to see the things like that they can do and work toward to improve you know and um I really think that’s a big one especially in today’s day and age you know um obviously with Shay because he’s you know most present in my mind I think he’s a secure player I think that he is able to see himself clearly and isn’t always looking at the shortcomings of others um he’s not burning a lot of emotion on that he’s burning his emotion on how to improve and um you know not not always looking outwardly because I think he’s confident and I think that’s a sign of a of a you know you have to be pretty confident and have blinders like that if you’re going to be performing night in and night out at that level Sam use the metaphor about you don’t buy paint for a house before you actually buy the house in relation to not knowing what the team might need before it sort of reveals itself in this first go around in the playoffs what what revealed itself as far as needs well you know when I said that I think the thing you have to think about there is it’s not just a matter of knowing what you need it’s a it’s really a matter of knowing what you have right it’s not a matter of knowing what you need it’s a it’s a matter of knowing what you have that’s that’s as important as anything and I think um one of the things that we learned is we have like a really good base to work with if we if we went down the path like a more performative you know outside acquisition like a lot of people were were were asking for I don’t think we know nearly as much about the team um I remember saying you know everybody wanted us to to to Cobble together our draft uh tools and and you know and add a a star and the question I asked was are we sure are we sure we don’t have some players amongst us that could potentially walk in those shoes at some point and if we were to be trying to accelerate something that maybe is best organically could we be suppressing that you know that potential and I think we learned that we do have some guys in chat and and Jaylen that um are certainly not there yet but I wouldn’t bet against them um I think the other thing that we learned is that we’re we’re we’re kind of a oneof one situation Joe because um we we still have so much more to to do and we have a lot to learn and we have a lot of experiences we need to gather and go through but we can’t take away the fact that this was the youngest team in history to win a playoff series a division um finished first in the conference and the Western Conference was not for the faint of heart it never is but um certainly certainly an accomplishment in that right um and so I think we learned that we are like historic in that in that sense now that doesn’t promise us anything next year um and I think it’s naturally easy to pin our limitations and our shortcomings you know on things that maybe another team that’s more conventional or more traditional um may have um but I think it’s important to note that you know we also haven’t been at it as long as some of those teams too so um I think we learned quite a bit I don’t you know I also think it’s important to recognize we lost 58 games two years ago won 57 this year um so I’m not surprised that we’re not like a complete or perfect team I mean no team is but certainly not going to be complete and perfect team in a two-year window like that um you know we didn’t mortgage our future to to get that result um we also um we didn’t do anything like performative to to accelerate that process so I think we learned that we have a good start and we have a really good base it’s hard to compare us to like or run the the the NBA tropes out there because there’s not a lot of examples of teams like this that makes it I guess it could make it more difficult for that reason but um I’m glad we took the path that we did ultimately we trusted the team you you alluded to you know some of the noise at the trade deadline why don’t they do more stuff like that be more aggressive like how how did did you guys approach the trade deadline and did the team being you know it’s standing at or near the top of the West how did that kind of impact your thinking there well I wasn’t referring to the straight deadline I was referring I’m happy to answer the question but um but I I was referring I was referring to the beginning of the season when people were I don’t think people were really clamoring for that at the trade deadline um there there was more the beginning of the year um trade deadline um you know the one thing that we have to look at is where we were and where we finished um you know one like after the trade deadline we you know we were in first place and after the season after the regular season concluded we ended up in first place um the team really surged after that and um I think a big part of it is we didn’t manipulate it to a huge degree um obviously we made the trade for Gordon and um you guys can ask me about that separately if you want I’m happy to talk about that I just don’t want to like get diverted with this particular question but um and that trade is like a multi-dimensional trade for us right you’re consolidating um you know three players who ultimately you know would like to play more um you’re clearing up a significant amount of future salary and you’re bring bringing a player in who you think very highly of who you don’t you know who who who fits who seemingly fits the style in which you play I do think it’s really that that particular period was very instructive uh because I think it’s a good learning opportunity for us that this particular team or iteration of the team could be really challenging to add to in the middle of the season um and we were trying to be as delicate as we could now I like how it ended because we obviously were significantly better at the end of the year than we were at the deadline um and we certainly you know if we did something else I don’t know that it would have um taken away from the formula that we had kind of found for the year um I mean even the rebounding like which I know is a question that we’ll talk about you know we after the trade deadline we were the 10th best defensive rebounding team in the league now I’m not saying that was because of the trade deadline I think it was probably a factor of a lot of different factors but by kind of uh continuing to trust the team at the end of the day that’s what I felt we did um we finished with the best record the first division uh we certainly could have done some things different if we did I don’t know that it could have been better it could have been worse I don’t know it just would have been different um but um I do think it’s instructive just with our play style and when you have a good thing moving um you know manipulating that doesn’t mean it always gets better it could obviously get worse I think we tried to thread the needle and I’m pleased with the way you know where we end it you know yeah Ju Just One Quick followup sorry um you you mentioned this particular team was might be difficult to to add to is that because of play style you well I yeah I think for sure I think play style is the first thing um because of the way we play um the the continuity that we’re establishing um this particular Year we’re you know we were the second best or third best net rating team in the league at that point in time um and you have to remember where we started like just for for context like but the beginning of the season um there were people that didn’t think we were serious that we were going to play Chad at the five you know so Chad hadn’t played an NBA game um we were you know as I said before we were a year removed from from uh losing 58 games um we didn’t know if you asked at the beginning of the Season could Jay will Isaiah Joe Aaron Wiggins play in Elite postseason competition I couldn’t have answered that question I’m sure some of you could have but I couldn’t I couldn’t have um so like we’re learning through the entire year you know what I mean and that to me I just you I didn’t want to really disrupt that learning process I felt that we could still think finish you know and maybe be better than we were um because the team is continually get better and um in Gordon’s defense actually I I I agree with him on a lot of that it’s we were really surging at that time and it’s hard to I think bring somebody in that you know I think he used the phrase like when the train is moving or something like that and that that’s accurate um especially when we’re asking him and other players to do some things that are maybe different than they have done in the past especially if there’s a role that’s significantly different so I just think it’s something we have to be we have to be cognizant of um you know as as we go forward because we’re we’re really learning still so much about ourselves and the team um and the other thing is is we were a different team in the second half also just because of the development of our players I mean we’re at the point where guys were getting better every five to 10 games and case Wallace on a 10 game increment was really improving and kind of you don’t know where that’s going to end up and um the beauty of I to me about where we are as a team is that that should that type of um Evolution should continue and the players they play off of each other that way players will look different as their teammates develop into different styles a player um and we figure out how to best leverage their strengths so I don’t know that there’s a way to accelerate that I think you kind of have to be patient with it and in this particular case I think it I think it worked relatively well I’m I’m not saying we’ll always operate that way but I thought it was the best thing and obviously the future considerations of how that trade um accomplished so many things for us um as I said not not only did we clear the roster spots to get two veteran guys onto the team big guys onto the team but we also cleared roster spots for the summer you know and and and salary room too so there’s a lot of reasons for it um Bob ple was the outcome Mark was coach of the year this year what stands out most to you about the leap Heats of this season well I wouldn’t limitate just to Mark I think it’s him and his entire coaching staff I think we have a really good group of coaches um led by Mark um I wouldn’t say that there’s a a leap per se um you know I I still contend that the some of the best work and the most meaningful work that Mark and the coaches did was in his first year you know when a lot of the things that we’re leaning on now or bearing some some fruit and some benefit now were really taking place or being being uh laid down um so sometimes I think like your best coaching or your best stuff right is not it’s not it happening before you know it’s really being recognized um but uh he’s he’s done a fabulous job his coaching staff and all the different people that support the coaching staff our Medical Group or Performance Group um you know everyone that’s involved in our Player Development Village so to speak you know everybody has played a part in in that success and uh the coaches have done an excellent job I think of maintaining an open mind which I think is really hard to do as you encounter more success but to me that’s the mark of a um that’s the mark of a a constant learner and that’s that’s that’s what we’re you know when we hired mark one of the things that we talked about was we want a continuous learner we want somebody that is um curious about the game and you don’t want that Curiosity to to to start to dissipate as you’re getting more um successor accolades I mean that’s when the fight really begins to be honest with you in my opinion so it’s my I have to continue to create best environment for our coaches and our staff and everybody to continue to M maintain that approach um and you know being trying to look at things differently or staying open and not like white knuckling every moment um can be an uncomfortable place to be in Pro Sports but I also think it’s a place we’d rather be um than you know with the with the mass collection you know what I mean that the with the with the the strength and numbers is in the middle there so I think he’s GNA you know continue to do a good job just based on his team how do you view this team’s identity stylistically and how might that change in the summer or how much of that might remain the same um I think it’s a great question um the the the answer is I’d say in progress you know um I think that we found a formula this season that obviously worked um to get us to be a top five offense a top five defense um the most historic offense in Thunder history the fourth best offense in the history of the league um and um at the beginning of the year we didn’t know that was going to happen two years ago I think we were 28th in offense most of our offense defense and overall net numbers started we were either in the back 20s you know two years ago middle of the pack last year and now in the top five I mean I can sit here and act like I’m unhappy with that but I don’t think you guys will will buy that um yeah I mean of course we’re proud of of the progress we’ve made over those two years like I said without anything performative happening um really without a whole lot of different we didn’t really add a whole lot I mean that stuff just kind of has happened through continuity exposure Player Development um experimentation you know that’s how we’ve kind of stumbled on to some of these things even even the defense and the rebounding and you know like we obviously are not a great rebounding team but I’d rather be a really good defensive team than a great rebounding team and um that’s not to say that we can’t bring that up we certainly can but I also think in context as I said like the last whatever 35 games we were 10th in the league defensive rebounding and that was with no real change in Personnel um but we also are last in the or I think second or third last in the league giving up rebounds to um Smalls you know to Perimeter players um so you know you also have to look at any context that we’re less than 1% away as a defensive rebounding team percentage wise to the Clippers to the Pacers um to the 76ers where the Pacers were like 0.2% away from their defensive rebounding numbers and we’re one rebound away per game from being 15th in the league so you spread that over 82 games you know that we all remember the certain moments where we feel a certain way and I’d agree with that we can certainly bring that up but I would like to try to do that without manipulating or bringing down what’s really driving a top five defense um I think the other thing about the defense that we learned was we’re second in the league on rim protection you know we’re second in the league behind Boston or ahead of Minnesota um for stopping shots at The Rim now not to get too granular on this but if you’re if you’re making or creating a lot of Misses at The Rim that’s also a lot of rebounds at The Rim which is where most offensive rebounds are gobbled up and taken and so because of a lot of our schemes and the schemes that have got us the top five defense we are pulling over and we have an elite rim protector in hren um but cleaning up the mess after that once those shots are missed and we’re playing at that kind that’s that’s where we’re really open sometimes and part of that we got a small guy in that position on purpose because of the way we’re trying to generate turnovers and as I said before it’s a b of an unorthodox formula it work for us but um to answer your question like we’re not set in any way I think our way is to maintain an open mind to have a beginner’s mindset about everything we talked about that when we were losing 58 and 50s something games and we weren’t talking about that as a bridge to get to a place where we were a more respectable team those are really the way we think um and so you know we’re not trying to prove anybody Wrong by being a bad rebounding team and and and trying to win like we’d love to be great at everything but we don’t want to create a hole in one area excuse me create solve one area and create three holes in another area that we’re scrambling to fix in another way so we’re just trying to find the best way to win and um I wouldn’t say that we have found that because our team is also going to change quite a bit just with the amount of devel the players are going to undergo is it safe to say as a thought that maybe if you get a big people look at rebound numbers they well plug him in there but you’re also looking for a style of play that fits with your what you want to do is that is that any true to that in terms of just yeah I mean certain kind of big that fits the way you want to play yeah I yeah I think every team’s looking at it that way right it’s it’s you if you are just if well here’s another way to look at that minin um we played jayw and shet together for 2 and a half% of our possessions this year okay and that was our choice we chose to do that and by doing that we got a top five defense so I wouldn’t want to lose the outcome of a top five defense in the pursuit of you know trying to find the next Wayne Embry you know so we’ve got to continually work and try to improve all of these different areas but um not at the expense of what’s kind of generating our success now could that formula change over absolutely it absolutely could change but I think we have to be careful about taking something that has worked well for us especially in season taking something that is like generating the second best net rating in the league and thinking that we can just keep all the good parts and add to the you know add and uh and uh you know uh bring up the bring the floor up on something else so yeah I mean we’re looking for we’re looking for the players that help us maintain our strengths and would raise the floor on our on our limitations but we are doing that we’re not we’re like I said before like we’re not trying to prove anybody wrong like like we’re but we are a work in progress because you know it’s an organic project um and it uh it’s still in its infancy and we showed ress in the last in the last 30 games of the year and you know quite frankly if you look at the postseason um the mo the the least surprising thing to me about the postseason was that we weren’t a good rebounding team it also was not surprising to me that we were a very very very good defensive team in the postseason one of the better teams in the postseason what was surprising to me in the postseason was that we dropped off significantly offensively you know to me that would be the surprise of the postseason it’s not gez like they’re not rebounding the ball well hadn’t really been you know a huge strength of the team what has been a huge strength of the team in the in the regular season was our offense we really struggled offensively um in both series for the most part so that’s you know and that’s a learning process um when I say that I say that with optimism because this was our first attempt at postseason success with this iteration of the team right this was our first attempt at postseason success with this iteration of the team and to to connect it to Joe’s earlier question that’s the value of trusting the team through that and then you get to see where the resistance is and where we are um bumping our head a little bit I think we can solve a lot of those things but that EXP exposure has been really really helpful but our defense held up our offense struggled when when you talk about that have you as you’ve looked at that and you diagnose those offensive struggles in the playoffs it seemed to me you guys were getting shots that you would have liked to have gotten but from your perspective were you were you getting shots that you wanted offensively in the playoffs or was it more a question of not getting the best stuff you can I think it’s a combination I think it’s a combination of both things I think um you know we demonstr rated that we could play at a historically high level offensively like I said is our best offensive team in history here and we’ve had some good ones it also is the fourth best in the history of the league um but for a team that’s as young as us to go out and now put that into practice against playoff teams and especially when we got to the second round a re like Dallas is a really good defensive team that is going to make us better we will be reaping the benefits of that do you know what I’m saying saying um I don’t think the um I I don’t think I I wouldn’t I’m not like causing it’s not a matter of like gez like what’s the problem it’s we got to be a little more intentional um I thought Dallas was a superior passing team in that series and um you know and that’s not because we weren’t trying to but like they’re they’re you know they have a little more experience against that level of resistance defensively and I thought they were just half a tick you know it made it harder for us to get out to their to their players but um I think we’re going to get better at that because we’ve seen this we’ve seen this now we also know what we’re capable of so to have the the offensive struggle that we did in the postseason like in whatever it would be four out of six games in that one particular series that happened like twice during the year that we would have that kind of you know but that’s what’s quirky about the playoffs you know you play 82 games and you you end up in these in these matchups and they’re there it’s kind of a coin flip in terms of how the teams match up who’s playing well who’s healthy um you know it’s just a real coin flip in those situations you got to be prepared to endure those things but in my opinion we got so much out of that postseason I felt like we got better every single I I wanted us to keep winning not to keep winning but because if if we kept winning we keep getting we kept getting better every shoot around every practice every film session remember now you go back to where we were at beginning of the Year Chad hadn’t played a game you know dub had put together like a really good second half of the season but he hadn’t played 82 games at this kind of level um you know uh we still had so many things that were Unknown about the team and then to be able to get that kind of experience and exposure um that was fantastic I thought the playing the year before helped us so um we just have to make sure we don’t lose sight of the things that um the playoffs you know forces you to do you know what I’m saying in the postseason um but I I in no way am I disappointed with where we were in in the postseason I just thought that I think if we played a little longer we would have got we would have made some shots we would have figured it out a little bit but that’s uh that’s a process that every team has to go through you know those are the necessary steps and um and I’m I’m proud of how we how we managed it you know we were that series was a I mean the point differential that series was Zero you know and um there was a couple things here or there but I did feel like you know they’re the superior passing team they’re also a little more experienced than we are and um I think we have the ability to be on that level regular season I think you can win with the dribble postseason I think he win with the pass and then in the in the in the toward the end of the game your best players got to make the plays off the dribble which we all know but um and and we were we were I think our intentions were good we just hadn’t seen that yet and I think we’ll get better with it and have quite a few extensions coming up the next two summers um have a lot of money to deal with this this offseason with the changes in the new changes in the CB how how much is financial flexibility going to be for you guys cuz I mean they can get those extensions can get pretty expensive not trying to get ahead of ourselves but you can’t get up there yeah um well I think first thing you got to think about is how do we get to this point in time um we got here by I think trying to be extremely thoughtful trying to um be discipl LED trying to operate kind of with like independent thinking about how to how to um how to build the team from the ground up and now we’re in a position where we have some flexibility as you said um we have some players under contract that will be able to have those conversations with um that are still quite young um I can’t I I really can’t get I don’t even know the how the rules change so much I don’t even know what I can say on these things but just like I would just say we have young players that we think are going to get better and are going to um improve you know over a long period of time that we’d love to we’d love to have with us um as in terms of the actual finances I think for us it’s important to Note One um you know they’re they’re I don’t again I don’t know what I can say here but there appears to be a TV deal that could potentially get done um that would be extremely beneficial for our team um in the event expansion ever took place in the NBA that would be extremely financially beneficial for our team and we have a new Arena fortunately coming to Oklahoma City which is a big economic component to our um to our entire apparatus so those financial inputs potential Financial inputs could be significant for us um as the second smallest Market in the league um so I feel really good about the health of the organization in that respect there was obviously so much joy with this team on the court and after talking all the guys during their end of season interviews it was very clear that that Joy Spilled Out off the court as well in the locker room showing up to work every day what was your perspective of the chemistry of this team well um you know every team is so different like every every team is so different we’ve had some real fun like sidebars that have taken place over time I mean we have the barking this year um you know we did get Gordon to bark so we have that going for us um and then um and we had you know the stash Brothers thing we had that thing going we had the Thunder youu you know thing going early on now if you really want to feel old one of the guys from Thunder youu is not only graduated but he’s working for us now Eric mayor um so so um so we’ve had some of these things every team’s super different um it all comes from the players the personality of the players um and we got a great group that way they’re joyful they are optimistic um they’re super they’re fun to be around um you don’t have to lighten them up which I think is good we’ve had some teams in the past that we’ve had to uh we’ve had to kind of break the ice with occasionally um I’ll give you a funny story on this uh statue of limitations is over here um um it’s really my own statue of limitations we so when we were in the we were in the uh uh I can’t remember we were playing San Antonio in the playoffs and it was during this like really weird time where the NBA was cracking down on the dress code but they were also starting to promote the outfits so it was like they’re calling us and threatening to find us but then the marketing team their their marketing team was Plastering pictures of Russell walking in so um and they like to give was a hard time I felt so they so they called me like the day of a game on playoff game in San Antonio so it’s either a second round or whatever or or Western confence and they’re like you need to talk to Westbrook about his what he’s wearing I go it’s the day of a playoff game I go he might have like some like chaps and a cowboy hat I don’t know what the guy’s wearing but he probably doesn’t have we’re on the road we don’t you know I don’t know you know if he’s got another he’s definitely not walking in in sweatpants I can tell you that you know he may he may not play so um so I waited because they are really giving us a hard time about this and you we’re gonna find you guys if these if he doesn’t do this and um that was kind of ridiculous um but so I called Ray Westbrook his his brother I said I need you to get me like an an outfit of Russells and so I dressed up in one of Russell’s a sleeveless um hooded sweatshirt leather pants and a gold like he had this like it was like a gold lion Medallion which when I picked it up it was so cheap I was like Russ you know like this is come on man like I know what you make you know we don’t have to um and uh and so because the team was very tight and it was so serious like it’s you’re not it’s a it’s a serious group we had um this was this was Adams Derek fiser uh Durant Westbrook Ibaka like it’s not a blll of cherries in there every day you know what I mean and that’s why that particular team was good but I I walked in wearing Russell’s clothes and didn’t really break character and it was just like guys we got to talk about the dress code and it was like the only way I could get to that topic at that time and not have it seem like like you know it was going to be the straw that like just cracked the environment you know what I mean so um so every team is different like you wouldn’t have to do that I could walk in with Shay’s cloes and they wouldn’t even notice they don’t care they don’t care you know what I mean um but you know uh it’s really hard to get Serge to laugh and when we get him to laugh I was like okay this is going okay this is going okay uh but uh yeah I love watching the way that every team’s different and it doesn’t matter to me what the dynamic is as long as it’s theirs and they it puts them in the best position to perform at the highest level you know and your our job is to try to create an environment where they can they can find that level you know what I mean to their best of their abilities and Usher along in certain places if it’s getting a little too loose or you know a little too tight but it comes from the guys and we’ve got really joyful guys any photo evidence of that that I’m not going to mention that I’m I’m not going there had your uh Boston Globe piece resurface online recently yeah how did that kind of come to be and was that like one of your earliest memories of when you realize that this is something that you wanted to do yeah I uh so I assumed I was going to get this question um I think it’s very evident that um I was acting like like a Twitter user you know in 1993 I was um frequently wrong but never in doubt I had 100% confidence in my opinion with 10% of the information um and I was an expert with no expertise and I should apologize to Chris Wallace uh who was the GM at that time and um uh and seriousness you guys know I’m joking about that um did he remember you Chris no well I mean I hope I hope he wasn’t reading the the letters to the editor at that time um no but I but I I he was a Chris Wallace is amongst a long line of Elder Statesmen that have been so good to me over my career um I’ve been so lucky with that when I first started d Walsh unbelievable to me unbelievable Rod Thorne was very good to me Kevin oconor from the Jazz was a huge mentor of mine um uh gentleman named Steve Yoder the who was a head coach of uh Ball State was sat next to me the first game I ever scouted and it was a Kansas game at Baylor and I never scouted the game before and we’re sitting right on the court and it was a huge upset in fact Collison was playing in the game I still tell him the story and um Kansas was like great Baylor wasn’t very good Baylor is going to beat them and the place is going crazy and Steve Yoder says to me we got to get out of here and I’m like what are you talking about Coach I mean know I’m just like my eyes are so wide I’m so happy that I’m in the NBA and someone’s paying me to like you know watch basketball and he’s like we got to get out of here they’re going to storm the court and they and like he pulled me and we walked out of there and he was right boom they came on the court and everything so Steve yod Saved My Life um uh but so just a million people uh Sam Schuler who worked with me in San Antonio was an unbelievable Mentor for me um Wayne Embry who I mentioned earlier I could have signed him to solve the rebounding problem you know um but uh um and the list really the list goes on Jerry West you know he tried to take my lunch money though so um a few different times when I got started in Seattle um but these people are they’re the they’re we’re all like lucky that those people were around before us and they were they were so good to me so um with respect to what you’re saying Clemente about the letter like it I think from what I understand they they they um I certainly I knew about it was a book assign it was an assignment when I was in um in high school like I think it was 1993 so I must have been a sophomore um and I was not a great student in high school um so I’m sure I painfully did that and um somehow it got you know it got published um I think they they I didn’t I wasn’t part of the book that they did you know I passed on that but they must have researched it and found it from what I understand that’s what they said um but it’s like super humbling you know what I mean and then like meet Jason kid not meet Jason kid to talk to Jason kid you he he brought it up to me when we were uh before the series started because someone had asked him about it and um and it was great because he I remember he opened my eyes while I was you know watching college basketball and his I mean some of the stuff he was doing I think it was like kind of like Koozie may have been doing stuff like that but you know was in black and white at that time and it didn’t connect me quite as much as like the guy that was doing it in real time and like getting offensive rebounds and like firing it you know firing it to lamon Murray in the corner from like 20 F feet away off the rebound I was like boy I didn’t even know you could do that or just the speed up the floor he would take um you know he was a very good Defender and you know just it just it just op your eyes to like how the game is can be played differently and so um but yeah there I was like I said before frequently wrong but never in doubt and uh so I’m aware of I’m aware of that just you you mentioned the team being in progress I just wonder what you thought of um Josh’s year the year he had just both the on cour stuff the off cour stuff and where he fits into that part sure sure um so I think with him specifically um couple things uh one um you know it was an up and down year I think he I mean he he would I think acknowledge that um he’s 21 so 21 year olds generally have up and down years I think the thing that um is really interesting about his path and everyone’s path is different I think if if you’ve been covering the team for any amount of time you know that that’s a big factor in the way that we think about things no one has the same path and like that’s a big part of Player Development in my opinion is really trying to understand the history the person um the circumstances in which they’re coming into the league you know he came into the league as I said before we were losing 58 games um so he got started quickly um and then as the team got better and better and better like he’s you know he’s seen some resistance with with some of that um but I you know the thing about giddy that I really respect is he is tough and he is clutch right he is tough and he is clutch um he has um you know been asked to change some things and adjust to different things and he hasn’t flinched one time uh you know he has never come to to my knowledge ever come to anyone and said I need more this I need more that um what about me he’s trying to figure out how to how to um how to best help the team and you know he has to get better but the team also has to get better so part of the things that we’re facing you know with the cross matching is and and let’s let’s I think Mark may have said this but just to be clear like the crossmatching is an acknowledgement by the other team of their limitations to defend hom Gren so the other team’s limitations to defend holgren are what creates the cross matching for us which is a great thing because we have a player in hren who is so unique that they’re scheming against the youngest team in the league and that’s happened a lot for us we’ve seen so many different schemes the trapping on Shay that gave us a lot of trouble against Dallas the first time we saw that um we got better at it we’ve saw seen several different types of zones I think we’ve got better at those um we’ve seen the cross matching we’ve seen you know some half court trapping we’ve seen some different things that um you know because the team has progressed we’re getting to see you know a sharper blade so to to speak um but with the crossmatching Josh certainly has to you know work on that I think he’s gotten better and better at it um and then also the the more Chad is able to abuse and dominate those matchups and also on the offensive board if you’re going to put a smaller player on him I think that’s going to make us a better team because I think that’s the main thing is we have to figure out how to how to be the best team um and not um isolated to like individual players um but you know at 21 years old um he doesn’t he’s stubborn you know he’s stubborn about and when I say about stubborn I mean that in a in a in a endearing way he’s confident you know he in the way that I think a lot of people would like to see him capitulate you know what I mean and and give in and he’s he’s not doing that you know he’s not doing that um and that’s that’s something that I I I like about him you know we got to channel it and keep working with it but there’s not a lot of 21y old guys playing on 57 win teams and um we have to continue to figure out how to lean into the things he does to um help amplify our team because the idea is to take the thing he does a couple things as a pastor that are better than 95 99% of the people in the NBA how do we incorporate that in a way um that helps our team and so that’s a bit of a that’s the bit of the of the puzzle but as I said before I’m not surprised that after two years ago losing 58 and this year winning 57 that we don’t have all that figured out like that’s um not really surprising to me um but you’d like to try to figure out how to figure out how to leverage those things and um we think about the development of a few guys specifically it took Shay three years to become the defender he is you know let’s think about where L Dort was um a couple years ago right there was a lot being talked about L like L shot selection decision making um not from anyone in this room of course but just um ju just in general um and uh Lou is maybe our best example of development um recently and how that happened it’s through refinement lud D has become exceptionally more valuable player by by refining what he does it’s not always like expanding everybody thinks about expanding your game he’s actually brought that down and a couple years ago I introduced this idea of the mixing board right I I you know um you can’t have everybody turned up to 11 because if someone’s turned to 11 you can’t hear anybody else on the song and so we have to figure out Lou brought his volume down and that probably allowed dub some more possessions to to explore and figure out who he’s going to be and Lou actually became more valuable and so I think in the NBA or in sports in general we get obsessed with degree of difficulty and as an ex as in what I do I’m not impressed with degree of difficulty I’m impressed with degree of Simplicity and you’re really good if you can be extremely effective without it looking that hard if we’re having to make it look that hard it’s probably not sustainable and there’s probably other things we can be doing and I think Lou has really really embodied that and I’m saying that to you Joel Under the Umbrella of I think giddy is on like he’s going to be on that path just like these other guys were he’s happen to be much younger than those guys um but I think he’s going to be a good player for those reasons but it’s not a snap thing it’s not something that it’s a it’s a he’s got to improve he knows that we have to continue to find the way to leverage and lean into the things he does at a very very high level but not at the expense of the rest of the team either and so that’s because we’re a work in progress very much the team is going to change in the first Mountain 2010 to 2011 2012 the jumps that the players made in those periods of time were significant and as they got better the team looked different with each jump that the individuals made and then you have to kind of figure out how do you make it all work but you can’t be the team five years from now now you have to we’re I’ll say this probably again like we’re on a journey with these players we’re on a journey with these players and we’re learning with them and learning about them and trying to support them through that period of time it’s not all going to be easy um when we were rebuilding the team there was a lot of concerns about the amount of losing even though it didn’t turn out to be that much it was a two-e window but um I said you can’t bubble wrap people from adversity people when they when they get to a successful point in their career or their life um or their job they always look back and talk about what all the adversity but then we also can’t shy away from the fact that when we run into adversity or a player runs into a hard time or you know we make a mistake or we can’t shrink we have to see that as like well this is going to be something we’ll look back on in time and um you know I think the team is going to go through plenty of adversity and but we in order to get to be the team we ultimately want to be um we we can’t rush that so so with that like how are you approaching you know extension talks with Josh and and you know if it’s future is with this team like what what does that role look like with whatever in at well I mean kind of what I just said um like he’s 21 um he’s part of a team that’s had a lot of success he certainly has things he’s got to work on like every player the development process for some of our best players has been years long um and we have to continue to figure out the best ways to leverage some of the unique gifts that he has to help us win at a high level um so that is how I would look at his his his um his future people would ask me well what about the fit I was like well what the fit last year or the fit the year before or the fit this year or the fit next year because we’re assuming with that question that the team will be frozen in time and this will be the only version of the team when the reality is is the team is going to change significantly from um as I said before continuity the razor’s edge of competition and what the competition teaches us about us and how to adjust um from natural organic development from outside addition um and from like I said the the exposure that we’re going to get U with the games that we play so I couldn’t predict the like oh what the quote unquote the fit will be I will know I will tell you that it won’t have to fit on this team because that team is over this team will look different next year and the year after that the year after year after that and so um you know we’ll sit down and have those conversations relative to his um um contract you know when those are appropriate but we also don’t have to do anything right now either right because he has you know another year um but I you know I’m super open-minded about all of our players and where I think they can get to you mentioned on the court um go go ahead first okay you mentioned Josh on the court uh but obviously there were a lot of things off the court um you know you got a 21 year old who’s going through all of those question you know going on the road getting booed and this at the same time being 21 dealing with the cross matchups how as an organization was the process of walking him through all the different things he was going through this season well um you know we try to support all of our guys as they’re going through different things obviously the personal thing that’s off to the side that’s a personal matter can’t really get into that um but um you know he made it he he he showed up every day and as I said before like he he’s his his ability to um compartmentalize um and you know show up in every situation um you he’s been extrem pretty durable I I don’t know the numbers but I feel like he’s played in like 98% of the games or something um but uh you know guys go through challenges um if we didn’t think that that the guys we have um weren’t resilient we wouldn’t draft them you know um so he’s he’s had to do some things but I mean that’s part of being a professional and um you know I think he’s a significantly better player at the end of this season than he was at the end of last season I don’t think that’s debatable you know he’s definitely a more well-rounded player I don’t have the numbers in front of me but I’m sure he’s a better you know his free throw numbers are up I think his three-point shooting is up bottom line is we don’t get out of the first round in the fashion we did without a lot of his play and um uh you know he’s uh like I said before he’s tough-minded and he’s clutch but he’s young and he’s got a lot of things he’s got to work on but I’ve never seen anything from him that would indic indicate to me that he’s not willing to do that not willing to take accountability for things um or really consumed with like his his his personal you know uh um agenda I do think there’s a big difference we have some very ambitious guys um I think of HRM this way you know Chad is ambitious but he doesn’t have an agenda and I think we have a lot of guys that are ambitious but they don’t have agenda and like I’m good with that you know what I mean I I’d like to have that you know you want people that are ambitious but you don’t want them to have an agenda that is accompanying that um that could work in contrast with the teams we talk at the beginning of the year every year about the silent forces of the NBA those are real they’re alive you know they’re out the at your walls every day um you know the NBA is very much churning from a league of competition to a league of envy you know and I think when Envy is driving things versus competition I think sometimes you get that can overwhelm people and when that happens it really screws your team up and so we’re trying to really work hard at keeping that top of mind and our players have done the work you know um the beginning of the year we talked about being a young team but you can be young and you can be mature so there’s a difference between you know Youth and maturity and I think the guys have demonstrated a tremendous amount of maturity through the last couple years in terms of what they’ve prioritized um how they’ve managed the the natural pulls um you know and it will only get harder as I said before like the playbook in the NBA is is is create divisiveness and division um within the teams that are better than you and um you know we have to be able to withstand that that’s not changing you know um I think that’s that’s that’s unfortunately that’s kind of society today you know rather than um hoist your own colors you’re looking to tear someone else’s down you know and and we have to be able to withstand that think about team building Shay obviously MVP level player is going to have a chance after this contract to be the first like $80 million a year player I just one of your thoughts on on that and how it pertains to team building good for him you know that’s a lot of money um uh he’s earned that position you know um several years ago you know when we traded Chris Paul and handed the ball off to him we didn’t know what would happen you know um but he has sees the moment and the opportunity um I think that uh we had also talked at the beginning of the year someone asked me a question about Denver like why has Denver been and um why has Denver been successful or I can’t remember they had just won so a lot you know not my first rodeo a lot of times when the team that wins or is winning I get asked about those teams um hopefully someone’s asking one day about our team there other other people um but uh I think the thing that that’s happened um is in Denver and in other places that have long strings of success is this concept of mutual commitment and I think there’s you need to have a mutual commitment with your best players with respect to the super Max and again I don’t know what I can say I hope I’m not breaking a rule but if Shay earns something like that we need to be in position to provide that and not at the expense of the other players on the team as well where it’s hey because of that we can’t give you this but or we we we we can give you that but we can’t do any the the trust is hey we need you to to to be mutually committed to the Thunder all in on the Thunder you know um in sickness and in health you know like there’s going to be some tough times but if we’re always at the some people at the first drop want to get off the ride you know what I mean and uh in Denver that I think there has been a mutual commitment to get through some difficult periods of time and they’ve stuck together and you don’t really hear a lot of noise about you know this person’s fault or not enough this or not enough that and I think Shay you know we have to provide that kind of mutual commitment and if we expect that kind of like Allin mentality from him um and because ultimately what we’re really doing with these guys as I said we’re on a journey with them collectively but individually we are on a path to try to explore their potential with them to try to figure out how you know how to help them get where they want to go know and um that’s not a One-Stop shop situation there’s going to be a lot of tough breaks in there but it’s remarkable that he’s put himself in that position considering where you know where you know how unknown everything was at that time we talked about the financial in potential hypothetical Financial inputs that could really help us in that situation um but you want your players achieving those things and we have to be in position to support those things if but not at the expense of you know also having you know some other players that can continue to along the journey with him um I think the last thing on him that I want to say about him is like I think he’s really proud of what he has built here you know it’s he’s he’s been here you’re always going to sleep better in a house that you built you know what I mean you’re always going to rest better in a house where you raise the beams and um I know he didn’t technically start here but I feel like his Ascent a big part of his Ascent was you know born with handing him the ball without any promises like either way um just like hey we think you can do this and um he’s taken it and run with it as have a lot of the other guys that were part of the our first team um the and and other thing about him is like he’s I think he’s proud of it but I also think he doesn’t have anyone in his ear telling him not to be proud of it you know what I mean I think he’s got he he doesn’t have anyone telling him not to be proud of what he’s accomplishing um and that I think has really freed him up to be a better leader you obviously can’t predict the future but a lot of young teams a lot of young players coming up in the NBA right now now and I don’t know how much you believe in a championship window but having an MVP level player coach of the year Financial flexibility you have right now with those guys on cheaper contracts and those young teams or young teams and young players kind of up how much does that change your aggressiveness or possible aggressiveness that you may or may not have in the quote unquote Championship one day I’d like to think we’re always aggressive um I think some people might they may conflate action with aggressiveness I actually think it’s harder to be disciplined and trust your own people than it is to like I said earlier like just go out and burn the boats you know to to to to show everybody that you’re being aggressive and in some cases I think um people might think it’s aggressive to to trust in what you’re doing um but I also wouldn’t say that we’re bound to one thing or one way of doing anything um I think you know we’ve demonstrated over a long period of time that we’ll you know we’ll make some pretty big decisions the other thing is there’s a lot of things that we explore or we look at that no one again no one knows about that doesn’t you know that may not line up so we’re not um we’re certainly not like we’re not shutting it down and like saying hey like we’re never GNA look at an outside addition of course of course we are we do every year but we put that through like a certain filter decision-making filter to kind of let us know like whether we think this is a positive value decision or maybe something that it doesn’t really line up and maybe it’s just more Optical um but um we’ll go as fast as we can but as slow as we have to you know so go ahead just with that uh you kind of touched on this preseason just about the whole Championship window thing in talking about Denver really but Shay rejected that idea when he talked to us I just wonder like when talking about Denver you said the uh the mutual commitment like when when that is maybe severed is when people get to talking about when window and just throwing around that term are are there circumstances that maybe transcend that Mutual commitment I don’t think there’s really anything that goes beyond the trust and the commitment that the a player like that and the organization have so um I don’t know if I’m missing the question but at the end of the day um you know the windows and the timelines that is like a that’s like external stuff that’s that’s I I don’t I don’t mean to say like I’ve never heard no one talks about that inside of a team like do you know what I’m saying like um it’s it’s I I don’t know how else to explain it um and I also think Jo like it’s also not like a very like like an obvious thing like it’s all these things are very nuance so I’m sure there’s a million ways in which I could get to yes to your answer but you’d have to play out a million different scenarios to get to that and um the the the the great like the people that I I gave you that long list of people at the beginning that I that were so good to me um in my early years um and I think have I asked all of them like if there’s like gave them a situation or or or potential team building question I don’t think they’d look at me ever and say like oh yeah it’s obvious like you know you know what I’m saying like I think like this is a the basketball in and of itself just the game itself is totally unknowable if you go back and look at the top 10 teams the beginning of the Season that everybody had ranked as who would be the the best teams in the league one of them are still playing Boston right one um I don’t know that anybody had the four teams in the Conference Finals that they have in the Conference Finals and that’s why I’m saying it’s it’s it’s never it’s never like an obvious answer if it’s obvious to you then that to me means like you need to check your work because as people we’re always looking to get to the answer we want as fast as we can and with as little effort as possible that’s how we are wired right so if you’re getting to like something you’re like oh yeah that’s obvious they need to do that and I do that all the time because I’m a fan of other sports but I I have the benefit of working in sports so like if I’m watching a a football team I’ll be like well gez I mean they should just do that and then I realize wait a second the closest I’m getting to the team is I’m watching it I’m not like inside the team at all I don’t know what’s going on on the team I don’t know the Dynamics as I said before 100% confidence 10% of the information and um you know it’s a lot easier when you don’t have all the info but so to your answer I’m sure there’s a scenario in which my answer would be different but all these things are so nuanced they’re so layered and and um I that’s why I put like the mutual commitment thing above all because it’s more flexible than making it this like a pass fail or an up down decision with this Dallas Minnesota series do you I don’t know do you guys like take any Solace of how close you guys were to forcing in game seven with Dallas it was tied Point differential wise now they’re up three might be a dumb question but just want no no no Joe I’m not I’m I’m not saying that um that would be an example though of like saying to ourselves oh yeah because they’re not doing or these team this they’re beating them that means we’re good it’s like is it instructive at all like watching this series compared to how you all yeah I mean always I mean it’s always helpful but I don’t think it’s as easy as looking at something and saying well because they did this and they did this against us this means we’re this there’s so much more involved in that um but here’s what I would take from it the West is exceptionally good since I’ve been doing this and I do know and one thing is very true the longer I do this the more I realize I don’t know because you’re seeing it things that you thought played out one way and they play out totally different over time you know so I I really realize how little I know the longer I do it one thing I’m pretty confident is the West has been dominant for a very long time and when I think about where we were I can may be getting my time my timelines mixed up a little bit but like there’s a period of time where in the west you had Garnett Duncan Kobe Sha pogas Steve Nash and his that whole crew of mamari and um kid may have been in there um yoing um I’m missing monsters I know I’m missing some oh Carmelo chony Kenyan like the Hall of Fame you know in the west that’s just a West and you know I I’m fascinated like I wonder if people will look back and time at this era of the West as it’s unfolding now and there’ll be like that level of concentrated Talent so the big takeaway is these teams are really good my other big takeaway is Dallas can really pass the West has been some the better conference for so long it’s at this point it can’t be random um I know some of it could be Market based ownership based what’s your theory of why the West has been dominant it’s similar thing it’s it’s it’s I don’t have an answer for that it’s like an unknowable it’s an unknowable thing I I whatever the first thing jumps to my mind in it probably isn’t the right answer so I’d start with that’s unpacking that you know what I mean like why is that wrong but I don’t know the answer to that but it’s it’s hard to dispute it you know it’s hard to dispute it and that’s not a knock on the other conference at all the East is great and the top of the East is always really good um there’s so many good players and so many good teams in the NBA right now and I think a big part of that is because the cap spike in 16 really threw the equilibrium of the league off for like half a decade we we’re we’re we’re we’re now kind of coming out of that like we’re spitting the fumes out of you know what I mean the tailpipe of that particular engine and we’re getting to a point in time I think a big part of this is is is Curry’s influence on the game and how that has influenced Curry should go into the Hall of Fame as a player and a contributor because he has changed youth basketball in a way that um has made the influx of players coming into the NBA so much more prepared and skilled the drafts are significantly better um and the parody of the league now is where I think it was heading before before the spike um and that’s a great thing for the league that’s a great thing for the league um people don’t really know what’s going to happen now that wouldn’t change the predictions because the predictions are always inaccurate um at the beginning of the season but that’s why no one goes back and looks at them you know what I mean because I think they’re fun to do but no one takes them seriously unless you get it right and then you take a bow and then you know you usually forget when everyone’s doing their predictions they’re they never think about how wrong they were before you just thinking about how right they’re going to be now you know um so I don’t have an answer other than the West is really good one more League wide question what did you think the midseason officiating change in the way the game was more physical um I got I have a there’s several different angles to this to me and it’s not one thing that I think is important as a watch out when it comes to officiating I think you guys know I we’ve very rarely ever complained about officiating I don’t think we may have had like one or two fines ever in 16 years so we don’t only care how it’s afficiated we just care that it’s equally like fairly you know distributed so you know you can’t get over a two-year period of time and have another team have a thousand free throw differential that’s obviously that’s a problem and if you’re not interested in why that’s a problem then you’re not interested in in fixing the problem but um the way I would look at that first I’d start with the schedule okay and this is less about officiating more about several different layers of things that I think we need to be taking into consideration as a league um there was a huge push for the players to play more right which I think is a good thing for the league you know um the phrase was 82 game League um we’re not a big load managing team um but I also think it’s a straw man argument to say that low load management is about injury prevention it’s really about performance you know maximizing performance than it is injury prevention so I think that’s kind of a like a false argument on that um so the first half of the season um stars are playing in 84% of the games so it’s a huge win but they’re also incentivized to play in those games because you got to get to 65 to get your money to get your recognition so it’s a bit of a carrot system right after the All-Star break that number drop to 72% which is one of the lowest numbers we’ve seen I think in the last 10 years then we get to the playoffs and they’re playing the stars are playing in 85% of the games okay that’s the lowest second lowest in the last 10 years well part of it is the second half of the schedule this year because of the inseason tournament in my opinion I don’t think it’s my opinion I think it’s a truth um was more compressed and had more uh backto backs less days off than any non-co schedule since like 2015 16 so you’ve got players playing more for incentive but in the back half of the schedule there’s like we had seven I mean this every team had a SE had a a schedule like this but we had 17 games in a month we had five back-to-backs in that month because there’s just no room in the schedule and every team’s going through that so player participation schedule compression and then the free throw component or the the foul component the thing that CH whether we say that we um changed the rules or we changed the way the rules were being enforced there was a significant change there was a bigger drop off in fouls called than we’ve ever seen in the history of the league so it wasn’t a modification right it was a change and that’s fine that’s the rules of the game that’s what happened but we went from 22.6 free throws a game per team to 19.8 after the break okay that’s that’s three a game again that’s the biggest drop in free throws as far in the second half of the season is as far back as you can go datawise that 19.8 if we played a full season at that that would be the lowest amount of free throws per team in history so for context in the 90s the average team shot 26 and a half free throws per game and that was in Brawl ball right so the thing I think we need to just be cognizant of is and it’s not intentional and I don’t think it’s I I don’t even think it’s something to react to yet but if we have the schedule this compressed because we have a longer All-Star break than we’ve ever had we take election day that gay is removed and we can’t have any back to backs during the inseason those games got to go somewhere and we’re not lengthening the season so we have compressed schedule players are playing more because they have to which is great and I think it’s a great thing I’m not you can’t bubble wrap guys but then if the physicality is up that high we have to ask ourselves whether or not because I don’t know that like we’re managing the physicality versus calling the games I think they technically calling the fouls is more just managing the physicality at this point which some people love it and it’s great I don’t have a problem with it I just think we need to watch those three components and the availability in the playoffs for the best players because at the end of the day we need to make sure the best players that’s the goal of the player participation policy is to have the best players on the court more I would say on the court more at the end of the year and if these things are not working in concert I think we just got to keep an eye on it I wouldn’t I wouldn’t say it’s a problem yet but we have to kind of watch you know the physicality buildup and all the things we talked about because less than 20 free throws a game per team on average like I said that’d be the lowest in history and um I don’t think the goal is to like get free throws out of the game because free throws are part of basketball you know what I mean if you’re going to play we had some games this year there’s no free throws that’s not that’s not a basketball game you get free throws on a basketball game so like we have to we have to just figure out if all these things are trending to get the outcome we want which is the best players on the court as much as possible and in a position to perform at their best and so we just got to flag that over the four years Mark has been head coach you guys have been by far the least fine team in the NBA I think last time I checked it was somewhere 70,000 except for when I get fined for just said it’s going to add to the tally it’s going to add to the tally um I think I don’t think you guys racked up $30,000 worth the fines in in like two months but no team is under no team was under 220,000 in those four years um and then with Team you mentioned how Chad the stuff with Chad and not uh not these guys just don’t get in each other’s way and I just want just want to know like how tough is that to just build a team and not just the team just the organization where people don’t get in each other’s way and everybody Mark cares like the way that Mark cares about the guys and tells them not to get on to the refs like they don’t get technical at all they don’t don’t foul hard don’t get flagrance like it’s pretty much like non-existent in this organization and just really wondering like how tough is that to build that part along with the the closeness of the the guys cuz like I said they don’t get each other’s way about each other’s success um well I think it’s um it’s I it’s again it’s not something I can say is like we can put in a box and say it’s always going to be like that like you know we might end up you know getting more fines or something like that I don’t know it’s certainly not our goal to like we don’t go into the season saying like let’s not get fined um we just want to try to control the things that we can to be adaptable and roll with the punches as much as we can um like I said with the mid-season officiating whether it’s turning the dial up or turning the dial down something changed um we we we we can’t control that we got to play in it I thought we did a great job with that I actually think it helped us get ready for the playoffs so I I liked that part of it I just think we need to be careful that all these other objectives don’t get an unintended consequence but yeah whatever whatever is thrown at us we just want to try to be adaptable control the things we can we don’t want to get in a position where we’re always looking outward um uh and again it comes down to the guys you know what I mean um and um we’ll be challenged for sure because we have as I said earlier we have really ambitious guys and I love that and um you know that’s going to challenge our culture at some point you know it’s going to be but that’s okay you know it’s all right it’s it’s going to make it stronger in the long run um there’ll be things that come up that we have to kind of like address or or or or try to modify or whatever that’s that’s part of the growth of the players we got to let them figure themselves out a little bit with a young team in my opinion and not try to put them in a box so to speak like there’s going to be times where you um you draw Outside the Lines a little bit like you kid it’s fine you know what I mean we we might graduate to some of those things um our our goal is to try to create an environment where we’re just kind of focused on ourselves and we talk about stacking possessions um you want to Stack possessions you want to Stack months I mean I said beginning the year we hadn’t played more than one month of really good basketball like we got to back months this year um we didn’t have a month where we were under a 44 net rating the year before we had three or four months we were under zero so to me that’s major progress right like that’s that’s what we were looking for but we want to Stack seasons and we want to look back over a period of time at a cannon of seasons and see what’s the identity what do we have um to Joel’s question earlier I don’t know that we can answer what the identity is right now over a period of time we to answer that the mentality of um you know it’s not novel but like controlling what’s in our control how do we respond to things versus react to things um can you have a a uniform approach or mindset to try to maintain our emotions during that period of time that’s what we’re trying to to embed early if we can and we might get the raw end of it sometimes because we’re not throwing our hands up in the the air or you know but I just think on the long run it will best serve us I guess how do you form a environment to that allows guys to be consistent through it from year to year like the shade that you got years ago might not have been the shade that you got now like that’s still now I I I wish I could give you an answer to that like it’s not like we have some we don’t have there there’s I don’t think there’s a manual or like anything like that um a lot of trial and error you know a lot of self-reflection um you know I think just some of the things we talk about all the time I think helps create that but it comes down to the guys you know like we’re all here to support the players the players are what make it all happen like we don’t have I don’t have a job if there’s not 450 incredible amazing athletes that have come from all over the world from various circumstances to compete and get to themselves to a point in time where they have a chair in a locker room in the NBA I that’s never lost on me because I mean I I certainly didn’t have that opportunity you know um it’s it’s about the guys and they how do we best help them achieve their potential and get what they want out of it and hopefully what they want out of it is to win you know but that’s hard because you have to make choices as as a as a player as a young player what your priorities are and as I said holding off a lot of the the Wolves at the door because as I said earlier like you know the league sometimes shifts more to Envy than competition and when that starts to permeate someone that’s a really hard thing to fight off and then your decisions are different so we’ve we’ve we try our best to understand the guys and give them the best environment for them to to sort that out but we’re not controlling that I I I I wish I wish I could say we were what you’re looking at playerwise dra wise acquition I me I know it’s you’re 12th but you found J go yeah um when it comes to the draft we’re looking for the best fits for us and um that’s always been kind of our mindset um we’re going to pass on some players they could go on to have great careers elsewhere um we may not think that they could have the same type of impact or career here for one reason or another um we generally gravitate to certain type of play player and person I probably say person and player um a lot of it’s wanting to be a part of what it is that we’re working toward and seeing if they can find self-satisfaction out of being a part of that um that’s a big Baseline part of it um but uh you know we’re we’re we don’t have like a specific we’re not like looking for something specific as like onc Court need or something like that that good players are really hard to find like super hard to find guys that can play consistently in the NBA and be in the NBA for more than three years that is not that’s actually harder than it sounds so dra I I I like the draft I think it’s I think it’s pretty good I think uh every one of these are so different um one thing we know know historically is that there’s good players in there and they never go in order so someone’s going to come out of the second round is going to have a huge impact someone’s going to be picked in the 20s you know there’s like a 3% chance like a 3% chance or something you get like a top starter or really good player in the 20s an all NBA player in the 20s like that’s really really hard to do but it happens you know um so they’re in there U but a big part of that myin is obser You observe the players then you evaluate them to decide and then you have to onboard them and then you have to develop and work with them try to understand where they’re going and how to get there and that’s different for every player in every organization and sometimes it could be really good player but the potential the fit or just not as much symmetry there for whatever reason um and so guys go on to find success maybe somewhere else you know um but the players are there it’s just can you line up with somebody and and figure out a way to to help them Reach their potential with you and sometimes it’s not that easy was his who’s that I you know I think the um the last couple months of the uh of the blue season were huge for him um playing in those types of games carrying that kind of responsibility um he also I mean he cranked it up developmentally during the postseason for us where he was I mean we we flipped the summer program and got it going early because we thought he’s he’s going to be potentially playing for the national team so we need to get as much done with him as as possible but I was very pleased with how he ended the season you know I was very pleased with how he ended the season you know like every young player he is so many things to work on when we drafted him you know he was like a year almost like a year Young from that draft so um you know we kind of knew that his timeline and his his pathway would maybe be different certainly from dub because dub was coming in as somebody that we felt like he could get on the court um sooner but us has responded pretty well um and I’m I’m I’m pleased with him I I think he’s made some some big strides here Sam following up on Shay’s Ascension you mentioned earlier like from the outside looking it feels like there’s some other factors just off the court of like his mentality his growth as a leader in a league as talented as it is today what separates a star from a franchise star like I don’t know um because I don’t know one person’s franchise star could be some I would just say he’s the right guy for us you know and um I I don’t I don’t know how to categorize that other than as I said before he’s a secure player he’s a guy that um sees himself clearly sees his his his himself and not just you know looking around at others he’s got uh like an extremely consistent mentality and work ethic he’s got an equal very great equilibrium as a person um and he’s extremely bright and I think his his views on competition and Improvement are really sophisticated and I love talking to him about that and I I learn a lot from him when we talk about those things um but he’s also like a a colossal competitor you know and that’s a great combination are you able to comment on the TV deal the upcoming I don’t want to touch that other than you know hopefully everyone gets what they’d want but I don’t I I can’t really talk about it Sam you did say you would expand on on later I want to ask I want to ask you to do that and just uh maybe explain like where you saw the disconnect and and what you thought of his exit interview generally yeah I mean I I know some of the things he said but I didn’t watch it and I haven’t I’ve never read a transcript or anything like that and I have no problem with anything whatever he’s saying it’s fine um as I said I think it was a bit of a tough situation you know what I mean to go from uh always starting to coming to a team that was like starting to Surge quite a bit bit um that has a different way of playing and you know just didn’t wasn’t able to get going quite to the level that I think he wanted to he helped us get to the number one seed he was in the rotation he had some nights where he had a start I think he did help our rebounding quite a bit um he was totally uh focused on doing what the team asked him to do um so I don’t have any any knocks on him in that way at all um but it was instructive to me the reason why I think I was mentioning that is uh instructive to me in that adding someone midseason like that with our play style with where the team was and how well the team was playing trying to do that without taking away from the things that were working in such a strong Direction um knowing that we didn’t have three four five years of that under belt this was our first year where we were playing consecutive months of good basketball um that’s that was that was a bit of a challenge every one of these things is different um so you know I I that’s a lot of that’s on me you know at the end of the day but um I liked how we ended up you know because like I said before we were not um we weren’t we weren’t first in the in the in the west at the time um and I’m not saying it was because of that particular transaction but it was also probably because we didn’t do other things you know what I’m saying um but that’s that’s how I look at it and you know as I said it is a multi-dimensional thing for us too because it’s one of those rare trades where when you’re when you’re usually in a acquiring a player at the trade deadline like that it’s usually you’re usually not getting Great Value right because you’re giving things up for immediate it’s just natural right just how it works I actually think that it worked pretty well for us where you know we were able to consolidate like I said before we opened up salary room roster room um got those guys into other situations where I thought they could play more than they would with us which those guys did a great job there um I miss watching Bert Ton’s shooting workouts they were amazing I mean just amazing um he’d bring he’d get in here you know by himself and just some coaches and just the professionalism and the the just the accuracy is just really something you know to watch him it’s great I love watching I I I never gets old for me watching these guys do what they do because they’re so gifted and they’re so talented um and the guys that really work at it have my ultimate respect especially when you’re not playing very impressive um but it was a it was a multip dimension trade for us there was one like that long time ago I felt would work like that too was when we traded Serge for Victor and sabonis and I felt that that would have made that particular team if it stayed together extraordinarily difficult to beat and if um you know Kevin were to leave I still felt like we were we were going to be good with those particular players under team control going forward versus Serge going to a free agent year so it’s very rare in the league that you can get to the point where a trade fits those parameters I thought the I thought the Hayward trade did that for us I would have loved to to work out better for Gordon but um you know that’s just that’s just how it goes with that like you like you mentioned the trade was multi-dimensional you know you didn’t die on him fitting or not fitting but like did you foresee that that he would be maybe unhappy or that he wouldn’t be able to properly fit in time and then how did that maybe change the way you acquire people midseason move forward that’s what I’m saying is that I I I missed on that like that’s that’s on me like um but I’m learning you know I’m trying to learn this team I’m trying to learn the pace of the team a little bit um and just trying to be a great Observer of the team as it’s going through these Paces knowing that it’s really going to change on its own in and of itself like our team the last 20 games was significantly different than the first 20 games this is the same players you know what I mean but significantly different it may and every time someone changes or develops or we stumble onto something um it changes the rest of the team and how they can perform and so it’s it’s it’s a I think it’s pretty nuanced you know and texturized but uh I I don’t think I read that one perfect and I’m learning from that in terms of bringing somebody midseason and especially early on in the process for our team you kind of hit on these points here and there but what do you think about the the new changes in the NBA the inseason tournament 65 game rule Jaylen Brown rule just just all those different things implement this year I’m all for I understand the importance of the players being as available as possible um and very supportive of that um there probably did need to be some correction on that there’s no question about that um in season tournament I’ve been a big proponent of that um again like the League’s really asked us to get behind that and we know we’re trying to be good partners as much as we can um I just think flagging when you have so many new things that you’re implementing I just think we got to look and see how they’re colliding with each other and if they’re actually giving us what we ultimately want which is as many players playing at you know at the right time um but I’m I I think the League’s in a great place Adams is just a miraculous uh Visionary for the business and um thinking about where we were as a league 10 years ago and the things that we’re doing now I think I think it’s great um we also need to be not sanctimonious about the game but I do think we have to make sure that we protect the the the game um because that’s what people really come to watch is the competition and um you want it to be recognizable you and I’m saying and not you know not I just think that’s important thing not that we’re on the bad path with that but I think that’s like to North Star at the end of the day is it has to be something that people can connect to you know and we’re building all kinds of new fans like there may be people that don’t like the in season tournament because it’s different and that generally is what happens when you put something that’s different in front of people they generally like don’t like it right away but there’s probably a 10-year-old kid who just started liking the NBA he thinks in season tournament is part of it’s just part of the deal you know what I mean maybe they get excited about it um but yeah I’m off for all the different things I just want to protect the players I think that’s the main thing we we’re really over here on player health and wellness and I feel like we could end up over here you know with a lot of these new objectives one thing I think should happen is we should have um the medical arm of the NBA office Dr uh John D fi and David wh they should they should have final approval on the schedule they should have input on the schedule because they they have conducted all these studies on load management and have a very clear idea of who should be playing and when they should be playing and I think that if they should be very involved with the schedule making so they can stamp and say yes like these are these are suitable people shouldn’t be calling us and saying they need to arrest players uh for whatever reason um I just think getting them involved in the schedule would be a huge win and would would I think take some of the um bemoaning and criticism from the teams away if you already had the medical folks say yeah this is suitable for NBA athletes I just think it would be extremely Innovative to do that and we’re the most Innovative League so why you know why are we holding back from getting them more involved in being a part of the scheduling what’s the rule what’s the logic behind the Second Challenge if you you lose your time I you right I used to be on the competition committee um but I rolled off um so I’m not really totally sure on all the debate on that but most all the decisions are based on game length people don’t want the game getting longer they want it getting shorter um and and I’m all for that but again it’s still basketball like you can’t personally like you know baseball is nine innings it takes nine innings to play some people like it some people don’t like it if you don’t like it you probably don’t watch it or you probably don’t go there’s fouls in basketball like you know like we can’t just take everything out that makes the game longer just because it makes the game longer it could start losing the game but um the challenges are awesome they’re great um the people that I think deserve the most credit on the challenges are the refs because to go to the Monitor and see something that you missed and now it’s still a judgment call so you can find a lot of ways to talk yourself into no this was wrong this was right I made the right call but a I think more than half of these get overturned and get deemed correct maybe more than that I don’t know but the refs the refs have a really hard job you know because they’re just administering the rules that the NBA makes they don’t make the rules they have to enforce the rules and so the challenges or a new thing it obviously helps accuracy I give them all the credit in the world because that’s a hard thing to do is go look at that right away and the best of the best you know they’re not they’re not wrong that of often you know what I mean but they’re administering what they’re told to administer and I think sometimes have people have the impression that like the officials are making up the rule they’re not they’re handed the rules and said this is what we want and the competition committee is a part of that as well just time out though when you correct a mistake they made you de with the timeout that’s there again timeouts and fouls make the game longer and so we’re trying to they’re trying to reduce those earlier you cited something about the strides you guys took as a defensive rebounding team post All-Star break to get to where you guys want to be ultimately as a rebounding team do you think that that can be achieved through internal development with the guys you have or is that more of like Talent acquisition Talent acquisition um well we can’t guarantee Talent acquisition because there’s certainly players that we would love to have that I think would really help our team the other teams are not willing to just give us those players so unless we can um improve ourselves internally which somehow we were improved in the second half of the Season not enough like we weren’t able to do that for the full year but I think it probably has to be a combination but also like the mity of the team also will help that um I just want to make sure that we don’t lose sight of what the goal is which is to have the best defense so if we were really good at rebounding had a top five defense but we’re really bad at getting turnovers I don’t think anybody would care about that you know what I mean I don’t think they’d care but because the thing that we’re not good at is something that’s unorthodox it’s easy to look at us and go well other teams have this or look this way that’s the problem it kind of opens us up you know what I mean because it’s a unique formula we get that but we can’t like go door too explaining to everybody why we’re doing this or why we’re doing that um uh yeah someone once said we can’t spend all day this is uh Ralph Al Emerson said you can’t spend all day in explanation like sometimes we just got to like do the thing that we that we think is working for the time being we’re not married to just doing it that way but the schemes this year helped us get a ton of turnovers force a lot of tough shots um second in the league in Rim protection um that is going to create a lot of rebounds at The Rim you know we could do a better job there but we’re also turning the teams overall quite a bit but we’d love to get better at everything and we’re not like trying to prove anybody Wrong by being a bad rebounding team and being good you know we’re trying to just be good and if there’s another way to do that we’re open to that we’re not we’re not uh we’re not resisting that and that could be an outside acquisition um but you know we’re going to look at all those channels just when you think about the the OP ED you wrote 5 years ago like when you think back to that what what do you remember about your head space back then how maybe compares to um well the thing I think about with that Joel is and I I think I’ve said this to people here before but I was writing that kind of letter while we were in the midst of trading Westbrook so I was talking to um Daryl Mory and we were negotiating and I was talking to Russell because that was the place he you know he he wanted to go and I was trying to land the plane there the best that I could and in between I was trying to capture kind of my thoughts on what was potenti ahead you know so the process of that is what I really think back on um but a lot of those things are still very alive to me you know the things that we’re talking about or were saying I think if you went back and looked at those you know the words I’m probably saying I have strains of whatever I’m saying today is very much connected to a lot of the things we’re talking about and um not in terms of like well this was no one knew what where we would end up um in in any way shape or form but the principles are still the way we’re operating those weren’t principles to get through a period of time those are principles to kind of live by and um so that’s how I reflect on that you ever go back and read that yeah I do I do um I mean not often but occasionally I’ll go back and look at it because I think sometimes in everything that we do sometimes you can get away from um you know your your your your your tent poles or your your your your pillars so to speak you know um it’s good to pressure test that occasionally I think um and and so I’ll read it for those purposes like are we are we staying true to that because the intentions are not to when you go through a period of time that’s difficult not to have a bridge over those period that period of time and then all of a sudden just start conforming to what is deemed acceptable after that like okay we did that we don’t have to we don’t have to use these tools anymore we don’t have to think this way anymore now we can think like everybody else it’s it’s more kind of like this is a path we’re on and it’s really no there’s a highway that doesn’t really have like a it’s just kind of going we’re just kind of on it trying to learn as as much as we can trying to use these principles as best as we can you know that’s kind of how we look at I’ve looked at that you think about um Chad just playing his first full season and you mentioned earlier uh Jaylen jayd dub you know sort of having you know kind of an up and down rookie year but more of a consistent second year as you think about their offseason what are your expectations of those two guys and you know things they’ll work on and what what you’re what you’re thinking you’ll see out of those two the next well first thing is I love them both I love them both they um dub to me um the thing about Dub I love the most he’s not a numbers guy dub is not a numbers guy um dub if there’s one thing I could say to him it would be be yourself you know be who you are he’s he’s a he’s a unique guy he has um traveled a different path I want him to just make sure he’s he he maintains that you know um what makes him different to me is the motor twoa player with you know he’s extremely talented but like he’s got a he’s got a great motor uh plays both sides of the ball um and he’s you know he’s driven and uh I think he’s going to come back a better player I think the playoffs were fantastic for for those guys because they had to feel some weight in those moments you know and um I thought game four uh I’m horrible at this but like game four and game six um on the road like those were those were those were great showings you we didn’t get the outcome that we wanted in the series but um to perform and have um you have to execute under duress like that really impressive um he’s he’s he’s coming he’s coming um Chad um as I said the thing about Chad is he’s extremely ambitious but he doesn’t have an agenda and um we just have to continue to as I said with giddy lean into what it is that ched has um where he can go um and figure out how to continue to grow that within the framework of the team because the one thing about hren is he’s he’s a colossal competitor and he’s extremely ambitious but when he gets on the when he gets on the court it’s winning time he’s he doesn’t let that get in the way of what the team needs and like that’s what I think could make him such a special player you know as a talented as he is his uh he never lets his ambition override his team and like it’s impressive as you’re talking about that is there a moment or an instance that is flashing in your mind that illustrates just what you’re talking about with chat well one thing I’d say about him is you can coach him in the games I noticed that again like I’m really just trying to observe this thing like I’m trying to learn as much about the guys in the team I I’m not I don’t have a fixed idea of what it is or what it’s going to be and that’s hard because like I love to fast forward and you know imagine but like I think we really try to study it and just kind of watch it happen to a degree but like I did notice like he he’ll make a mistake or he might like do something that’s out of character something and Mark can really jump him you know and homon responds to that because I think he knows that’s what I think that’s part of what makes him great you know what I mean he’s like he knows and he wants to do right um so I have so much respect for his when when um when we were scouting him I watch him a lot in high school right a ton of high school um but I went to watch Gonzaga practice because here’s this this big name recruit clearly going to go high in the draft um it was later in the season and they were uh it was at University of San Diego and I just wanted to see him interact because that was an old there’s some older players on that Gonzaga team and they you know as I said before when you when you Hoist the Colors yourself and when you put up the beams you know you have more ownership and you sleep better at night Chet was new to that Gonzaga you know he was extending Gonzaga you know what I mean they have been good you know um and I was like how is he gonna handle this and I just wanted to I knew the player was not the issue um but I he interacted with those guys like he was the 15th guy and he took Direction he was coachable he asked questions he did all the you know every one of these college programs has these Traditions that you know they’ve done for a long time and they’re and I’m like some sometimes guys won’t do that stuff you know and I was like is he going to go through all he did all that stuff you know he was one of the guys and like that is goes back to that kind of stuff you know um if he maintains that and I think he will because I just just think that’s how he is I think that’s how his parents are like I just think that that’s part of what makes him a special player like I said before you know we’re second in the league in Rim protection I don’t think a lot of people knew that but like that’s because that guy’s coming you know he’s answering the bell all the time he’s tremendous shot Tracer not just shot blocker but that was I noticed that early at USA basketball and he’s playing against Moby and he didn’t block all those shots but he was tracing those shots like his hand was right right next to it all the time no fouling and so he’s got some really great gifts you know I just wouldn’t want to cap him because he’s there’s a lot there he had a great rookie year but his rookie year was very different Chad I’m talking about his his rookie year was very different because he had an entire year before he even played as part of the organization how beneficial do you think that was invaluable I think it was invaluable when um when it happened you know we have enough experience here with when the sky you know I say the sky falls on every team three times a year and that certainly felt like that but one of the things that you get rewarded with is persistence in this in this industry in my opinion and not seeing that as a forecast um in a negative light but an opportunity how are we going to use this to to make it a positive um and we Dove right into that chat was amazing with that um and I think he learned a lot about the Cadence of the Season he obviously worked on his body but there’s no substitute to actually actually playing but I do think that there’s um some there’s some real benefit to that and then um we had to kind of uh work into the season by kind of we had a pretty good year last year we went from like like I said 30th in offense and defense to 15th so we were you know we were doing better we could have just kind of tried to fit him into what we were doing um to try to White Knuckle the success that we had had the moderate success success that we had had but we had to be again open open to what could be to what are the possibilities if we were to take kind of first principles how should we approach this what should we do even just playing him at the five as as much as we did we had to see that we didn’t know it was going to result in a top five offense you know what I mean and a top we didn’t know that it could have fallen flat on our face but there were some positives in that um we we we had to work through that and I think that’s a real positive thing um that Mark and the coaches were able to do it wasn’t a given you know we had to be willing to fail if that wasn’t going to work and if if it didn’t work we’d adapt and we’d adjust you know um but that year was prepared us I think we had success but we we needed to have success with him and how was that going to look and um now we’ve got him in a good spot but as I said team’s going to change and so everybody’s gonna we’re gonna have to keep um curating we’re gon have to keep curating the team to a degree as these players continue to develop Wallace is here and just were there were there any moments in of scouting him or the draft process that that stood out to you that made you think that he could be a contributor right away I never would I can never tell you if they’re GNA play right away or anything like that I I wish I had the ability to do that I never know that um I always say sabonis was the guy I I didn’t know he would play as much as he did his first year he I always think about that um so I would never place like limitations on someone like oh they’re not going to play or they will play it’s like well what’s the team like you know where are we how far what kind of summmer are they having leading up um but kase’s a No Agenda player you know he has no no agenda he’s he’s he’s making the play that’s in front of him um so much is made of um like quote unquote like make a play KAS is serving the game there’s a big difference to me between someone that can make a play and a person that can serve the game he’s serving the game he’s making the a decision the the right decision as to how the game is unfolding Without Really any thinking Some people are thinking should I pass that because if I don’t if I do he’s he might not get an assist he’s just passing to the right person because the game is telling him he’s serving the game that way if the game is and the thing that I like about him that really stuck out was all the difficult things that are hard to do as a basketball player physically he did those eyes wide open he he he he did not you know he not closing his eyes getting over the screen like he’s he his job is to block out a guy that’s you know uh eight inches taller than him he’s driving into that guy’s thigh that’s the job so he’s doing it so he there was no moments of indecision so he’s a very clear mind of how to play because trying to win and like I that’s the thing that stuck out to me with him Sam I just I know you I think spent time with Jerry Krauss in the final once he was alive just leading up to you know his death I think the way he was painted was that he was sort of this lonely but prideful scalp that he even inquired about other Minds like leing up to you know the time he died that he was just so into the scouting thing even leading up to that point I just wonder if you you know ever since that you carry that same feeling that the endless Chase and if it maybe has boundaries no I mean I love watching players it’s how I started you know um I told you that story about uh watching Kansas with Kosh Yoder um I love I love watching players I love watching the development of players I love watching players achieve their goals um fascinated by the I’m fascinated by by basketball in general but also just by these guys that are so good at it because it’s just them and the ball man you know have to be so good you know to get a shot off in the NBA you know and I’m just I’m just have a lot of admiration for the sacrifices that these guys make they they keep they keep the lights on here with the with these sacrifices they make you know and we can we can say they’ve got Charter Jets and they’ve got all these amenities and they do but they’ve earned it you know they’re effort has earned it um I uh yeah I like watching players you know then the reason why is because you never know you know you can work at it and try to go back and look at all the ones that I know I’m like I completely botched that I missed that how did I not figure you know how did I miss that um um because so much of it is really random you know and um we have got a great group of uh evaluators and we have since um I’ve had the benefit of of of being here like we’ve had great evaluators every one of them has had a uh had a hand and like the decisions that were made you know and they’re the UN they’re The Unsung guys they’re the guys that are you know returning gassing up the rental car at 5: in the morning in De Moine so that they can get on a 6:30 flight to you know a town and then drive another two hours and then the guy that they’re supposed to go see gets in foul trouble and isn’t doesn’t play like for like 18 minutes of the first half it’s like you know but I’ve been there I I’ve been there so I you know I know what that’s like but those guys really grinded and um I mean those guys make huge sacrifices being away from their families and stuff like that but Krauss the thing that he was another one of those guys Mitch Cup’s another one of those guys and I think about it he would just be like they when you see something that you think is pretty special you really get that feeling of like wow that was that might be that my guy might be able to do it at the highest level because it’s not like most players are exhibiting that all the time except for the ones that are Extremely Loud that everybody you know knows but uh I like that part of it but I like doing it with with the with our evaluators I like to listen to what they think and just because I learn from them all the time you know um because they’re watching it 24 hours a day you know but I I love to listen to all their opinions and um who’s really passionate about an opinion matters to me and then most of all when somebody realizes that they may not know have a great handle on the guy when they’ll be like you know what I need to watch more like let me let me let me let me watch more like that’s a great sign of a to good forecaster I I I hate to like go to the greatest hits here but like the there’s two types of forecasters those that don’t know and those that know they don’t know and that’s what makes a good scout it’s like we’re all guessing it’s not like we know it’s you know it’s so Random to think that you’ve got like an edge on that no it’s the players and the what kind of competitors they are and workers and and then obviously all the different people that touch the players but it’s not it’s not like a thing that anyone’s better at than anyone else I really really believe that with those moments that Jerry described to you yeah the electric moments the electric moments just do you remember having any of those concerning anybody this season once they’re here you mean yeah Jay will had a block this year that caught me off guard um there was a force that he was able to get off the floor with that was clearly an improvement that was a like to me that I think back on that all the different people that have worked with him on his conditioning and and um athletic performance I mean that’s a village of people you know jayw will wasn’t moving like that you know um initially but we have a great group of people Donnie Stak Andrew Paul um uh Jenny strickler um you know Vanessa Brooks like all these different people in Kevin Hyde I me these these people are the they’re the glue and uh you know it just takes a lot of time especially with young players you know to to to work with them on those things he he really really was moving better for different stretches of the Season that surprised me I mean that was all hard work you know that was earned um but there’s one of those for every guy I mean I could go through the whole team like that um and every player probably we’ve ever had to a degree like I said about Berton he didn’t play a whole lot but I like to watch his workouts you know you know I like to watch those because it one it’s it’s fascinating but two like he needs to know I think that you’re you know you’re you’re watching you know you see you see that what the philosophy of drafting uh people over players I know you’re not trying to put together some big friend group with a lot the guys in the roster and you’re trying to win games but do you take any pride in sort of like the chemistry they have on and off the court and how do you think that continuity help you guys going forward I I can’t take we can’t take pride in it well I guess we we we’re happy about it but it’s not us it’s the players making that decision this is the kind of team we want to have these are our priorities um and yeah it’s not we’re not trying to put it’s not you know we’re not trying to collect Richie Cunningham all over the place like you know like it’s not that but we do want guys that can plug into a team team but are Monster competitors and are super physical and that that’s something that has to come over time with a younger team too that’s another thing about the rebounding I think we’ll get better team will get more physical we’ll get a little more physically stronger I hate to put it down on that but because like I said before it’s it’s a lot of it is Smalls like we’re getting blasted out of the corners you know and um some of that’s fundamental but to I’m not surprised that we have some significant limitations where we’re two seasons away from losing 58 games so of course we’re going to have things we have to work on like that’s now I wouldn’t I would be surprised if we were sitting here not talking about some type of limitation going back to Jerry I don’t know if you watched the last dance I haven’t watched the last dance just um I’m the the one person that has prob okay in the in in the opening moments of the Last Dance I think the the way they kind of set the series up is that there’s this disconnect between the way the public perceives Jerry’s you know uh ideals and and just the the internal the players the coaches you know Jerry has his quote with he’s misquoted he says that you know players and coaches alone can’t win a championship but you know the guys this year you know unprompted you know players Mark are just saying you know how much each individual in the organization matters for for this whole thing I just wonder how much you personally preach that and how much you think that matters to wom you um I mean I I don’t know if it’s like something that’s like being like preached but I hope over 16 years here that um we’ve tried to create an environment where people feel like they’re a part of what we’re doing and sharing in the success of what it is that happens and also the failure to a degree you know ultimately that’s really on me um but uh yeah you want everyone to feel like it ladds up in some way you know uh there’s a great story about Lynden Johnson uh touring NASA I think I have this right this probably could be a uh change over time like G telephone but he’s touring NASA and it’s an incredible achievement and he’s being walked around with all these people in white coats right scientists the brightest people in the world you know like mathematicians and a you know AER Aerospace experts and he’s walking along and he sees a uh he sees a a custodian really cranking on like a railing like he’s polishing the railing you know what I mean and so he’s like the president’s walking by him and he doesn’t notice so lynon Johnson’s like I need to talk to this guy right like you know and so he goes to talk to Caston and he says like hey man like why are you so why are you working so hard at that and he’s like because we’re trying to put a man on the moon it’s a great story of this person understood that their contribution laded up to the ultimate goal and I hope if we ever get to that point where we get the equivalent of that um that every person in the organization feels as if you know they’ve they’ve laded their contribution no matter what it is is helped create an environment where that was possible and uh so I don’t think it’s a preaching I think it’s a it’s actionable and it’s recognition of the contributions that all these different people have made and make on a regular basis um all without tricking yourself into thinking that it’s not like it’s all it is all about the guys but your contribution is helping create a platform for them you know but that’s still a major contribution you know it’s like you know you got to have your gears got to be washed you know what I mean you know the shoes got to be you got to have laces in the shoes like floors got to be swept like so no gets hurt you know like fridge got to be stocked you know Usman jang’s you know getting worked into the ground by Andrew Paul got your protein shake there you know what I mean like all that stuff matters you know all that stuff matters I think and we’re trying to have an elite organization um for the guys for the guys would that I just wonder if you maybe been surprised in at all with you know with how young this team is but how well they maybe grasp that understanding that goes back to um uh Frank Lloyd Wright said youth is a quality not a number you know I would say the team is youthful but they’re mature you know what I mean and that takes maturity to see the sacrifice of other people and how that Lads up into what it is that you do you know and so I think they’re mature and um we’re we’re we’re trying to we’re trying to to put them in the best positions to to let that really flower out but there’ll be times where there’s immaturity there’ll be times where there’ll be mistakes made we have to give them some Grace we have to understand that although we’re having we’ve had we had a great year we have so much to learn there’s so much more for us to figure out and learn but we also can’t it’d be easy to take these days for granted but we shouldn’t you don’t want to look back 5 10 years from now and be like that was a really fun year like how about doing it now even though it has you know we’re not promised anything for it you know what I mean it’s only going to get harder it’s only going to be more challenging but we should take some um some enjoyment in the fact that that happened and um because that can’t be T you know it was historic in a lot of ways like I said that can’t be taken away from us um now we have to park it and we have to walk a line you know we have to walk the line every day for the next year we talked about um an arrival versus an appearance and the difference between that and um you know I know this is not going to go over well for people but you know what we have is an appearance we have an appearance we have shown up to the postseason we arrived if we can replicate that right if we can replicate that because there’s a lot of teams that have gotten to the playoffs for one year and then they for whatever reason may not be able to get back there so the way I would look at that is you can either pick the lock or you can crack the code picking the lock you’re stealing it cracking the code you own it we have to be able to own our success and be able to repeat it but that’s going to take a tremendous amount of humility because we have to you know you you get to the bottom you have to go back to the top of the slide we have to be able to go back and take everything we’ve done and try to learn from it and start again stacking days and that gets harder because there’s more there’s more opportunity to depart from that mentality and that’s what makes the great teams great that’s what makes an an arrival versus an appearance and uh so I think we’ve got the first step in place but we have to walk the line toward making it what we said we set out to do read good books thank you Joel’s new to this question yeah I just wonder if with with Bill W’s passing yesterday if if you knew him at all I didn’t I I didn’t know him I didn’t know him but I was on a run this morning I was thinking about him and the thing that struck me was I’ve never heard anybody articulate their passion for basketball better than this person his ability to express and articulate his love for the game that so many other people love is unmatched and he also came from a group of people that played for wooden which you know he was exposed to what someone say is the greatest coach ever and he’s took he took all those things from his time there and he was he never conformed to the way I think other people would want him to view the game in terms of how important team is you know those lessons that he learned from wooden withstood all of the BS that comes along with pro basketball one it says that he special but also is such a great example of wooden who he’s always talked about the difference between a teacher and a coach you know um I was thinking about this also recently and then I’m going to get in the books but I I I I was I was G to think about this recently um there’s there’s there’s you want coaches that love players not coaches that love the coach and I think we have one um are we have anything else or okay just the books just the books okay in you you’d be disappointed no I I don’t know that’s Mark all the time no I’m I’m I’m pretty out there in the music there’s a lot of different things I listen to um recently um I like Miles Davis a lot it’s so he’s in the rotation a lot um I listen to um there’s a band I kind of fell onto uh metric it’s like new to me like a Canadian band um and uh you know I love trib call Quest um uh I mean this is this is going forever so I I’m going to cut it off there but like it that that’s like that’s a big part of my life so I’m going be very careful with what I’m saying because I I want to make sure that I’m digging deep um but yeah I mean music is that’s that’s that’s like a huge passion huge huge passion of mine so I don’t I don’t I don’t we could be here forever there’s no disint yeah no no no I I so um do you ever get to like be around producing music anymore no but I still play my drums you know I still play um not not any good but like uh I like to play you know as much as I can because it’s a big it was such a big part of my childhood and helps me think really helps me think it’s a big you know such a music is a big thing for just like your the abstract side of your thinking your brain you know what I mean problem I think it helps with problem solving I want my kids to my kids that play any kind of instrument I don’t care if they’re I’m having a struggle with it though but uh I just I would love for them to just try it because I think it’s it just a great tool and I think it opens up different ways of thinking about things so um I spared everybody the open so I just want to have closed with just a couple thoughts if if that’s okay but I’ll try to be as concise as I can I try to take every single question every year from everybody um and um I feel like that’s my responsibility but I didn’t want to kind of get away from the from the open just let you guys have the have the floor for the entire time um I just want to talk briefly about just I really this is where I get to talk to the fans so I really want to thank our fans ever since I’ve been here I’ve always felt that there’s been tremendous pride in having the team and I’ve always felt that and part of that I think is because of the way the team um arrived right um it was here and we were in a position to or I should say they because I was not here were in a position to accept the team from New Orleans because the city had rebuilt itself from its own tragedy right it was a it was a city that could accept and support an NBA franchise that had hit similar distress right its own tragedy and I think it’s understood that like we are one of the smallest cities in uh in in the NBA and maybe wouldn’t be top on the list you know uh if there was you know if there was future future expansion so I think there’s a recognition of how much pride in own in having the team I also felt that um early on in those first kind of playoff runs and things like that um there was intense passion like an intense intense passion for the team and um it’s hard to like maintain that level of passion now there’s people like that meet us at the airports the people that always stand up and clap when we introduce the Thunder Legacy guys um you know the people that no matter what the results are if they see like Lou Dort on the floor or they see you know Lindy Waters can a three like to send the other team the timeout they stand up and they clap but what I what I think I saw this year when we got to the playoffs when we got to the playoffs was a similar level of passion that is really exciting fighting and we’re super grateful for that because when you have a passionate group of people in the stands like that it makes it much harder for the opponent to play and that was a big part of some of the success that we had in the postseason you know we finished six and four in the postseason and uh I thought you know the passion and the energy you know what I mean that was in the arena during the playoff games was really palpable and um we’re grateful for that we also are hopeful that we’ll be able to maintain that continue that because that was a big that’s been a big part of uh of our success over time so I think there’s a difference between pride and passion when you have both of those it’s very very powerful you can’t have it all the time because passion is not something you can just have on forever but I think there was sign of that which was really special um as I said I think it was a great year and um there’s still so much to learn and so much to figure out and have a lot of experiences we need to put together but we’re I think we did learn not just what we you know not just what we need but what we what we have and um I have no idea what the next season’s going to bring um you know we’ll sit here in September and people will ask me you know about all those things I I will say what I always say I don’t know um but sometimes when you don’t know where it is that you’re headed or what the final result will be um it helps to know where you are and I think we’re in a good place I think we’re in a good place um for a lot of the reasons we talked about but we also understand that ‘s no silver platters in Oklahoma City and we’re going to have to we’re going to have to take it we’re going to have to improve we’re going to have to scratch we’re going to have to claw we’re gonna have to battle to get progress especially in our conference and our guys are our guys are fine with that those are the types of people that we want you know we want people that don’t need the wind at their back all the time um and I’d say we have to we have to enjoy the ride like I I had mentioned a while back um we don’t know you know we don’t know exactly where that’s going to end but try to not contort yourself into misery um as we find ourselves and go through difficult challenging times um it’s a a young group of players that will need support that will not be perfect um that are going to need to continue to find themselves by getting as close to the uh the razer’s edge of competition as possible that’s going to make us better but I’m very confident that if they maintain their the way they have their maturity and the way they have committed to one another and the accountability they’ve shown to winning um that good things will happen um but we have to walk the line and as I said earlier we can crack you know we can we can we can crack the code or we can pick the lock and we need to crack the code because if we can do that we can show up again and again even with um you know the unexpected adversities and curveballs that we’re going to get thrown um we have to know the have to know our own formula we have to know how to repeat our success and it won’t be something that uh is the same each year you know but if we have the that Mutual commitment and we have the awareness that we have so much to learn we have to be extremely humble about what we’re doing I think we we’re headed in the right direction so just really thankful to everybody for being here I hope I got to every single question I cut out the beginning part um and um I’m super grateful for the coverage and we’ll talk again in September
General Manager Sam Presti speaks with media at the end of the 2023-24 season.
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25 Comments
your vids are interesting, this content is GOATšÆ
your videos are crazy, thank you for your effortsš»
I love Sam man great season imo disappointing ending but i think this we be the last year we donāt win a championship next year i think itās us
Sam presti talks I listen simple š¤š¾
This is the video I was waiting for. I'm tired of hearing commentators talking about what OKC may or may not need. Presti is the guy with the plan.
sam looking breedable
i really hope we don't run it back with the same exact roster, that's what happened in 2012 and we all know what happened.
keep giddey but run him with the bench unit and go out and trade picks for deni avidija because ur not gonna use all of them.
Rip Bob Barry Jr
get rid of hayward. using up capspace and doing nothing
Where is the gordon hayward clip?
The real question I was waiting for, was, "Now that we've eaten our breakfast… what's on the menu for next year." Because if he said I'll trade Giddey and up to 14 firsts/seconds for BOTH a guard/wing like Mitchell, Butler, CURRY, Booker, or Ja, AND a big guy like Davis, GIANNIS, JJJ, Lauri, or Bam, I'd be sooooo happy. We gots da cap. We gots da picks to trade. We gots da coach. LFG – please.
I want to win several championships so 80 million a year is crazy. Personally I take a pay cut because I want to win at the we can negotiate a big payday on my last contract.
I love listening this man speak, last couple of years I never missed his exit interview not even once it's just so educational
43:30 presti on Giddey
Just when I needed something to watch š
Man we were so close to make the finals this year itās kinda crazy. After seeing what Dallas doing to Minnesota weāre right there
Thanks for your time Mr Presti. You enrich our team and give our supporters a sense of belonging ā¤š
š„
Always the best video of the year.
Itās crazy how excited Iāve been to listen to this presser.
This GM is the best in the league and deserves accolades for being just that! I can't imagine running a ball club that's of college age players and manage to be #1 seed and conference division winners.
Two yrs ago you lost 58 games this year you won 57 games, ain't that something?
Sam Presti will always have a job in the NBA, you can't say that about alot of GM.
Roaring Thunder ā¤
Hell yeah Presti talking.
This feels like a church of the Thunder sermon and I love it š
Love how he left off Giddey when he mentioned guys with potential on this team lmaoo
PRESTI FOR PRES