Latest news with #SamPresti
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
OKC Thunder's massive trade return named NBA's best in last decade
The Oklahoma City Thunder are on top of the NBA world after winning their first title in 2025. No doubt, much of that championship can be attributed to the brilliant trading of general manager Sam Presti. Presti has been at the helm of the franchise since 2007, and has overseen some massive changes during that time. Advertisement Perhaps no trade has had a bigger impact than Presti's trade of Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers in 2019. The Thunder acquired George in the summer of 2017 to make up for the loss of Kevin Durant. George had a successful tenure with the Thunder, earning All-Star selections in both of his seasons. However, Presti decided to ship George out in the summer of 2019 for a massive haul that included franchise star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. In total, the Thunder received, Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, Miami's 2021 unprotected first-round pick (Tre Mann), 2022 unprotected first-round pick (Jalen Williams), Miami's 2023 lottery-protected first-round pick (Jaime Jaquez Jr.), 2023 first-round swap (unexercised), 2024 unprotected first-round pick (Dillon Jones), 2025 first-round swap (No. 24, up from No. 30), and a 2026 unprotected first-round pick. Gilgeous-Alexander alone would've made this more than worth it, but add in Jalen Williams and all the other picks, and this is a massive haul. Advertisement Dan Favale of Bleacher Report recently ranked this haul as the biggest of the last 10 years. Regarding the swap, Favale offered the following: Even if we remove the benefit of hindsight, this return for the Thunder wins in a borderline landslide. Five first-round picks, two swaps and a promising prospect is a return unlike anything else we've seen the past 10 years, particularly when you consider that George asked Oklahoma City to facilitate his relocation to L.A.. Instead of getting railroaded by the Clippers, Thunder general manager Sam Presti essentially found a way to trade both PG and Kawhi Leonard, even though the latter never played for his team. Cake in the luxury of hindsight, and forget about it. Gilgeous-Alexander has morphed into a league MVP and head of the snake for a potential NBA champion. Another one of those selections turned into J-Dub, who's now an All-NBA player himself. Oklahoma City also turned what was the Jaquez pick into this year's No. 15 selection. As Favale mentioned, this return is unlike anything we've seen in the last decade, or perhaps ever. Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams are not only the two best players on the team, but also two of the best in the NBA. Gilgeous-Alexander won the MVP Award after his phenomenal regular season, and followed it up by winning the NBA Finals MVP. Williams, meanwhile, earned his first All-Star bid during the 2024-25 season, and appears set to be a cornerstone in OKC for years to come. Advertisement Meanwhile for the Clippers, this trade never came close to being even. If the team had won a Finals with George, it could perhaps be worth it, but the team only advanced to the Western Conference Finals once with George. Last offseason, George departed for the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency, enshrining this trade as one of the worst in recent memory, at least for the Clippers.
Fox News
a day ago
- Sport
- Fox News
Jalen Williams Set For Wrist Surgery After Playing Through Thunder's Title Run
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams is set for surgery on his right wrist after playing through a torn ligament before the Thunder started their postseason run to a championship, GM Sam Presti confirmed Monday. Williams played in all 23 postseason games in helping the Thunder win their first NBA title since moving to Oklahoma from Seattle 17 years ago. He scored a playoff career-high 40 points in a 120-109 win over Indiana in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Oklahoma City beat the Pacers in seven games. The 24-year-old Williams is expected to be ready for next season, Presti said. Williams was inactive for the final two games of the regular season after playing 36 minutes in a 125-112 victory over Phoenix on April 9. Williams wrote a brace on the wrist of his shooting hand at times during the playoffs and had it taped during games. He shot just 30% from 3-point range in the playoffs, more than 6% off his percentage during the regular season. "The part that I'm most impressed with is in our modern era when someone has a poor performance or they're not playing to their capability in a game and there's a lot of attention on it, you often see a little birdie make sure that everybody knows that the player is not 100 percent," Presti said during his season-ending meeting with reporters. "Never happened with this guy, not one time. He powered through. He showed incredible mental endurance and security in himself." A first-time All-Star in his third season after the Thunder drafted him 12th overall out of Santa Clara in 2022, Williams averaged career bests of 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.1 assists. Reporting by The Associated Press. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
Washington Post
a day ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Jalen Williams has wrist surgery; Thunder All-Star expected back for start of season
OKLAHOMA CITY — Jalen Williams, the All-Star guard/forward who helped the Oklahoma City Thunder win their first NBA title, had surgery Tuesday to repair a torn ligament in his right wrist. The team said he will be re-evaluated in approximately 12 weeks. Thunder general manager Sam Presti said he expects Williams to be ready for the start of the regular season.
Al Arabiya
a day ago
- Sport
- Al Arabiya
Jalen Williams Has Wrist Surgery; Thunder All-Star Expected Back For Start Of Season
Jalen Williams, the All-Star guard/forward who helped the Oklahoma City Thunder win their first NBA title, had surgery Tuesday to repair a torn ligament in his right wrist. The team said he will be re-evaluated in approximately 12 weeks. Thunder general manager Sam Presti said he expects Williams to be ready for the start of the regular season. Williams averaged 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.6 steals last season and was named to the All-NBA third team and the NBA All-Defensive second team. He was injured during the Thunder's 125–112 win over the Phoenix Suns on April 9 and played in all 23 postseason games while nursing the torn ligament. Williams averaged 23.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in the Finals against the Indiana Pacers, including a playoff career-high 40 points in a 120–109 win in Game 5. 'I really thought it was pretty impressive that he just kept moving along with no excuses and obviously played his best basketball down the stretch of the season,' Presti said. Dr. Steven Shin performed the procedure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.
Associated Press
a day ago
- Sport
- Associated Press
Jalen Williams has wrist surgery; Thunder All-Star expected back for start of season
Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Jalen Williams, the All-Star guard/forward who helped the Oklahoma City Thunder win their first NBA title, had surgery Tuesday to repair a torn ligament in his right wrist. The team said he will be re-evaluated in approximately 12 weeks. Thunder general manager Sam Presti said he expects Williams to be ready for the start of the regular season. Williams averaged 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.6 steals last season and was named to the All-NBA third team and the NBA All-Defensive second team. He was injured during the Thunder's 125-112 win over the Phoenix Suns on April 9 and played in all 23 postseason games while nursing the torn ligament. Williams averaged 23.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in the Finals against the Indiana Pacers, including a playoff career-high 40 points in a 120-109 win in Game 5. 'I really thought it was pretty impressive that he just kept moving along with no excuses and obviously played his best basketball down the stretch of the season,' Presti said. Dr. Steven Shin performed the procedure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. ___ AP NBA:
