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USA Today
an hour ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Sam Presti says there are 3 ways to build contender: 'Build, modify, assemble'
Winning an NBA championship comes with a tax. Just a couple of days into free agency, you've seen other teams attempt to copy the Oklahoma City Thunder's blueprint. Besides three NBA Finals games, they relied on their double-big duo of Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein in their starting lineup. The Houston Rockets have been the biggest copycats. They added Clint Capela to pair with Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams. That trio beefs up their frontcourt. Adams and Capela are two of the best rebounders. Look at the rebound numbers over the last decade and they're probably near the top. But what the Thunder have that most teams don't is homegrown talent. You can't buy that in July. Jalen Williams and Holmgren headlined one of the best draft hauls in 2022. Even though he's not technically homegrown, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander developed into an MVP winner in OKC. Lu Dort was undrafted. Cason Wallace and Aaron Wiggins were steals at their slots. Kenrich Williams and Isaiah Joe were bargains that were misused at their previous stops. The Thunder grew everything from the ground up. Their only outside additions in Hartenstein and Alex Caruso were home-run hires. The Rockets are the perfect juxtaposition to the Thunder. Both franchises started their rebuilds at similar times. But you've seen Houston take the opposite approach. After failing to develop their four top-four draft picks into some of the NBA's best players, they've abandoned the traditional route and have gone superstar hunting. That landed them Kevin Durant. Now, the Rockets are viewed as one of the Thunder's biggest threats for their repeat chances. Houston's pivot shows there are multiple ways to build up a powerhouse. When asked about the Thunder's roster construction, Sam Presti said we shouldn't be prisoners of the moment at his 2024-25 end-of-season press conference. There are several routes to reach the title town destination. What OKC did shouldn't be the only blueprint other teams copy. He sees three ways. "To me, there's kind of three ways in the league. You can assemble teams. You can inherit and modify a team. Or you can build a team. So I think there's three kind of modes: Build, modify, assemble," Presti said. "How you do that or the way in which you do that, I think, is very contextual. For us, building is probably our best path here." The Thunder don't have the same luxuries as Los Angeles, New York or Miami. Players won't beg their agents to get them to one of those cities. Small-market teams like OKC have to rely on the draft-and-develop approach, with the occasional smart trade sprinkled in. "Because of that, we don't have a lot of time to determine, well, which way should we go. The paradox of choice is not really in our vantage point. So I think that helped us, or helps us," Presti said. "We kind of know what our circle of competence is, and we try to really lean into that."
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
What happened the Team USA's under-19 2021 FIBA World Cup star who outplayed Victor Wembanyama?
The post What happened the Team USA's under-19 2021 FIBA World Cup star who outplayed Victor Wembanyama? appeared first on ClutchPoints. Kenneth Lofton Jr's NBA career ended before it could even get started. As an undersized forward who usually weighed over 260 lbs., Lofton often found himself looking for non-guaranteed contracts left and right to try and prove to GMs that his lack of size and speed wouldn't be an issue. Advertisement Rather surprising considering that, in a game that featured the top prospect in the world taking on the top prospect in the country, it was Lofton Jr. who took headlines and led Team USA to a comeback win and secure a gold medal finish in the 2021 FIBA Under-19 World Cup. Kenneth Lofton Jr. first found fame by bullying Victor Wembanyama in the post. Team USA entered the 2021 FIBA Under-19 World Cup as the overwhelming favorite. The team featured several future NBA players, but none were more notable than the mythical five members, Jaden Ivey and Chet Holmgren. As expected, the team cruised through most of the tournament, setting the stage for one of the most intriguing finals matchups in recent memory between Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren. At the end of the first half of the championship game, the U.S. had problems. Advertisement They had no answers for Wembanyama. The team faced its biggest deficit of the tournament and was in danger of losing for the first time since 2007. Instead of sticking with their game plan in the first half of matching size on Wembanyama with Holmgren, coach Jamie Dixon decided to run their offense through Lofton Jr. The result? Lofton Jr. scored 15 of his 16 points in the 2nd half, Wembanyama fouled out in the 4th quarter, and the USA won the game by two. How many teams has Lofton Jr. played for in his professional career? Lofton Jr. made the jump from Louisiana Tech to the pros in 2022, going undrafted. He'd sign a two-way contract with the Memphis Grizzlies. However, as a team that had good frontcourt depth, Lofton Jr. spent most of his rookie season in the G-League, where he'd win G-League Rookie of the Year. Advertisement Despite his efforts, the Grizzlies waived Lofton Jr. by December 2023. He'd sign with the Sixers on a two-way deal five days later but was once again waived later that season. Lofton Jr. would sign two more contracts before heading overseas. A two-way contract with the Utah Jazz in March 2024, and a training camp contract with the Chicago Bulls in August 2024. After both teams waived him, Lofton Jr. decided to spend his 2024-2025 season playing for the Shanghai Sharks of the China Basketball League. Once he was finally given the opportunity to show what he could do, Lofton went off. In 34 games, he averaged 25.2 points, 12.6 rebounds, and 6.5 assists. He also scored at least 40 points in 4 games, scored 30 in 14 games, recorded 28 double-doubles, achieved 3 triple-doubles, and ended his first season as the CBA MVP. Advertisement Teams absurdly continue overlooking Lofton, despite his extensive accomplishments, all because of his weight or his game's supposed 'fit' for today's NBA. Luckily, he is still 22 years old. So, Lofton still has a lot of time to prove that he deserves a spot on an NBA roster. Related: NBA rumors: Rockets, Hawks fighting to make multiple wing splashes Related: NBA rumors: Suns center linked to Knicks, Lakers in trade talks
Associated Press
2 days ago
- Sport
- Associated Press
Thunder general manager Sam Presti lauds 'homegrown' NBA championship team
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Sam Presti put Oklahoma City's first NBA championship team together in an unconventional way. The Thunder general manager didn't make any splashy trades or break the bank in free agency. He didn't replace the coach with a bigger name during the rebuild to get the team over the top. He relied on good-old-fashioned internal development, with a few strategic additions sprinkled in. It worked. Somehow, Oklahoma City claimed the title with the same coach and many of the same players who won 24 games four years ago. 'We have people from Canada, Serbia, the West Coast, the East Coast, middle America, France, Australia, that all come together for a collective goal,' Presti said. 'There's compassion on the team. There's a cowboy toughness, a self-reliance that comes from being homegrown, and an essential sense of goodness.' Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the regular-season and Finals MVP, but there were plenty of challenges. Jalen Williams, a first-time All-Star, was a force in the playoffs despite playing the entire postseason with a ligament tear in his right wrist that will require surgery. Chet Holmgren missed 50 games this season with a pelvic injury. The Thunder were among the league's leaders in games lost to injury. Presti said the key was that the players saw challenges as opportunities. Many took advantage of their additional playing time and were better prepared to contribute during the title run. 'If you want to be the exception, you have to be willing to be exceptional,' Presti said. 'That point was basically aimed at the fact that we have to be the exception to the rule. … The quest to be exceptional is met with having to do a lot of things that are unorthodox, and I felt like the team did that in a lot of ways and we were rewarded for it.' Coach Mark Daigneault, like the team, is an unconventional success story. He coached the team's G-League affiliate before taking over the Thunder. After winning fewer than 25 games his first two years as Thunder head coach, he's now a champion. Presti said Daigneault has improved over the years, and his approach to learning helped the young team stay focused. He said the team never got overwhelmed by circumstances, like losing Game 1 in both the Western Conference semifinals against Denver and the NBA Finals against Indiana, or falling apart in Game 6 at Indiana. 'I think the team saw those as, 'Hey, this is just the next thing in front of us that we have to accomplish to achieve the goals of being a great team,' and I don't think anyone was inconvenienced or saw that as a catastrophic event,' Presti said. 'It's like, 'Well, I guess this is part of the thing we have to get better at,' and they met the moment.' Two additions were guard Alex Caruso, who was acquired in a trade with Chicago last summer, and center Isaiah Hartenstein, who was added through free agency. Those veterans played key roles in the playoffs and helped Presti get named Executive of the Year. Presti said the Thunder won't change much — he believes consistency brought them here. The team is positioned to do well going forward with all the key players from the youngest team to win a title since 1977 signed through at least next season. But Presti said there is work ahead. He noted that no team has repeated since Golden State in 2017 and 2018. 'We'll have to put our head down,' he said. 'We're not entitled to anything. If you hear us approaching things differently than we have in the past, I'd be a little bit surprised by that. But we're going to have to fight some human nature there, but I think we have the people and the characters and the program to fight for that. But we're going to have to stack days in order to stack seasons.' ___ AP NBA:
Al Arabiya
2 days ago
- Sport
- Al Arabiya
Thunder General Manager Sam Presti Lauds 'Homegrown' NBA Championship Team
Sam Presti put Oklahoma City's first NBA championship team together in an unconventional way. The Thunder general manager didn't make any splashy trades or break the bank in free agency. He didn't replace the coach with a bigger name during the rebuild to get the team over the top. He relied on good-old-fashioned internal development with a few strategic additions sprinkled in. It worked. Somehow, Oklahoma City claimed the title with the same coach and many of the same players who won 24 games four years ago. 'We have people from Canada, Serbia, the West Coast, the East Coast, middle America, France, Australia that all come together for a collective goal,' Presti said. 'There's compassion on the team. There's a cowboy toughness, a self-reliance that comes from being homegrown and an essential sense of goodness.' For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the regular-season and Finals MVP, but there were plenty of challenges. Jalen Williams, a first-time All-Star, was a force in the playoffs despite playing the entire postseason with a ligament tear in his right wrist that will require surgery. Chet Holmgren missed 50 games this season with a pelvic injury. The Thunder were among the league's leaders in games lost to injury. Presti said the key was that the players saw challenges as opportunities. Many took advantage of their additional playing time and were better prepared to contribute during the title run. 'If you want to be the exception, you have to be willing to be exceptional,' Presti said. 'That point was basically aimed at the fact that we have to be the exception to the rule. … The quest to be exceptional is met with having to do a lot of things that are unorthodox, and I felt like the team did that in a lot of ways, and we were rewarded for it.' Coach Mark Daigneault, like the team, is an unconventional success story. He coached the team's G-League affiliate before taking over the Thunder. After winning fewer than 25 games his first two years as Thunder head coach, he's now a champion. Presti said Daigneault has improved over the years and his approach to learning helped the young team stay focused. He said the team never got overwhelmed by circumstances like losing Game 1 in both the Western Conference semifinals against Denver and the NBA Finals against Indiana or falling apart in Game 6 at Indiana. 'I think the team saw those as 'Hey, this is just the next thing in front of us that we have to accomplish to achieve the goals of being a great team,' and I don't think anyone was inconvenienced or saw that as a catastrophic event,' Presti said. 'It's like, 'Well, I guess this is part of the thing we have to get better at,' and they met the moment.' Two additions were guard Alex Caruso, who was acquired in a trade with Chicago last summer, and center Isaiah Hartenstein, who was added through free agency. Those veterans played key roles in the playoffs and helped Presti get named Executive of the Year. Presti said the Thunder won't change much–he believes consistency brought them here. The team is positioned to do well going forward, with all the key players from the youngest team to win a title since 1977 signed through at least next season. But Presti said there is work ahead. He noted that no team has repeated since Golden State in 2017 and 2018. 'We'll have to put our head down,' he said. 'We're not entitled to anything. If you hear us approaching things differently than we have in the past, I'd be a little bit surprised by that. But we're going to have to fight some human nature there, but I think we have the people and the characters and the program to fight for that. But we're going to have to stack days in order to stack seasons.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Thunder general manager Sam Presti lauds 'homegrown' NBA championship team
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Sam Presti put Oklahoma City's first NBA championship team together in an unconventional way. The Thunder general manager didn't make any splashy trades or break the bank in free agency. He didn't replace the coach with a bigger name during the rebuild to get the team over the top. He relied on good-old-fashioned internal development, with a few strategic additions sprinkled in. Advertisement It worked. Somehow, Oklahoma City claimed the title with the same coach and many of the same players who won 24 games four years ago. 'We have people from Canada, Serbia, the West Coast, the East Coast, middle America, France, Australia, that all come together for a collective goal,' Presti said. 'There's compassion on the team. There's a cowboy toughness, a self-reliance that comes from being homegrown, and an essential sense of goodness.' Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the regular-season and Finals MVP, but there were plenty of challenges. Jalen Williams, a first-time All-Star, was a force in the playoffs despite playing the entire postseason with a ligament tear in his right wrist that will require surgery. Chet Holmgren missed 50 games this season with a pelvic injury. The Thunder were among the league's leaders in games lost to injury. Presti said the key was that the players saw challenges as opportunities. Many took advantage of their additional playing time and were better prepared to contribute during the title run. Advertisement 'If you want to be the exception, you have to be willing to be exceptional,' Presti said. 'That point was basically aimed at the fact that we have to be the exception to the rule. … The quest to be exceptional is met with having to do a lot of things that are unorthodox, and I felt like the team did that in a lot of ways and we were rewarded for it.' Coach Mark Daigneault, like the team, is an unconventional success story. He coached the team's G-League affiliate before taking over the Thunder. After winning fewer than 25 games his first two years as Thunder head coach, he's now a champion. Presti said Daigneault has improved over the years, and his approach to learning helped the young team stay focused. He said the team never got overwhelmed by circumstances, like losing Game 1 in both the Western Conference semifinals against Denver and the NBA Finals against Indiana, or falling apart in Game 6 at Indiana. 'I think the team saw those as, 'Hey, this is just the next thing in front of us that we have to accomplish to achieve the goals of being a great team,' and I don't think anyone was inconvenienced or saw that as a catastrophic event,' Presti said. 'It's like, 'Well, I guess this is part of the thing we have to get better at,' and they met the moment.' Advertisement Two additions were guard Alex Caruso, who was acquired in a trade with Chicago last summer, and center Isaiah Hartenstein, who was added through free agency. Those veterans played key roles in the playoffs and helped Presti get named Executive of the Year. Presti said the Thunder won't change much — he believes consistency brought them here. The team is positioned to do well going forward with all the key players from the youngest team to win a title since 1977 signed through at least next season. But Presti said there is work ahead. He noted that no team has repeated since Golden State in 2017 and 2018. 'We'll have to put our head down," he said. 'We're not entitled to anything. If you hear us approaching things differently than we have in the past, I'd be a little bit surprised by that. But we're going to have to fight some human nature there, but I think we have the people and the characters and the program to fight for that. But we're going to have to stack days in order to stack seasons.' ___ AP NBA: Cliff Brunt, The Associated Press
