Less than two years ago, they were being called “the black eye of the league”.
And all for what? Being bad for two seasons?
“I would say we’re a rebuilding team,” Thunder general manager Sam Presti said in his end-of-season exit interview in 2022.
“Other people like to name things because they have opinions. It’s performance art. Not everyone should be a publisher. I think there’s a difference between being opinionated and being informed.”
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That one word, that dirty, little word — tanking — never sat well with Presti. Never accurately represented what was actually happening in Oklahoma City, not that many people actually cared anyway.
But things have quickly changed. That same franchise that was once the “black eye of the league” is now one of its star attractions, returning to national TV and the spotlight in a big way.
The Thunder aren’t just back in the playoffs either, they are the No.1 seed in the Western Conference, making NBA history as the youngest team ever to achieve that feat.
With more publicity, more people have become more informed on what makes this Thunder team a genuine Western Conference contender — along with why Presti had been preaching patience all those years ago.
It was never about losing for the sake of it, or being bad for those two seasons. It was about purposely and methodically masterminding a rebuild that never departed from the bigger picture.
That even extended to the start of this season when Presti, fresh off OKC’s surprise play-in tournament appearance and now met with growing expectations, was asked if the Thunder would consider an all-in move for a star piece.
Williamson HURT in Play-In Tournament | 00:46
“We are open-minded, literally. But there’s a couple reasons why I think that particular topic is maybe not relevant right now,” Presti opened, recalling an analogy he had used the year prior.
“One, I used the example with the paint last year. You can’t buy the paint for your house that you haven’t actually bought. You don’t know where the house is. You don’t know where it’s situated. You don’t know what style it is. You don’t know how much paint you’ll need.
“So we don’t really know what we have right now.”
In other words, before making any significant moves, the Thunder first needed to know what they were working with, and how could they make that assessment if Chet Holmgren, their second overall pick, had not played a single game with the team yet?
Which brought Presti to his next point.
“So to even say, it’s a very broad term ‘star’. Where? Who’s to say we don’t have a player that could be really good in that spot already?” he added.
“We don’t know the answer to that, right? I don’t know. So we may not, I mean, the chances are, it’s really hard to find those players.
“We have one of them. If there happens to be one or two or more on the roster… we’ve really got fortunate.”
Fortunate, yes. But that suggests it is all luck and when it comes to what the Thunder have now built, the fact they have ended up with a roster with versatile playmakers at every position is much more than good fortune.
The same goes for uncovering two more of those ‘stars’ they could have gone after last summer.
The Thunder rebuild its roster the right away and has now punched their ticket to the playoffs for the first time in four years. Now, the next challenge begins.
Here, foxsports.com.au breaks down how Oklahoma City got back to his position so quickly, how success will be defined in the postseason and where Josh Giddey fits into the picture after a turbulent third season in the NBA.
MVP, MOST IMPROVED AND ROOKIE OF THE YEAR CANDIDATES ALL ON THE SAME TEAM?
Of course, any discussion of the Thunder’s success…
This article was originally published by a www.foxsports.com.au . Read the Original article here. .