Tank World Order (XIV) Here we go, The Final Stretch of the 2025 Tank Season!!!

[mtcan]

Again....Knowing when to trade your best players to get the best package you can is part of the job....Lets also not pretend SGA was this SGA when Presti traded for him....He traded for a young prospect and picks....No one knew he would be the future MVP of the league....Sam took that gamble and won....

Also Chet is one of their most valuable players what he bring on defense and offense is very valuable and hard to replace.....Not many players like Chet around the league....Also drafting right is part of the job and Sam drafted right with Williams....

SGA was acquired in the Paul George deal that netted them a huge draft haul as well. It only happened because Kawhi wanted to go to the Clippers with the condition that George was his running mate.

So clearly, Presti didn’t take a gamble. Lol. A gamble would be acquiring Kawhi for us. If we didn’t win and lost Kawhi then we unloaded good assets for a rental player.

Presti did not draft a superstar. Chet and Jdubs are good but not superstar material. Presti is extremely fortunate because he’s made some bad moves. Trading Sengun, drafting Dieng and Giddey. Without SGA they are a middling team. The saying it’s better to be lucky than good applies to Presti here.

Well he got an MVP .....A decade of Clippers draft picks, JDub All from Playoff P whos now a shell of himself....They still are the best team in the league all while having draft picks to remain the best team in the league....If this was Masai who made sim moves we would all be calling him the GOAT Gm ever....The hate is unreal lol....

You can say "They would be here or there" But facts are they are in a way better position than us...And good gming plays a part in that....Also getting lucky plays a part....Just like Masai was lucky Kawai trade fell into our lapse with Masai not having to do much but say yes to the deal....

Nope...not hating at all. I like how Presti has rebuilt the Thunder. He isn't perfect as outlined above. I think OKC wins a championship in the SGA era. That would put OKC on par with Toronto finally.

But our front office has done some work as well in the last decade to put together a championship team and we have actually won a championship unlike OKC. Yes I think Masai will even admit that for 2 years he wanted to compete but really we should have sold on Pascal, OG, etc. But with what we did with 1 late first round pick, Jalen McDaniels and a bunch of 2nd round picks....man...getting 3 young and dependable rookies who all figure to be rotation player at minimum...give Masai credit.

Like I said...there are many ways to build a contender. Just because Masai doesn't want to be a perennial tanking team like Charlotte, New Orleans or Utah doesn't make his approach wrong.

[Los_29]

Again....Knowing when to trade your best players to get the best package you can is part of the job....Lets also not pretend SGA was this SGA when Presti traded for him....He traded for a young prospect and picks....No one knew he would be the future MVP of the league....Sam took that gamble and won....

Also Chet is one of their most valuable players what he bring on defense and offense is very valuable and hard to replace.....Not many players like Chet around the league....Also drafting right is part of the job and Sam drafted right with Williams....

SGA was acquired in the Paul George deal that netted them a huge draft haul as well. It only happened because Kawhi wanted to go to the Clippers with the condition that George was his running mate.

So clearly, Presti didn’t take a gamble. Lol. A gamble would be acquiring Kawhi for us. If we didn’t win and lost Kawhi then we unloaded good assets for a rental player.

Presti did not draft a superstar. Chet and Jdubs are good but not superstar material. Presti is extremely fortunate because he’s made some bad moves. Trading Sengun, drafting Dieng and Giddey. Without SGA they are a middling team. The saying it’s better to be lucky than good applies to Presti here.

Well he got an MVP .....A decade of Clippers draft picks, JDub All from Playoff P whos now a shell of himself....They still are the best team in the league all while having draft picks to remain the best team in the league....If this was Masai who made sim moves we would all be calling him the GOAT Gm ever....The hate is unreal lol....

You can say "They would be here or there" But facts are they are in a way better position than us...And good gming plays a part in that....Also getting lucky plays a part....Just like Masai was lucky Kawai trade fell into our lapse with Masai not having to do much but say yes to the deal....

Like I said, he was part of the Paul George deal. Clippers didn’t care who they were giving up because they were getting Kawhi. Jdubs was a great pick at 12. Just makes Presti just look even luckier though. That insane haul is responsible for everything. And why? Because Kawhi was homesick.

Masai has a ring. Presti doesn’t. Imagine a GOAT GM without any rings. lol. Masai has a ring and yet gets criticized and yet his track record is far better than Presti’s. Presti lost KD for nothing, traded Harden for peanuts, kept Westbrook for way too long and was a very mediocre drafter for more than a decade. Look at his draft record from 2010-2020. Then Kawhi helped elevate his team to a contender. Without Kawhi, a Chet/Giddey core would not look very promising.

Presti isn’t a bad GM. I love their team. Fun to watch and will be a huge threat in the playoffs. However, they are where they are because of SGA. Not because of the players they tanked for. SGA is a complete monster and easily a top 3 player in the league.

[Clutch0z24]

SGA was acquired in the Paul George deal that netted them a huge draft haul as well. It only happened because Kawhi wanted to go to the Clippers with the condition that George was his running mate.

So clearly, Presti didn’t take a gamble. Lol. A gamble would be acquiring Kawhi for us. If we didn’t win and lost Kawhi then we unloaded good assets for a rental player.

Presti did not draft a superstar. Chet and Jdubs are good but not superstar material. Presti is extremely fortunate because he’s made some bad moves. Trading Sengun, drafting Dieng and Giddey. Without SGA they are a middling team. The saying it’s better to be lucky than good applies to Presti here.

Well he got an MVP .....A decade of Clippers draft picks, JDub All from Playoff P whos now a shell of himself....They still are the best team in the league all while having draft picks to remain the best team in the league....If this was Masai who made sim moves we would all be calling him the GOAT Gm ever....The hate is unreal lol....

You can say "They would be here or there" But facts are they are in a way better position than us...And good gming plays a part in that....Also getting lucky plays a part....Just like Masai was lucky Kawai trade fell into our lapse with Masai not having to do much but say yes to the deal....

Like I said, he was part of the Paul George deal. Clippers didn’t care who they were giving up because they were getting Kawhi. Jdubs was a great pick at 12. Just makes Presti just look even luckier though. That insane haul is responsible for everything. And why? Because Kawhi was homesick.

Masai has a ring. Presti doesn’t. Imagine a GOAT GM without any rings. lol. Masai has a ring and yet gets criticized and yet his track record is far better than Presti’s. Presti lost KD for nothing, traded Harden for peanuts, kept Westbrook for way too long and was a very mediocre drafter for more than a decade. Look at his draft record from 2010-2020. Then Kawhi helped elevate his team to a contender. Without Kawhi, a Chet/Giddey core would not look very promising.

Presti isn’t a bad GM. I love their team. Fun to watch and will be a huge threat in the playoffs. However, they are where they are because of SGA. Not because of the players they tanked for. SGA is a complete monster and easily a top 3 player in the league.

You have to look in the mirror when you are typing all this out because your putting down Presti for doing things and getting lucky....What can you say about Masai getting Kawhi?....Masai got Kawhi in amazing gming?....I mean just like SGA....It FELL in Masai lap....Without Kawhi we do not have a title....Facts are Thunder are a championship level team and very may well win it ....While still having amazing draft picks to use as trade assets or draft to keep building on a championship core....at some point you need to give credit where credit is due instead of being salty about it.

[mtcan]

Well he got an MVP .....A decade of Clippers draft picks, JDub All from Playoff P whos now a shell of himself....They still are the best team in the league all while having draft picks to remain the best team in the league....If this was Masai who made sim moves we would all be calling him the GOAT Gm ever....The hate is unreal lol....

You can say "They would be here or there" But facts are they are in a way better position than us...And good gming plays a part in that....Also getting lucky plays a part....Just like Masai was lucky Kawai trade fell into our lapse with Masai not having to do much but say yes to the deal....

Like I said, he was part of the Paul George deal. Clippers didn’t care who they were giving up because they were getting Kawhi. Jdubs was a great pick at 12. Just makes Presti just look even luckier though. That insane haul is responsible for everything. And why? Because Kawhi was homesick.

Masai has a ring. Presti doesn’t. Imagine a GOAT GM without any rings. lol. Masai has a ring and yet gets criticized and yet his track record is far better than Presti’s. Presti lost KD for nothing, traded Harden for peanuts, kept Westbrook for way too long and was a very mediocre drafter for more than a decade. Look at his draft record from 2010-2020. Then Kawhi helped elevate his team to a contender. Without Kawhi, a Chet/Giddey core would not look very promising.

Presti isn’t a bad GM. I love their team. Fun to watch and will be a huge threat in the playoffs. However, they are where they are because of SGA. Not because of the players they tanked for. SGA is a complete monster and easily a top 3 player in the league.

You have to look in the mirror when you are typing all this out because your putting down Presti for doing things and getting lucky....What can you say about Masai getting Kawhi?....Masai got Kawhi in amazing gming?....I mean just like SGA....It FELL in Masai lap....Without Kawhi we do not have a title....Facts are Thunder are a championship level team and very may well win it ....While still having amazing draft picks to use as trade assets or draft to keep building on a championship core....at some point you need to give credit where credit is due instead of being salty about it.

So you are envious because of all the draft picks they have to play with. That explains everything.

All those lovely mystery boxes that may or may never be actual basketball players or OKC Thunder players for that matter.

This isn't a dick measuring competition. Just because they have all these picks still doesn't make them a model for an organization to follow.

Having lots of picks and sucking for multiple years does not guarantee victory. It just doesn't.

And as it has been said by myself and others many many many many times over...the Thunder aren't good because they have lots of draft picks.

Thunder are good primarily because the Clippers **** up.

If the Clippers don't give the Thunder everything...they are just another treadmill team with Russ and PG. And without a PG trade...them tanking on their own to get Chet and Giddey...well that just isn't the same.

SGA and JDub are the 2 biggest reasons for OKC's success and they are a product of another team's draft picks and failures.

[Clutch0z24]

Like I said, he was part of the Paul George deal. Clippers didn’t care who they were giving up because they were getting Kawhi. Jdubs was a great pick at 12. Just makes Presti just look even luckier though. That insane haul is responsible for everything. And why? Because Kawhi was homesick.

Masai has a ring. Presti doesn’t. Imagine a GOAT GM without any rings. lol. Masai has a ring and yet gets criticized and yet his track record is far better than Presti’s. Presti lost KD for nothing, traded Harden for peanuts, kept Westbrook for way too long and was a very mediocre drafter for more than a decade. Look at his draft record from 2010-2020. Then Kawhi helped elevate his team to a contender. Without Kawhi, a Chet/Giddey core would not look very promising.

Presti isn’t a bad GM. I love their team. Fun to watch and will be a huge threat in the playoffs. However, they are where they are because of SGA. Not because of the players they tanked for. SGA is a complete monster and easily a top 3 player in the league.

You have to look in the mirror when you are typing all this out because your putting down Presti for doing things and getting lucky....What can you say about Masai getting Kawhi?....Masai got Kawhi in amazing gming?....I mean just like SGA....It FELL in Masai lap....Without Kawhi we do not have a title....Facts are Thunder are a championship level team and very may well win it ....While still having amazing draft picks to use as trade assets or draft to keep building on a championship core....at some point you need to give credit where credit is due instead of being salty about it.

So you are envious because of all the draft picks they have to play with. That explains everything.

All those lovely mystery boxes that may or may never be actual basketball players.

Not envious at all im just giving him credit where credit is due instead of being a salty Raptors homer and saying he did nothing at all....Because if you look at it same could be said and has been said about the Kawhi trade....And how we lucked into a championship.

I am not discrediting Masai....Just lately he hasn't been as great as he could be as we all can agree on.....Just no need to make up that Presti is doing nothing when he is in charge of the best team in the NBA right now....Obv hes done something right...

And yeah draft picks do matter in the NBA it gives you Assets to trade and also assets to keep your team a good team for a long time....I mean the Raptors bench right now is full of draft picks we made...

[Tha Cynic]

Again....Knowing when to trade your best players to get the best package you can is part of the job....Lets also not pretend SGA was this SGA when Presti traded for him....He traded for a young prospect and picks....No one knew he would be the future MVP of the league....Sam took that gamble and won....

Also Chet is one of their most valuable players what he bring on defense and offense is very valuable and hard to replace.....Not many players like Chet around the league....Also drafting right is part of the job and Sam drafted right with Williams....

SGA was acquired in the Paul George deal that netted them a huge draft haul as well. It only happened because Kawhi wanted to go to the Clippers with the condition that George was his running mate.

So clearly, Presti didn’t take a gamble. Lol. A gamble would be acquiring Kawhi for us. If we didn’t win and lost Kawhi then we unloaded good assets for a rental player.

Presti did not draft a superstar. Chet and Jdubs are good but not superstar material. Presti is extremely fortunate because he’s made some bad moves. Trading Sengun, drafting Dieng and Giddey. Without SGA they are a middling team. The saying it’s better to be lucky than good applies to Presti here.

Well he got an MVP .....A decade of Clippers draft picks, JDub All from Playoff P whos now a shell of himself....They still are the best team in the league all while having draft picks to remain the best team in the league....If this was Masai who made sim moves we would all be calling him the GOAT Gm ever....The hate is unreal lol....

You can say "They would be here or there" But facts are they are in a way better position than us...And good gming plays a part in that....Also getting lucky plays a part....Just like Masai was lucky Kawai trade fell into our lapse with Masai not having to do much but say yes to the deal....

Poster already correctly said Presti should get some praises and also count himself very lucky that Kawhi Leonard probably has the most impact on their success. They don’t have the team they do without that crazy trade.

Now, why is it that everything Masai has done for this organization get erased? You would think the Raptors weren’t the second winningest team in the NBa for a decade, which then culminated in a championship at the end.

Btw guess what Presti has never done? He’s got work to do to catch up to Masai’s level, let alone have claim to be better than him.

We don’t need to look behind when we have someone who’s better. This is a strange take this board has sometimes to follow those who have done worse than what we have.

[mtcan]

You have to look in the mirror when you are typing all this out because your putting down Presti for doing things and getting lucky....What can you say about Masai getting Kawhi?....Masai got Kawhi in amazing gming?....I mean just like SGA....It FELL in Masai lap....Without Kawhi we do not have a title....Facts are Thunder are a championship level team and very may well win it ....While still having amazing draft picks to use as trade assets or draft to keep building on a championship core....at some point you need to give credit where credit is due instead of being salty about it.

So you are envious because of all the draft picks they have to play with. That explains everything.

All those lovely mystery boxes that may or may never be actual basketball players.

Not envious at all im just giving him credit where credit is due instead of being a salty Raptors homer and saying he did nothing at all....Because if you look at it same could be said and has been said about the Kawhi trade....And how we lucked into a championship.

I am not discrediting Masai....Just lately he hasn't been as great as he could be as we all can agree on.....Just no need to make up that Presti is doing nothing when he is in charge of the best team in the NBA right now....Obv hes done something right...

And yeah draft picks do matter in the NBA it gives you Assets to trade and also assets to keep your team a good team for a long time....I mean the Raptors bench right now is full of draft picks we made...

Like I already said...I think we can all agree that the 2 prior years...Masai included would admit that he probably should have pivoted to a rebuild.

But with that you also need to acknowledge the moves Masai hit on:

-The Kawhi trade
-The Gasol trade
-The Barnes pick
-The Walter pick, the Mogbo pick and the trade to get Shead
-Finding and signing Battle
-Turning OG and Pascal into: IQ, RJ, Jakobe, Ochai and BI

[Los_29]

Like I said, he was part of the Paul George deal. Clippers didn’t care who they were giving up because they were getting Kawhi. Jdubs was a great pick at 12. Just makes Presti just look even luckier though. That insane haul is responsible for everything. And why? Because Kawhi was homesick.

Masai has a ring. Presti doesn’t. Imagine a GOAT GM without any rings. lol. Masai has a ring and yet gets criticized and yet his track record is far better than Presti’s. Presti lost KD for nothing, traded Harden for peanuts, kept Westbrook for way too long and was a very mediocre drafter for more than a decade. Look at his draft record from 2010-2020. Then Kawhi helped elevate his team to a contender. Without Kawhi, a Chet/Giddey core would not look very promising.

Presti isn’t a bad GM. I love their team. Fun to watch and will be a huge threat in the playoffs. However, they are where they are because of SGA. Not because of the players they tanked for. SGA is a complete monster and easily a top 3 player in the league.

You have to look in the mirror when you are typing all this out because your putting down Presti for doing things and getting lucky....What can you say about Masai getting Kawhi?....Masai got Kawhi in amazing gming?....I mean just like SGA....It FELL in Masai lap....Without Kawhi we do not have a title....Facts are Thunder are a championship level team and very may well win it ....While still having amazing draft picks to use as trade assets or draft to keep building on a championship core....at some point you need to give credit where credit is due instead of being salty about it.

So you are envious because of all the draft picks they have to play with. That explains everything.

All those lovely mystery boxes that may or may never be actual basketball players or OKC Thunder players for that matter.

This isn't a dick measuring competition. Just because they have all these picks still doesn't make them a model for an organization to follow.

Having lots of picks and sucking for multiple years does not guarantee victory. It just doesn't.

And as it has been said by myself and others many many many many times over...the Thunder aren't good because they have lots of draft picks.

Thunder are good primarily because the Clippers **** up.

If the Clippers don't give the Thunder everything...they are just another treadmill team with Russ and PG. And without a PG trade...them tanking on their own to get Chet and Giddey...well that just isn't the same.

SGA and JDub are the 2 biggest reasons for OKC's success and they are a product of another team's draft picks and failures.

Exactly, and the SGA trade can’t even be compared to anything because a deal like that has never been done before. Ainge traded KG and Pierce for an incredible haul that got them Tatum and Brown. That was great GM’ing though because he could’ve just kept them.

With Presti, he was in the right place at the right time. If Kawhi doesn’t go to LAC, Presti likely goes into the year with a flawed core and gets bounced in the first round again. I really don’t think people realize just how insanely lucky Presti was there. The picks he’s acquired have netted him very little. It’s all been from the Clippers.

[Clutch0z24]

SGA was acquired in the Paul George deal that netted them a huge draft haul as well. It only happened because Kawhi wanted to go to the Clippers with the condition that George was his running mate.

So clearly, Presti didn’t take a gamble. Lol. A gamble would be acquiring Kawhi for us. If we didn’t win and lost Kawhi then we unloaded good assets for a rental player.

Presti did not draft a superstar. Chet and Jdubs are good but not superstar material. Presti is extremely fortunate because he’s made some bad moves. Trading Sengun, drafting Dieng and Giddey. Without SGA they are a middling team. The saying it’s better to be lucky than good applies to Presti here.

Well he got an MVP .....A decade of Clippers draft picks, JDub All from Playoff P whos now a shell of himself....They still are the best team in the league all while having draft picks to remain the best team in the league....If this was Masai who made sim moves we would all be calling him the GOAT Gm ever....The hate is unreal lol....

You can say "They would be here or there" But facts are they are in a way better position than us...And good gming plays a part in that....Also getting lucky plays a part....Just like Masai was lucky Kawai trade fell into our lapse with Masai not having to do much but say yes to the deal....

Poster already correctly said Presti should get some praises and also count himself very lucky that Kawhi Leonard probably has the most impact on their success. They don’t have the team they do without that crazy trade.

Now, why is it that everything Masai has done for this organization get erased? You would think the Raptors weren’t the second winningest team in the NBa for a decade, which then culminated in a championship at the end.

Btw guess what Presti has never done? He’s got work to do to catch up to Masai’s level, let alone have claim to be better than him.

We don’t need to look behind when we have someone who’s better. This is a strange take this board has sometimes to follow those who have done worse than what we have.

No one is bringing down Masai it sounds like more ppl just Hate on what Presti does around here thinking anyone who praises him is taking a shot at Masai....Both Masai and Presti are both accomplished GMs in the league....But imo Presti has done a better job over the last few years....Doesn't mean Masai is washed or w/e you think im saying....

Im just saying eveything people are saying Presti has done or " got lucky" could all be said about the Kawhi Raptors team....So its a dumb thing to bring up when trying to argue against Presti...

[Clutch0z24]

You have to look in the mirror when you are typing all this out because your putting down Presti for doing things and getting lucky....What can you say about Masai getting Kawhi?....Masai got Kawhi in amazing gming?....I mean just like SGA....It FELL in Masai lap....Without Kawhi we do not have a title....Facts are Thunder are a championship level team and very may well win it ....While still having amazing draft picks to use as trade assets or draft to keep building on a championship core....at some point you need to give credit where credit is due instead of being salty about it.

So you are envious because of all the draft picks they have to play with. That explains everything.

All those lovely mystery boxes that may or may never be actual basketball players or OKC Thunder players for that matter.

This isn't a dick measuring competition. Just because they have all these picks still doesn't make them a model for an organization to follow.

Having lots of picks and sucking for multiple years does not guarantee victory. It just doesn't.

And as it has been said by myself and others many many many many times over...the Thunder aren't good because they have lots of draft picks.

Thunder are good primarily because the Clippers **** up.

If the Clippers don't give the Thunder everything...they are just another treadmill team with Russ and PG. And without a PG trade...them tanking on their own to get Chet and Giddey...well that just isn't the same.

SGA and JDub are the 2 biggest reasons for OKC's success and they are a product of another team's draft picks and failures.

Exactly, and the SGA trade can’t even be compared to anything because a deal like that has never been done before. Ainge traded KG and Pierce for an incredible haul that got them Tatum and Brown. That was great GM’ing though because he could’ve just kept them.

With Presti, he was in the right place at the right time. If Kawhi doesn’t go to LAC, Presti likely goes into the year with a flawed core and gets bounced in the first round again. I really don’t think people realize just how insanely lucky Presti was there. The picks he’s acquired have netted him very little. It’s all been from the Clippers.

Again the exact same thing could be said about the Raptors title team....Right place right time....Its a dumb thing to argue to discredit Presti about when same can be said about Masai....Its like that spiderman pointing meme....

Facts are Thunder are an amazing team with amazing future while also being great in the moment....That means the FO has done its job very well....

[mtcan]

So you are envious because of all the draft picks they have to play with. That explains everything.

All those lovely mystery boxes that may or may never be actual basketball players or OKC Thunder players for that matter.

This isn't a dick measuring competition. Just because they have all these picks still doesn't make them a model for an organization to follow.

Having lots of picks and sucking for multiple years does not guarantee victory. It just doesn't.

And as it has been said by myself and others many many many many times over...the Thunder aren't good because they have lots of draft picks.

Thunder are good primarily because the Clippers **** up.

If the Clippers don't give the Thunder everything...they are just another treadmill team with Russ and PG. And without a PG trade...them tanking on their own to get Chet and Giddey...well that just isn't the same.

SGA and JDub are the 2 biggest reasons for OKC's success and they are a product of another team's draft picks and failures.

Exactly, and the SGA trade can’t even be compared to anything because a deal like that has never been done before. Ainge traded KG and Pierce for an incredible haul that got them Tatum and Brown. That was great GM’ing though because he could’ve just kept them.

With Presti, he was in the right place at the right time. If Kawhi doesn’t go to LAC, Presti likely goes into the year with a flawed core and gets bounced in the first round again. I really don’t think people realize just how insanely lucky Presti was there. The picks he’s acquired have netted him very little. It’s all been from the Clippers.

Again the exact same thing could be said about the Raptors title team....Right place right time....Its a dumb thing to argue to discredit Presti about when same can be said about Masai....Its like that spiderman pointing meme....

Facts are Thunder are an amazing team with amazing future while also being great in the moment....That means the FO has done its job very well....

Thunder are looking good going forward but let's wait til we see what we look like next season.

But still...the Thunder are not an example of a success story from tanking multiple years and stockpiling picks like the Thunder and Jazz have done and should not be used as a model for the Raptors to follow.

Masai has had a better last decade than Presti...I don't think you can deny that though.

[Los_29]

So you are envious because of all the draft picks they have to play with. That explains everything.

All those lovely mystery boxes that may or may never be actual basketball players or OKC Thunder players for that matter.

This isn't a dick measuring competition. Just because they have all these picks still doesn't make them a model for an organization to follow.

Having lots of picks and sucking for multiple years does not guarantee victory. It just doesn't.

And as it has been said by myself and others many many many many times over...the Thunder aren't good because they have lots of draft picks.

Thunder are good primarily because the Clippers **** up.

If the Clippers don't give the Thunder everything...they are just another treadmill team with Russ and PG. And without a PG trade...them tanking on their own to get Chet and Giddey...well that just isn't the same.

SGA and JDub are the 2 biggest reasons for OKC's success and they are a product of another team's draft picks and failures.

Exactly, and the SGA trade can’t even be compared to anything because a deal like that has never been done before. Ainge traded KG and Pierce for an incredible haul that got them Tatum and Brown. That was great GM’ing though because he could’ve just kept them.

With Presti, he was in the right place at the right time. If Kawhi doesn’t go to LAC, Presti likely goes into the year with a flawed core and gets bounced in the first round again. I really don’t think people realize just how insanely lucky Presti was there. The picks he’s acquired have netted him very little. It’s all been from the Clippers.

Again the exact same thing could be said about the Raptors title team....Right place right time....Its a dumb thing to argue to discredit Presti about when same can be said about Masai....Its like that spiderman pointing meme....

Facts are Thunder are an amazing team with amazing future while also being great in the moment....That means the FO has done its job very well....

Horrible example, let’s review the key moves Masai made;
- drafted Pascal, Norm, OG, Fred, Poeltl, Delon (all of whom drafted out of the lottery except for Poeltl)
- Traded Vasquez and Bargnani for great hauls.
- Traded for Gasol.
- Traded for Ibaka.
- Traded for Kawhi. He was the only guy willing to take the risk. Why didn’t Presti try and get Kawhi? He could’ve had him if he met the Spurs asking price. Could it be because Presti stunk at drafting for a decade and had no assets? Or that he is too cautious? Could be why he hasn’t won a ring yet.

So as you can see, it was an incredible accumulation of assets and timely trades.

For Presti, it all comes down to that SGA trade which he had no control over.

[Clutch0z24]

Exactly, and the SGA trade can’t even be compared to anything because a deal like that has never been done before. Ainge traded KG and Pierce for an incredible haul that got them Tatum and Brown. That was great GM’ing though because he could’ve just kept them.

With Presti, he was in the right place at the right time. If Kawhi doesn’t go to LAC, Presti likely goes into the year with a flawed core and gets bounced in the first round again. I really don’t think people realize just how insanely lucky Presti was there. The picks he’s acquired have netted him very little. It’s all been from the Clippers.

Again the exact same thing could be said about the Raptors title team....Right place right time....Its a dumb thing to argue to discredit Presti about when same can be said about Masai....Its like that spiderman pointing meme....

Facts are Thunder are an amazing team with amazing future while also being great in the moment....That means the FO has done its job very well....

Horrible example, let’s review the key moves Masai made;
- drafted Pascal, Norm, OG, Fred, Poeltl, Delon (all of whom drafted out of the lottery except for Poeltl)
- Traded Vasquez and Bargnani for great hauls.
- Traded for Gasol.
- Traded for Ibaka.
- Traded for Kawhi. He was the only guy willing to take the risk. Why didn’t Presti try and get Kawhi? He could’ve had him if he met the Spurs asking price. Could it be because Presti stunk at drafting for a decade and had no assets? Or that he is too cautious? Could be why he hasn’t won a ring yet.

So as you can see, it was an incredible accumulation of assets and timely trades.

For Presti, it all comes down to that SGA trade which he had no control over.

Lol....All i can say is take off the homer hat you have on....Its ok....Thunder will be good and prolly win the title soon with the team he put together....Jdub and Chet mean nothing btw....Get real....

Masai has done a great job but he also got very lucky in the Kawhi thing because a trade like that will also never happen again in our favor....And no Spurs picked the best offer which was what the Raptors offered....Spurs wanted DD/Yak over other players...Also Spurs came out and said they wanted to ship Kawhi out of the West....

Right place right time...Without Kawhi we are a team getting bounced out the playoffs year after year....So like i said discrediting Presti because of a "Lucky" Trade is the spiderman pointing meme...

Both good Gms but still Presti put together a great team with this OKC team and still has a bright future....Hell they could possibly get a higher draft pick than us while winning the title this year lol...Thats called good gming...

[DelAbbot]

Exactly, and the SGA trade can’t even be compared to anything because a deal like that has never been done before. Ainge traded KG and Pierce for an incredible haul that got them Tatum and Brown. That was great GM’ing though because he could’ve just kept them.

With Presti, he was in the right place at the right time. If Kawhi doesn’t go to LAC, Presti likely goes into the year with a flawed core and gets bounced in the first round again. I really don’t think people realize just how insanely lucky Presti was there. The picks he’s acquired have netted him very little. It’s all been from the Clippers.

Again the exact same thing could be said about the Raptors title team....Right place right time....Its a dumb thing to argue to discredit Presti about when same can be said about Masai....Its like that spiderman pointing meme....

Facts are Thunder are an amazing team with amazing future while also being great in the moment....That means the FO has done its job very well....

Horrible example, let’s review the key moves Masai made;
- drafted Pascal, Norm, OG, Fred, Poeltl, Delon (all of whom drafted out of the lottery except for Poeltl)
- Traded Vasquez and Bargnani for great hauls.
- Traded for Gasol.
- Traded for Ibaka.
- Traded for Kawhi. He was the only guy willing to take the risk. Why didn’t Presti try and get Kawhi? He could’ve had him if he met the Spurs asking price. Could it be because Presti stunk at drafting for a decade and had no assets? Or that he is too cautious? Could be why he hasn’t won a ring yet.

So as you can see, it was an incredible accumulation of assets and timely trades.

For Presti, it all comes down to that SGA trade which he had no control over.

It's ok to be a raging homer, but to minimize Presti and the current best collection of young assets he acquired is nuts

[ItsDanger]

Calvin Booth won a championship with Denver 2 years ago and he's fired already. Using a previous championship as justification to resist change has major risk profile in your decision-making.

[Raps in 4]

Exactly, and the SGA trade can’t even be compared to anything because a deal like that has never been done before. Ainge traded KG and Pierce for an incredible haul that got them Tatum and Brown. That was great GM’ing though because he could’ve just kept them.

With Presti, he was in the right place at the right time. If Kawhi doesn’t go to LAC, Presti likely goes into the year with a flawed core and gets bounced in the first round again. I really don’t think people realize just how insanely lucky Presti was there. The picks he’s acquired have netted him very little. It’s all been from the Clippers.

Again the exact same thing could be said about the Raptors title team....Right place right time....Its a dumb thing to argue to discredit Presti about when same can be said about Masai....Its like that spiderman pointing meme....

Facts are Thunder are an amazing team with amazing future while also being great in the moment....That means the FO has done its job very well....

Horrible example, let’s review the key moves Masai made;
- drafted Pascal, Norm, OG, Fred, Poeltl, Delon (all of whom drafted out of the lottery except for Poeltl)
- Traded Vasquez and Bargnani for great hauls.
- Traded for Gasol.
- Traded for Ibaka.
- Traded for Kawhi. He was the only guy willing to take the risk. Why didn’t Presti try and get Kawhi? He could’ve had him if he met the Spurs asking price. Could it be because Presti stunk at drafting for a decade and had no assets? Or that he is too cautious? Could be why he hasn’t won a ring yet.

So as you can see, it was an incredible accumulation of assets and timely trades.

For Presti, it all comes down to that SGA trade which he had no control over.

In his time in OKC, Presti drafted/traded for and developed the following players:

- KD
- Harden
- Westbrook
- SGA
- Chet
- JWill

But yes, consistently hitting on your draft picks/trades is all luck. It has nothing to do with scouting.

[Duffman100]

In all fairness, I think are two conversations that are being conflated.

Is Presti a good GM?
Was tanking key to Presti's current build of OKC?

I think Presti is for sure a very good to amazing GM. The Thunder are loaded with win now talent and have an insane treasure chest of assets.

Was tanking key to Presti's success? I'd say it was really a single season and getting Chet (maybe Giddey, but people hate that we're 7th and he was taken 6th).

So did a single season give them a big piece, sure. What is the main factor....

[JB7]

You have to look in the mirror when you are typing all this out because your putting down Presti for doing things and getting lucky....What can you say about Masai getting Kawhi?....Masai got Kawhi in amazing gming?....I mean just like SGA....It FELL in Masai lap....Without Kawhi we do not have a title....Facts are Thunder are a championship level team and very may well win it ....While still having amazing draft picks to use as trade assets or draft to keep building on a championship core....at some point you need to give credit where credit is due instead of being salty about it.

So you are envious because of all the draft picks they have to play with. That explains everything.

All those lovely mystery boxes that may or may never be actual basketball players or OKC Thunder players for that matter.

This isn't a dick measuring competition. Just because they have all these picks still doesn't make them a model for an organization to follow.

Having lots of picks and sucking for multiple years does not guarantee victory. It just doesn't.

And as it has been said by myself and others many many many many times over...the Thunder aren't good because they have lots of draft picks.

Thunder are good primarily because the Clippers **** up.

If the Clippers don't give the Thunder everything...they are just another treadmill team with Russ and PG. And without a PG trade...them tanking on their own to get Chet and Giddey...well that just isn't the same.

SGA and JDub are the 2 biggest reasons for OKC's success and they are a product of another team's draft picks and failures.

Exactly, and the SGA trade can’t even be compared to anything because a deal like that has never been done before. Ainge traded KG and Pierce for an incredible haul that got them Tatum and Brown. That was great GM’ing though because he could’ve just kept them.

With Presti, he was in the right place at the right time. If Kawhi doesn’t go to LAC, Presti likely goes into the year with a flawed core and gets bounced in the first round again. I really don’t think people realize just how insanely lucky Presti was there. The picks he’s acquired have netted him very little. It’s all been from the Clippers.

What also does not get mentioned ever is that massive haul Presti got from the Clippers, also probably benefitted from Masai's role in that trade. Kawhi specifically asked for PG, and even hinted he might consider resigning in Toronto if they acquired PG. I don't think Masai ever really had that in his plans, but I believe he played along with it enough (talked to OKC about potential deals), that the Clippers were probably forced to offer up more than they would have wanted, which could have included SGA.

I would think the main reason Masai played along with this leverage play by OKC, was just to screw the Clips, who spent the whole Raps Kawhi year, following him (sending management or scouts to his Raps games).

[metafisical]

Presti and Ujiri are good GMs. I give Ujiri the advantage for having won a championship. Both have taken advantage of great opportunities -- the key ones focused on Kawhi -- and probably missed out on some opportunities (e.g., both have held on to certain players too long and did not maximize their returns).

Are they great? No. Other GMs have won multiple championships. Ujiri only has one. Presti has zero.

[WuTang_CMB]

Another tanking discussion lol

All these GM's operate different and have different strengths.

Presti is elite and built 2 seperate championship rosters. That's hard to do since many GM's cant even build one. He did some tanking, drafted well and made excellent trades along the way. I'd be shocked if they didn't pull it off in the next few yrs