2024 Draft Class Full Press Conference + Interviews | Nikola Topić, Dillon Jones and Ajay Mitchell

2024 Draft Class Full Press Conference + Interviews | Nikola Topić, Dillon Jones and Ajay Mitchell

hey and a pleasant good afternoon everybody we welcome you to downtown Oklahoma City to the Oklahoma Contemporary Art Center the site of today’s introductory press conference for the Thunders 2024 draft class alongside Michael cage I am Chris fiser Paris Lawson and Nick Gallow they will be with us shortly as this beautiful building is the backdrop the 2024 draft class is going to be introduced we’re going to hear from them we’re also going to hear from head coach Mark dagnal Sam presty as they formally meet the Oklahoma media for the first time welcome inside every buddy the last time you saw Michael and I it was the end of April the last time we saw this Thunder team that was May 18th that last game against the Dallas Mavericks Michael a lots happened as much as we appreciate all the work that the Thunder did over the course of the Season there’s so much to be optimistic about going forward including today well absolutely I mean this is such a special time for the players their families all being you know joining the the Thunder organization and in coming off the heels of a terrific season in which really you know it was just an outstanding season to say the least some big numbers posted by the team uh getting to the playoffs first round second round I mean everyone contributing stepping up making it really a special season last year so many different highlights 57 wins number one seed in the Western Conference and Michael you can go all the way back to October you can pick some of those special games big wins against Golden State but there was so much to like about what this team was able to do over the course of that 82- game season well the momentum kept building throughout the season anytime you can win 57 games become a divisional champ champion in a in a division where there’s a team that wins 55 season and another team wins 57 it’s pretty special and it just continue everyone contributed I mean obviously the ACU leagues kept running in but when you have a top five defense top five offense it’s going to do some damage on the court all right we’re not the only ones with you today Nick Alo peris Lawson they’re standing by at station two let’s send it over to them hey thanks so much Chris and Mike and this is always such an exciting day for the organization an opportunity to meet the new newest additions to this team the newest additions to this organization and this year the Thunder adding three new faces to its roster nicolea topic Dylan Jones and AJ Mitchell three guys who are looking forward to get things going here in this organization let’s dive in a little deeper into their games starting with nicoa toic the Serbian who has a little bit of professional experience under his belt yeah that’s right played in the Euroleague played in The Adriatic League those leagues are full of grown men and this is an 18-year-old that went toe-to-toe with some of the very best in Europe he showed incredible passing chops one of the very best passers in the entire draft widely regarded as so the Thunder was able to get him at number 12 despite the fact that he was really thought of as a top five talent in this draft he will miss this entire year with a knee injury but uh an incredible investment by the thunder in terms of getting a player who at 6’6 6′ 7 a very highlevel processor of the game able to pick out passes all over the floor and oh by the way finishes extremely efficiently at The Rim as well so this is a guy that has so many different tools on the floor and has great positional size which is something that uh the Thunder really highly values as you you see him be able to get down hill he can finish with both hands around the rim and again the competitiveness is something that we have noticed in terms of topic and what he’s been able to do great size great decisionmaking moving on now to the number 26 pick in Dylan Jones at Weber State they call him doit all DJ that must mean he can do a little bit out there on the floor huh yeah scoring rebounding assisting in fact he led the entire conference in those three categories an incredible defensive rebounder nine a game for Jones and this is a guy that can play with the ball in the middle of the floor as well attack down hill he’s got a big frame he’s able to use that size and strength to get to where he wants to go on the floor great quickness and the ability to use that 611 wingspan on both ends of the Court a Defender that is disruptive over three steals per 100 possessions during his time at Weber State and a guy that’s exceptional at being able to play it on both ends of the floor talk about great size great length that 611 Wings spin can certainly cause some disruption out there on the floor let’s go to the final guy that the Thunder added to their roster this year and that is a J Mitchell out of UC Santa Barbara a great decision maker yet again I feel like we’re saying that a lot but he is no exception yeah this is what the Thunder values is guys that have size at their position the ability to process at a high level to make plays to be good decision makers out there on the floor this is a guy who can play on or off the ball 39% he shot from three-point range in his last year scored 20 points per game as well a guy that once again can use that size and length on both ends of the floor a highle defender on the ball as well a great addition to this team and we are all looking forward to meeting all of these players and that is happening right now we’re going to step aside and turn things over to the podium want to welcome everyone today to the Oklahoma contemporary Museum here in beautiful downtown Oklahoma City for our introductory press conference for the Thunders 2024 for draft class in a few moments we’ll meet our newest Thunder players and hear from Thunder Executive Vice President and general manager Sam prey on our newest picks but before we do that we want to acknowledge some special people we have in the crowd today so as what’s become part of a thunder tradition each year at this event we welcome some people who are doing amazing things in our community we call them our Thunder Community draft picks and this year we have four special people with us today we have Megan Mueller who’s the president and CEO of the at the homeless Alliance stand up Megan go ahead we have salv Salvador aneros he’s the CEO and president of the Latino Community Development agency stand up [Music] Sal we have Dr jamy C poke who is the superintendent of Oklahoma City Public Schools and our last Thunder Community draft pick this year is a special person that we have with us today uh this is Christine Bernie she’s been with the Thunder since day one um she’s been amazing for everything we’ve done in the community with programming with the people she is an absolute star in her role and a star in community she is retiring this summer from her position as the vice president of Engagement and community relations along with being the director of the Thunder cares foundation and so we’re going to miss her dearly and she is our last Thunder Community draft pick so stand up [Music] Christine here one more time for our Thunder community draff piics and now we’ll welcome to the stage our Thunder draft class of nicoa topic Dylan Jones AJ Mitchell and then along with thunder Executive Vice President and general manager Sam [Applause] [Music] prey Sam will have some opening comments here and then we will open it up to Media for questions uh good afternoon just want to thank everybody for being with us again just um want to Echo our appreciation for our uh Community our community draft picks as well special recognition for Christine who uh be on the lookout for her next bestseller she’s a talented author uh and uh we’re very very grateful for all of her contributions uh throughout the entire time that we’ve been in Oklahoma City um these days are really exciting um it’s a it’s a tremendous honor for us and we’re really excited to welcome our new players to the community um we’re really excited to welcome their families uh their friends uh their representation everybody that’s had a huge influence on their lives to get to this point um Nia Dylan and AJ all come from different places they have traveled different paths but now as we get to this point in their careers they also know that this is just the beginning and for that beginning to take place in Oklahoma city with the Thunder gives us tremendous honor it also is a responsibility for us we take that very seriously and um I’m I’m truly excited to see how they work and develop and and pursue their potential with Mark the rest of our coaching staff and our entire organization as we commit with them to finding the best versions of themselves and I think they’re going to be uh impactful people and players for Oklahoma City and the Thunder for many years to come so with that um if we could welcome them one more [Applause] time and uh any questions that everybody has ra your Andrew like what the athletic uh Nika this question is for you just what what have you learned about the Thunder and how the process they went through with chat and just your your confidence level of entering this year and and not being able to play uh yeah I mean I’m really grateful that I’m here with this uh great organization I heard many good things about them from their uh best player was MIT we talked a lot and he told me just only the best things about these organizations and I’m really grateful that they have experience uh with Chad who didn’t play his first year so we assume that that would be the case with me so I’m really really really grateful for the opportunity and I’ll try try my best uh to do my best and to be the best version of myself Jo sorry Jo Joel Lorenzi with the Oklahoma back here uh Nico this is for you just I saw that you visited the arena yesterday just since you’ve been here and that experience specifically just what have you seen from everything you’ve just taken in since being here uh yeah I’ve been to Arena I haven’t visit visited a city uh yet but I’m looking forward to it and to see uh to explore to explore the cities restaurants and and everything about it uh arena is amazing I mean locker rooms uh offices gym uh LIF uh waight room I mean it’s just incredible and we don’t have that in Europe so as I said before I’m really grateful that I’m here and really it’s is the probably the best organization I’ve been to Joe Mado the Oklahoman um for AJ and Dylan you guys are both Throwbacks in a way and that you spent three and four years um at your respective midm what kind of talk about that commitment and also you know maybe I’m sure you had offers to to go to maybe bigger schools like why did you want to stay at each of your uh respective schools uh I think for me it was just loyalty uh Santa Barbara was the first school to believe in me uh started talking to them when I was 16 uh and always felt like I wanted to give back to them so every year have the same mentality of getting better as a person getting better as a player and like trusting them uh cuz they believed in me uh yeah I’m similar to AJ um I think for me it was just all about the different things that I valued when I decided to make the decision to go to college and go to Weber so um as things was happening in the folding for me you know I didn’t you know move off my square that you know um could have been very easy of me to you know do things differently when the opportunities presented itself but you know when I chose to go to college I want to put be in a good situation good school um you know focus on Player Development and you know if I did that I’ll would be right where I want to be and as that as that was unfolding I didn’t you know move off that you know when it could have been very easy too so um you know I valued that and I thought that was important so that’s what I did and just to follow up Sam I know you’ve drafted you know guys that have gone one and done or who have transferred but their their path specifically like do you kind of learn anything about a prospect for a guy who sticks it out at a mid major for that long sure I think um we’ve said this for many years and sitting at this uh table for each draft we always talk about the fact that we draft people before we draft players and every single person has their own path as I was alluding to earlier they have their own Journey their own experiences they’ve had to make their own choices um no one’s the same I think the consistency of those choices tells you a lot about the individuals uh I don’t think there’s one way to do it but but certainly with these these two guys um they’ve been very focused I think they’ve been very diligent they have made like steady progress in each place I don’t know if that progress would have been as steady if they were bouncing around all the time uh and so I think the biggest commonality with both of these individuals is they have great maturity uh and they have great focus and I think they said before like they have the ability to stick with things even you know in the good and the bad which are good signs in terms of just people in general this this is for Dylan and AJ uh what particular skills fact that you did spend so much time in college what skills do you think you improved on from your freshman to where you are now that got you to this point that you think impressed the Thunder and other NBA teams uh I think for me uh just developing my IQ and playmaking uh I think also getting stronger I think as a a freshman I was once 70 lbs and then every year getting stronger and bigger and being now at 200 I think that was a big jump but then on the basketball court it was definitely just playmaking uh being able to make plays for myself for my teammates and making the right read uh yeah for me um you know going through you know at Weber and that progress like Sam spoke on um I think I was able to learn you know like being a guy at Weber taught me like when I’m in a situation like this is what the guy will need you know and um I think that perspective was everything and I learned that you know through my time at Weber you know being held accountable and things like that I think that’s way more important than you know how much I got better as a passer or a shooter or whatever you know and um the fact that I had to be held accountable to the level I was because of where my team needed to be um I think that’s what’s going to help me be more successful you know and um like I like to tell people like you know being the guy made me know what the guy will need from me so you know playing on a team a great players I think that’s what I learned the most and um I’m ready to add that to all three of you would you just share with us what your impressions are of this Thunder team I don’t know how readily available Thunder broadcasts are in Europe but for all three of you if youve if you’ve had a chance to watch this team and now sort of thinking how you might fit within this roster of players uh so yeah uh a few guys from the team uh they sent me messages welcome messages and I mean that that that means a lot to me and that just showed how how great great they are not just on basketball court and off and we’re really excited to play with them they’re all very young and very perspective so I think uh all three of us can add to it and can translate our game so we can all be better and uh we’ll give our best uh yeah I mean obviously you know um watch a lot of Thunder games just a fan of the NBA in general um you know a young exciting team that’s you know still just finding themselves and um for me it’s just all about you know being a sponge any way I can be and just you know taking direction from the coaches and whoever else and just trying to you know put my best foot forward in that whatever they may need me to do Dylan I think for me uh just seeing the team on but also off the court how close they are I think that struck me and I think that’s really important I think I want to be part of a family so seeing that was really nice and I think that’s one of the best things he Dylan back here I just wonder if you could describe your journey to this point um yeah I mean it was a it was a journey that you know a long road traveled um you know grew up you know in certain situations and you know single parent house home and um you know but you know we was one of those families like we didn’t know we didn’t you know we we didn’t we didn’t know we were poor in a way you know we just had so much fun with each other and um the what the game brought us was was was more powerful than anything that money could give us so um that was like the road and um when I got the Weber them were the times that really made me kind of be who I was as a player um you know as a freshman I didn’t start I only started two games you know and growing up and just being able to continue every year to take it up a level you know keep learning keep growing um that was like the journey in a way and um and um that’s helped me help me be a good person um good player and it’s going to continue to help me you know and um as long as I stay true to that and don’t forget those things and keep that perspective uh it helped me be a good player and um yeah I’m just excited to try to embark on that and you know uh run with this new challenge hi I’m Gracie Rawlings with the Oklahoma and my question is for you Dylan you went to the combine uh last year and kind of you know went decided to go back to Weber what did that year kind of do for you like full circle to kind of get drafted in the first round uh it did a lot um you know you grow up wanting to play in the NBA as your goal for forever and for me that was the closest I ever had been at the combine last year you know I was in the jersey with the logos in it I was doing workouts and it was you know everything you wish for and you know I turned it down and it was at the time it was like the toughest thing I’ve ever done but you know I think you know talking to my brother and things like that um um just the person I was I knew what it would do for me I would do anything it took to get back in that situation and um I think that was the most important part you know he you know he my brother told me something that really made my decision last year he was just like you know he you could probably run up and down the court and you know be in the NBA and just say you in it but like what does that do for you you know and um your goal shouldn’t be to make it he kind of switched my perspective as I was going through it he was like your goal shouldn’t be to make it your goal should be to stay and um think going back to school and learning another year and you know igniting that fire of me looking my dreams in my face and then having to take the step back and you know do what was best for me it just it created a different person I don’t know how else to put it and um I think that’s the biggest thing it did for me and I think it just worked out how I was supposed to yeah inter with the athletic Dylan can you tell us a little bit about how you see your game fitting with this group you have a a pretty unusual game for a player your size um you know for me is just about you know learning from the coaches um being in a situation and um just doing whatever they need me to do that’s how I fit it’s that simple um you know watching them they play unorthodox style in a lot of ways you know and um for me as a player that’s an unorthodox player I guess you can say that fits like a hand in a glove so um you know whatever they need me to do I’ll be ready to do it and um I’ll be ready Daniel Bell BS so this for you AJ um this team has had a lot of success recently with second round picks undrafted guys and them finding success in the NBA I just want to know how much confidence that gives you that this is the place that you landed with the team that has that much succcess I know I’m really excited I think uh this team has done it before uh with players in my position so really excited to be in this position and being able to be in this organization is a blessing for me so it’s all about just working hard doing my part and being ready at any time but I’m really excited to be in this position any other questions other questions from media go ahead yep great Holden Cruz Mark KF for all three you um I feel like maybe Thunder fans aren’t super familiar with a lot of your games what’s one thing about it you know you as a player that you think will really stand out to fans uh for me I’m just uh that I’ll play hard uh give my 150% for every ball every possession every defense and just uh do my best to win uh I think um my toughness and uh my ability to just go through anything and you know the the things that seem hard for people that don’t don’t want to do those things those are the things I love to do so um whatever that may be that’s just kind of how I would describe myself I would say just competitiveness uh both ends to the floor uh fighting for every ball and then just using my IQ uh on both ends too and being making the right plays smart plays Sam you’ve talked a lot about how you know height doesn’t necess neily depict defense and Effectiveness does how do you think that Dylan ranges defensively and kind of scales up on that area well I mean uh he’s he unique player obviously to be able to do a lot of the things that he does but um one of the things about him is he’s 66 he has a 611 611 wingspan um and that’s helped him become you know an elite rebounder for consecutive years in college um and you know he has a physicality to his game so um again I think the way to look at all of the additions to the team are not just to look at them uh in Singularity like in is individuals because that’s not how a team works so you have to look at what we’re adding to the existing team and how that layers and interacts and and can um counterbalance a lot of different things so having someone with that um that size and length uh and I think one of the common themes with all three of the guys that are sitting here and we talked about this after the draft is they really think the game they’ve got good anticipation skills they process things quickly that’s the reason why they’ve gotten to this point um you combine that with some of the physical traits I described with Dylan and it’s definitely part of uh why he’s been so good on the board uh and the ability to make decisions with his height as well and that would be the case with the other with the other guys as well AJ obviously you’re super impressive with the ball in your hands navigate pick and roll very well you’ve talked about IQ also a good three-point shooter I think 75 80% of your made threes in college were assisted on which would lend to believe you could play off ball as well in the NBA can you just talk about how you think you would fit in both guard positions at this level uh yeah know I think for me it’ll be really really interesting and really fun I think being able to be on the ball but also off the ball uh I think especially coming into the NBA uh you’re going to be a lot off the ball as a young guy and being able to make the best decisions off the ball being able to read defenses s the ball is going to be really important for me and really excited to see see how that goes but it’s going to be it’s going to be fun hey Sam could you just talk a little bit about the efforts to get um this last two guys sitting at the table you made some deals packaged some stuff just the desire to get in those spots to get those two guys sure um you know through uh throughout time here you know we’ve always done everything we can to move up the draft um that’s something we’ve done every year so you know if we’re picking uh 12 we try to get to 11 we try to get to 10 if we’re picking you know in some cases we didn’t have picks um we’re trying to get in the draft and then see if we can work our way up just because we really try to follow the board the best that we can um uh with respect to to these this particular year we have such a talented group of people that work you know that I have the privilege of working with uh that are very creative and uh very thoughtful I mean there’s like 10 people that go into the decisions to get into these positions to select a players and you have a group of people that I heavily rely on that are focused on Personnel so you kind of take all these different skills and talents combine them together and you kind of get a bit of a strategy as to how we do that but um you try and um in this case we’re successful both times uh there’ve been a lot of times where we’ve tried and we haven’t been successful but these situ ation worked out for us they the players that we wanted were there and um I’m really excited about it you know but philosophically we’re always trying to to maneuver and move ourselves up there and some years are different than others uh nicoa back here I just want to ask a question you mentioned with chat just sort of uh some of the encouragement that you get of like he’s been through a similar situation have you had the chance to talk to him or Nick Collison who used to play here who’s part of the organization who went through something like that as well not yet but I’m sure in the next few days uh be able to talk to them both yeah Chad’s actually coming back for um when we begin summer league practice he’s going to be in for some of that so I think those guys are going to have a chance to spend some time together at that point in time um and as I said earlier there’s so many things that I think can be helpful during that during this upcoming year for Nia that will make him a better player um and also just being around the team is going to be a big thing for him because it’s going to be a big adjustment so getting those things uh in place getting comfortable in the environment OB SE it’s a big transition just culturally that’s going to be massive and then um we’ll have an opportunity to work on a lot of different things that we wouldn’t be able to if he was in season so we’re going to really attack that we have a little bit of a road map we have some people that as you mentioned um have experience with that so I think he’ll be in in great hands any other questions from the media okay the next thing we’re going to do we’re going to take some photos with Sam and our newest Thunder players and their jerseys as is tradition thank you photogs get yourself in position we’re going to do it front of stage what we’re going to do we’re going to have we’ll do it as a group first and then Sam will take photos with each guy individually okay after this we’ll go to the back and we can break out and scrums okay all right so the press conference is officially over you see the three new draes Nikola topic Dylan Jones AJ Mitchell with their photograph all three of them together with vice president Executive Vice President Sam presy general manager and what a moment it is for them Michael I know that you’ve been drafted all the way back in 1984 and this is something that all three of these players have been working toward throughout their entire careers their young careers different Pathways different Journeys topic he’s 18 and you got two players who spent extended time in college which is not something that you see here in 2024 but the one thing that stands out to me about all three of these players is the the adversity that they faced the journey that they faced in getting to this point and all those challenges that they’re willing to take with them going forward to try to establish themselves in the NBA well I think what I was really impressed with is is just how they understand what’s required the hard work the sacrifice I mean they’ve pretty much done that you know already and it’s just this is this the next challenge for them and obviously you know just hearing them say some of the things that are consistent what you’ve hear heard thunder players say and obviously this is the start of a New Journey a big moment for their families the players where you actually are drafted and you’re now an NBA player and the dream is over now you start dreaming about what I do from here and that’s where it becomes really special cuz you join another group of guys who have made that Journey yeah these guys are just starting their NBA careers that that’s the remarkable thing about it you hear them hey look I want to be in the NBA Dylan Jones saying I want to be in the NBA for a long time I don’t just want to get to the NBA I want to be there for a long time one of the reasons why he came back AJ Mitchell he was dedicated staying at UCSB because he felt like he was going to be a better player in the long run that was going to prepare him better for the NBA Nika toich young player 18 very curious to see his growth and his development Michael not expected to play this upcoming season partially torn ACL but they are going to put him to work in terms of assimilating him into this thunder culture and you know what’s really interesting Chris is that they know about this team already they they know about the Mantra around this team the season they had last year the players I mean you heard Nia talking about you know I’m looking forward to talking with Chad and and getting to know these guys you know the big next big challenge is is practice and then going to Las Vegas next month for the summer league you know where you start really uh meeting these challenges and understanding what is you know the actual on the ground experience of being an NBA ball player all right we’re going to get into some individual player interviews so let’s send it over to Paris Lawson and Nick Gallow they have nikol topic all right thanks so much Chris we are now joined by the number 12 pick in this year’s draft nicoa topic first of all welcome to Oklahoma City I’m just curious what the last 72 hours the last 3 days have looked and felt like for you it was cha chaotic obviously the drive then tomorrow morning uh flight here uh yesterday got some rest uh some needed rest and then uh today tomorrow I explore the city uh explore the restaurants City culture people and and yeah I’m excited there’s so much coming at you becoming an NBA player uh for the first time but I know your dad was a professional basketball player uh has there been maybe a little bit of of insight that he’s been able to provide to to you uh as you’ve been able to to kind of get started on this journey of course not not here I mean he’s by my side since day one since uh I became a basketball player so his advice is from a way way time ago so not nothing special now just just continuing that same same way same same relationship with him now we we know you won’t be able to to play uh immediately upon getting here but what’s it like coming to a team and organization who you know has been through this before had players who have rehabed through injury through their rookie season how comforting is that for you that means a lot I mean uh I’m really grateful that time here uh especially with with the chat homework situation so they know what are they doing and they have uh one of the best medical staff in the league so I’m really really excited and I’m sure I’m in good hands you’re obviously very well known for the passing for the finishing with both hands uh the size for your position but one of the things that uh general manager Sam and some other Thunder Staff have said about you is just your competitiveness you know you were playing against grown men as a 17-year-old over there in Europe tell me about maybe that aspect of your character I just want to win and that’s it uh just just competitive for every ball every possession try to give my best my 150% for everything and that is just me that I was born with that that’s it for a lot of our Thunder fans who might not be familiar with Euroleague basketball you started playing at a very young age over there what what was that like for you integrating into a professional League that we know is is pretty intense of course when you were in in Europe and uh my dad played in your league and he was always that’s the toughest league in the world like and obviously the dream is to play there and when I did it was uh very different very physical very very different the court is smaller in the Europe than than it is here and big bodies the players are are in the league for so long and they know each other they know how to play coaches are along so it’s it’s really a hard hard League to to play in Yeah you mentioned the difference in just even the layout of the Court how excited are you to be able to play on an NBA floor just the space that opens up for you to be able to create and find those passes obviously have such talented teammates uh that eventually you’ll get to play with and and your ability to find them I’m sure is very exciting to you yeah it’s so exciting to just play in the NBA just to step on that court I mean it’s obviously one of the childhood dreams coming true and uh I’ll do do my best uh do my best and I’ll try to be the best version of of myself for sure one of the skill sets that Sam prey has pointed out about you is your facilitating your passing your ability to see the floor where did that come from for you just uh reading the game and making the right reads I mean obviously if someone’s open of course I’m going to pass him the ball and uh I have I had some I have some Talent uh and uh for for that also but obviously just making the right reads and right choices you mentioned up there on the podium that some teammates have already reached out to you uh what did that mean to you who are some of the guys that that reached out to you and and I don’t know have you starting to feel the the Thunder family uh love there yeah of course I I felt like home I mean when they texted me and obviously the jayen Williams in the in the draft I mean he stood up I mean that that means like I’m accepted them and and I’m welcome to the family and that means of course a lot so thanks to them obviously you got that big hug there in in Brooklyn big thank you to all of them and then now going through this with your fellow draes as well what’s it like going through this with three people up here at the stage at one time getting a chance to know them too yeah it’s great I mean we went basically through the through the same thing uh a lot of hard work a lot of hard work and this is just the reward for that I mean it’s great when you see it paid off and this is just the the beginning of of New Life new story and we’re we’re all just really excited and really happy that we are here yeah we are all excited that you are here with this organization as well good luck going into this offseason all right let’s s send things over now to fish and cage who are standing by with Coach dagn all right thank you Paris we know today is about this new draft class but we have a very special guest with us somebody who we don’t get to talk to one-on-one very often on the air mark dagnal head coach Mark we haven’t talked to you since May 18th I feel like that was the last Thunder game so my first question is about you what have you been doing with your time and what’s been the priority uh a lot of kid time we’ve had two young kids as you can relate to Congratulations by the way and uh yeah we have a two and a half-year-old AJ and Stella is one so uh we’re in the thick of it right now so spending as much time with them and then a little bit of draft stuff a little bit of work with Sam uh some touches with our players but not many at this point we’ll see them more in the second half of the summer what is the coaches mentality when you get three new players like this you’re going to bring them into your program you’re going to try to get them as familiar as possible but we know there’s The Scouting we know there’s what the players do what is in your mind your role in getting them involved as best you can yeah I mean I’m obviously aware of them the staff will be aware of their strengths reasons we drafted them stuff like that but then it’s really about like open-mindedness you know getting them into the fold getting them kind of to understand the the big principles and values of the program but then just letting them exist and seeing where they start just establishing a baseline with summer league and with their early days here um just so we understand their starting point and then from there we can go into the fall with a developmental plan uh but we try to be like all eyes and ears at this time of year mark you know having a count of year you’re coming off last year what what’s the biggest challenge you think moving into the next season as he just mentioned bringing in three new players and in the existing you know group you have yeah I think the challenge every year is for the hold be better than some of the parts and uh I thought we really did a great job of that last year I thought our team uh was better than its parts we made each other better we played together competed together on both ends of the floor but that can never be taken for granted so our guys are working really hard right now they’re all going to come back better uh after a summer individually their bodies Minds games will be better but we have to blend that together uh as we’ve done in the past and that’ll be our challenge this season what is it Mark about these three players that you’ve seen that stands out the most that you’re looking forward to to getting them on the court that you’re looking forward to seeing what is it about these three guys specifically yeah I think you know our guys our locker room has a kind of a like-mindedness around you know professionalism the way that they do things the way that they attack the program and then how we compete on the court and how we compete together uh and the guys have really taken great ownership over that and these are guys that I think will be energized by that I think they kind of speak that language uh to begin with and then I also think they’ll earn very immediate respect among the guys because the way that they are and so that’s how you build momentum in the environment especially in the locker room uh and I’m excited to see these guys in the fold Mark when you have a kind of season again like I talked about as you did last year going into the next season do you say this is where we pick up where we left off or do you just say we’re at zero and zero we start all over this is where we’re going to build from what’s the process with that I you know to to just um you know wipe it away from our minds would be foolish you know there’s a lot of wisdom that we can carry there’s a lot of experience that we can carry and there’s a lot of confidence we can carry from last season and we want to bring that stuff forward but after that we got to get back to the bottom of the mountain you know you’re we’re starting over just like every other team every team is truly zero and zero at the beginning of the year and we have to start building together and that’s uh what put us in a really good position last year and if we want to be in a really good position again that’s what we’re going to have to do all right Mark thanks for your time enjoy the rest of the family time are you going to go to Paris for the Olympics same no Paris for me all right I’ll see those guys out in Vegas Vegas too then all right have a good rest of the summer let’s send it over to Paris thank you so much Chris we are now joined by the 38th pick in this year’s draft AJ Mitchell out of UC Santa Barbara AJ welcome congratulations just how are you feeling right now being a part of the NBA now I’m super excited I think for me it’s like it was a dream since I was a kid so really excited and really excited to be part of this organization uh had a great conversation with coach Mark uh Co uh with Sam prey and really excited uh their philosophy and how they see things was really amazing to me so really excited you mentioned this being a dream since you were a kid does your dad being a professional basketball player have something to do with that and and kind of how how great has that relationship been and in terms of pursuing this dream oh no it’s I mean since I was a kid I saw him play and I I always felt like I wanted to be a professional basketball player so he definitely played a big role in that and then just like following like him following my career uh throughout this point was really really huge and then him giving me advice about everything about basketball was really important one thing that I know Thunder fans really appreciated was hearing you say how close this Thunder team seems on and off the floor and you wanting to be a part of a family just what did you notice about this group from the outside looking in that made you really appreciate that I mean I think a lot of fun moments especially like interviews where everyone’s just like barking and stuff like I feel like that’s really that’s really cool and that’s really fun and feel like they have a great like great camp tree and feel like I really want to be part of that so I think it’ll be fun it’ll be cool you’re a guy that is comfortable playing in a lot of different positions out there on the floor both offensively in terms of on and off the ball defensively on and off the ball how do you feel like that plugs in just with this very versatile Thunder team that seems to be pretty position I think it’s important especially with a team that’s positionist I think me being able to play at different positions on offense and defense is going to really help me so really excited to get to work and do that for sure one thing we heard from coach dagnal and general manager Sam prey is that they really value guys who can make great decisions with the ball having drafted you what’s it like knowing that you’re with an organization who values those things that you bring to the table oh I mean it’s really important I think I remember at my work out we watch film with coach Mark and Sam and just seeing how they see the game and how I see the game felt like they can really help me become a better even uh decision maker so I’m really excited about that and feels great to know that I know I can make great plays and that they value that so it’s it’s amazing there’s and I think you probably noticed it from watching them last year just a level of competitiveness to this team uh this is a team that over the last few years has had more comeback victories than any team in the league how does that you know fall in line with you as a player because everything that we read and hear says you’re you’re a dog too you know you’re a guy that that gets after it yeah no it’s it’s exciting I think competitiveness is so important especially at this level and for me it’s always been part of me I think especially coming from a mid major school always had that chip on my shoulder and I’ll keep having that chip on my shoulder now too cuz I’m I mean I’m a new I’m a young guy new guy second round so really excited to show my competitiveness uh one more thing for you this is just something that we found interesting doing research growing up in Belgium French speaker and you’re going into a locker room with some other French speakers in Lou dor Usman Jang does that excite you it’s it’s exciting for sure I mean being able to speak French is going to be cool and I think especially even like on the court and stuff like that it could be pretty dope so that would be cool yeah a lot of a lot of French speakers in that locker room it seems like every single year maybe it’s a competitive Advantage out there you know that’s like you’re saying yeah could my teammate uh in college Johan spoke French too uh and amadu my freshman year too so when we were on the court and we didn’t want people to understand like especially people we were playing against we just speak in French and they were like what are you guys talking about so it’s pretty cool some Secret Sauce to the chemistry out there on the floor being able to speak French everybody speaking the same language great to meet you and congratulations welcome though Casey all right we’ll send things over now to Chris and fish good to see guys like you you all right thank you Paris and one more Dylan Jones number 26 pick in this past Summer’s draft first of all Dylan congratulations how did it feel to have your name called on draft night yeah it felt amazing um it was a surreal feeling in and um it don’t even still feel real now but um you know I think at some point it definitely hit me but um it was a great moment um it was everything that I wish for so um you know thankful for it and uh thankful for you know Sam and you know whoever else went into the process to you know help me get here and you know I’m thankful Dylan what’s been the biggest challenge in your journey to get here to this particular day would you say in your mind IID say staying patient you know um when things didn’t look like it was you know working in my favor you know going to Mid major school and all these other things that you know wasn’t as a other people um just to keep that internal faith and you know understand that I was on the right path you know and um you know cuz I always felt like I was doing whatever it took to make it but like it didn’t appear like that to everybody you know and um I think that was the hardest part was like understanding like as I’m going through it to like kind of keep my tunnel vision you know and understand that you know I’m doing what it takes you know I’m listening to the right people I’m taking the right advice you know I’m in the right situations I’m I’m getting a good feedback I’m standing in the right position so um that was the hardest part but it you know it worked out for me you talked about the combine last year and then making that decision to go back to college yeah what did you actually learn in that combine like like did you see that this is this is challenge guys is bigger than me strong as I am what do I need to do to get myself ready for this moment a year later yeah um for me yes it was a you know it was able to just give me a taste of it um I was able to you know be on that floor but also touch and feel move and slide you know score do whatever it was and once you know it was it would gave me so much confidence Afters because you know I think at the end of the day that was the first time you know I always viewed the NBA on like a pedestal and it is the best league in the world but you know at the end of the day basketball is basketball and um I think that was the thing it gave me and um when I was on the floor I just felt so at peace because it was like it just felt like everything I’ve done before you know and that was just it just it just helped me understand that you know it would translate you know I think that was big what what piece of advice would you give some little some player right now who’s a Dylan Jones a year from now might be in the NBA or think about not being in NBA as a result of I want to go back to school and not play in a comp what advice would you give him I would say uh if you made that decision or you know double down on it you know don’t if if that’s what you thought was best for you you know now prove it up to people you know don’t just do it to say you’re doing it now when you made the the gutsy decision now it’s time to go to work and um that’s what I tell them and you know if you were that close be confident you know if you was if you were there you’re supposed to be there and um have the confidence and understand that if you if you did it and you was in that position then you right where you’re supposed to be and um you know make good decisions surround yourself with the right people you know representation is important too and uh you just want to be around good people well Dylan congratulations uh we appreciate your thoughtfulness we appreciate your cander and we can’t wait to see you get out on the floor come summer Le congratulations thank you all right let’s send it over to Paris who’s standing by with Royce young all right thank you so much Chris I am now joined by if you’re a thunder fan a very familiar face our very own Royce young and Royce we always talk about how exciting this day is for the Thunder organization getting a chance to meet the newest faces on a Thunder roster and you look at these guys and you look at their games and there are a couple of consistent them between these guys that Thunder general manager Sam prey has pointed out yeah it’s one of the things Sam talked about is just the ability at draft time where you can layer in talent but also with this team Paris we all very much saw last season the identity and the style that they like to play with having versatile ball handlers at every different position size at each position and to be able to add guys on top of that that do those things can take advantage of their size and different matchups be able to play the drive and kick Advantage Basketball that the Thunder did so well last year so you’re just adding more Talent on top of that and more guys that can really continue to diversify the offensive attack that the Thunder already do so well and one of my favorite quotes from Sam prey is that we don’t draft players we draft people and you can tell just by listening to these guys in their press conference that these are some good people they’re bringing into the organization absolutely you could really feel the maturity of all three of them I mean even Nola who’s only 18 years old but he’s had professional seasoning in the second best pro league in the world in Euro league and what he was able to bring and accomplish I heard him talking to coach Mark over there and coach Mark asked him if he was nervous and he said H not too bad so you know he’s had a little bit of experience with this sort of thing but then the two college guys with Dylan and AJ you could just really feel that maturity Paris and what they’re going to add onto this roster you know AJ talked a lot about just how he really Prides himself on the IQ element of the game which again when you think about Thunder players you think about high skill high IQ and so those guys are clearly going to fit I think really well on the floor but I think really well off the floor because both of them talked about just you know I’m sure that they’ve seen you and Nick a number of times post game and getting the vibe of what it’s like to be part of this Thunder team and I think those guys are really eager to maybe let out a bark or two in the near future we were just talking to AJ and he mentioned that the barking really resonated with him looking from the outside in but let’s start here with nicoa topic a guy who unfortunately won’t play for the Thunder this season is recovering from a knee injury but is still a really good Prospect and someone that the Thunder is really excited about yeah absolutely I mean you look at draft boards a month ago and he was somebody that a lot of people had ranked as a top five Prospect in this draft obviously the knee injury has set him back and that’s one of the Thunder could be opportunistic there and be able to land a player at 12 where otherwise might have been in the top five of this draft so you know again it was something that was a kind of a theme of the day with Chad holgren last year um coming back after sitting out his rookie season or his first season in the NBA and the experience and the positivity that really came from that of course you want a guy like Nico a topich to be able to play in his rookie year and to be able to contribute on the floor but there are a lot of advantages and we saw them firsthand with Chad hren of a guy coming in and being very NBA ready to make an impact as a rookie so there’s a lot to learn there and I think the also learned a lot of things themselves that they can apply forward with Nola In This recovery process to have him better prepped for when he makes his debut most likely a full season from now yeah Nia will no doubt be well equipped throughout his entire recovery having both Chad holgren and Nick Collison who helped Chet hren in his recovery as well but going into the Thunder second pick in this draft Dylan Jones a very unique player 6 foot6 got that 611 wingspan can bring a lot to the table here yeah he’s a Do-it all player I mean that’s his nickname for but he’s a he’s a guy with plays immense motor too if you watch if you just jump on YouTube and you start watching him you’re going to see a guy that just plays hard he plays hard all the time he’s all over the boards all the time he’s a very skilled versatile defensive player but the ball can be in his hands the ball doesn’t have to be in his hands again he’s just somebody that you you feel like you can put him in any lineup and he’s going to be successful he’s going to be able to scale up and who he guards he’ll probably be able to guard three four positions pretty effortlessly in the NBA but also I think just the mentality Paris that that he has I he had a great line where he was just talking about a conversation that he had with his brother about you you don’t want to necessarily be the guy you want to learn how to play with the guy and I think that having that type of mentality is such an incredible again mature thing to feel because all these players when they come in as as a first round draft Pi especially they have career Ambitions but he’s somebody that is already thinking about how do I help my team and he knows what kind of team he’s stepping on he’s got a lot of accomplished players 57 win team he’s looking forward to how he can help this group less so than how he can help himself which I think is really impressive so much mat already from the outset from Dylan Jones and speaking of maturity the last guy I want to get your opinion on AJ Mitchell coming out of UC Santa Barbara a really quick witted kind of guard out there on the floor what stands out to you about this guy and what he brings to the table I feel like if you didn’t know any better and you just walked in this room you would think that he was like one of the a thunder assistant coaches because he kind of talks like one doesn’t he he does he has a maturity he’s well spoken he just he really uh you can feel the intelligence that he has when it comes to the game of basketball and again like we talked about earlier Paris I think he really Prides himself on reading and understanding the game and he’s somebody that when you think about just program players and and what an impact they can have and that’s the I think what he’s going to be able to do Thunder have had a lot of success with players in the second round we think just of Aaron Wiggins off the top of our mind and Aaron was a very much a similar type of guy high IQ knew how to play the game stepped on the floor makes Cuts makes reads does anything you ask him to do and I’m sure AJ will be exactly that same type of player always great insight as always when you join us here on the broadcast all right we’re going to send things back over to Chris fiser and Michael cage all right thank you Paris when the Thunder season ended we all wanted more Thunder basketball so quarter half and full season memberships are on sale now for the upcoming 2425 season become a ticket member today at OKC thunder.com memberships that’s your ticket too potentially more playoff basketball if you’re a season ticket member reminder the next time we’re going to be able to watch this under team how about summer league in Salt Lake City it starts July 8th that’s right around the holiday and right around the corner and Nick and Paris nope excuse me it’ll be Nick and Roy on radio wwls 98.1 Sports Animal you can hear them hear those games that’s the first of the summer league action then the big stuff in Las Vegas you got four games that starts on July 13th Michael I know that you’re going to be going to Las Vegas that’s something that you like to do every single season it’s turned into a big pilgrimage for all the NBA and that starts on July 13th will end on July 19th so still some fun stuff you can see these young Thunder draft players I know you’re looking forward to that Michael and we’re looking forward to getting this summer going and getting into the offseason program but what stood out to you about these draf e and what’s coming up well I think this how they understand what’s you know ahead you just saw the schedule you know with Salt Lake City the first I think real challenge to get a look at these guys in a thunder uniform then going over from there to Las Vegas where you know you you know how it is in Las Vegas for the summer league folks it is crazy out there it’s like everybody it’s almost like a almost like some kind of uh big huge Summerfest of basketball you see exactly basketball for lack of a better word and there’s everybody there so they’ll get a chance to really get a big sample size of NBA life maybe in Salt Lake City it’s a little bit quieter but in Vegas you know it’s just really open season in terms of the the exposure you got the international uh media there uh everybody it’s a big chance for those guys to really get out there get on that world stage and get their careers you know prepared for training camp but more importantly back to answer your question I really like what the guys were talking about I mean they seem very humble uh very knowledgeable about what’s up ahead and the confidence they showed in really just saiding look I I I I you know this is what I can do you know I like what Dylan Jones talked about you know I had to make a decision should I go to the NBA or not he chose not to and he put himself in a better position today Nico I thought he was really calm and it’s just saying look you know what I like this organization I like this team and I can’t and I can’t wait to meet Chad hren so that kind of comodity you can tell that these guys have it you know obviously with AJ you know he’s one of those guys who’s really I thought he was really just very calm cool and Collective with his answer very thoughtful which was consistent with the other two guys and it really made for a delightful afternoon here all right have fun in Vegas all right sets up for a very fun summer league setting up for a fun Thunder season coming up starting in October but we thank you all for being with us here this afternoon as we got to meet the 2024 Thunder draft class and what a day it was a day for them to remember it’s been a weekend for them to remember going back to draft night in Brooklyn for Royce young Nick Gallow Paris Lawson Michael cage I’m Chris fiser saying so long here from downtown Oklahoma City so long from the Oklahoma Contemporary Art Center we thank you for being with us tune in to Summer League it is right around the corner the next time you’re going to be able to watch this young Thunder Squad thank you so much for watching we’ll talk to you then

Relive today’s press conference and interviews with draftees Nikola Topić, Dillon Jones and Ajay Mitchell.

Press Conference 7:15

Interviews
Nikola Topić Interview 30:41
Head Coach Mark Daigneault Interview 35:44
Ajay Mitchell Interview 39:30
Dillon Jones Interview 43:36

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