Fire Sam Presti - Enough is enough

[TimRobbins]

OKC fans should be happy with the PG trade. They got a good haul of picks.

Happy? they blow out the team, we are a trade away from being a serius contender (Love/Griffin) but the owners gone cheap again.

This team was going nowhere. Presti got a great return for PG. Now he need to get something for Westbrick and move on.

[Anticon]

Sorry to say, but welcome to the real world OKC fans. You've never had to deal with the actual struggles of an NBA team since you started. Presti is the only reason why your team has been relevant for so long.

[timO]

Nowhere? they were better than 21 teams at least.

[TRKO]

OKC was fighting for the 4-8 seeds in the western conference with zero roster flexibility to make moves. The George trade made a lot of sense for him considering what they got in return. He should be able to get a healthy return for Westbrook. It takes a good GM to blow the thing up while they have players that can fetch assets. Bad GMs keep the line moving until it collapses.

[TheGOATRises007]

You got an amazing haul for Paul George.

The team wasn't going to win.

Trade Westbrook and start over.

It sucks considering what you had at 1 point, but that's the NBA.

[Effigy]

Presti excels at getting young players especially with good draft picks. He’s not great at completing the team. If anything, let him rebuild and the second you make the playoffs again, fire him.

[levon]

I think when we evaluate GMs we're evaluating two different things here:
1) Can he accumulate value
2) Can he build a championship team

Sometimes, those two things don't go hand in hand. For whatever reason, teams that you think are getting there due to 1) never make it. At that point, you have to be honest about how you evaluate that GM. You can't just say, oh but he traded one of his superstars for 5 picks and leave your analysis at that. That's almost a different skillset altogether.

[Middle Child]

Presti has had

Durant- MVP
Westbrook- MVP
Harden- 6th man, under team control
Ibaka
Paul George- MVP candidate, DPOY candidate
Adams
Melo- set career high in 3s in OKC on limited touches
Roberson- All-NBA defense
Oladipo- Got better after leaving

Dude couldn’t make any combination of these players work but there’s a common denominator and it’s Westbrook controlling far too much of what happens on the court on both ends.

He pounds the rock on O, doesn’t let others rebound, shoots bad shots, gambles far too much defensively and gets into shootouts with dudes he can’t even come close to.

Presti’s biggest issue is his loyalty to Russ.

[ejs78]

Id trade Donnie Nelson for Presti any day.

Sent from my SM-G960U using RealGM mobile app

[JN61]

Presti has had

Durant- MVP
Westbrook- MVP
Harden- 6th man, under team control
Ibaka
Paul George- MVP candidate, DPOY candidate
Adams
Melo- set career high in 3s in OKC on limited touches
Roberson- All-NBA defense
Oladipo- Got better after leaving

Dude couldn’t make any combination of these players work but there’s a common denominator and it’s Westbrook controlling far too much of what happens on the court on both ends.

He pounds the rock on O, doesn’t let others rebound, shoots bad shots, gambles far too much defensively and gets into shootouts with dudes he can’t even come close to.

Presti’s biggest issue is his loyalty to Russ.

You had good post going till you mentioned Anthony.

[NaturalThunder]

You got an amazing haul for Paul George.

The team wasn't going to win.

Trade Westbrook and start over.

It sucks considering what you had at 1 point, but that's the NBA.

I don't disagree with anything else you said. And this thread doesn't exactly feel like the place to make this post. I'm sure there will be a book or two or three written about this very topic someday and will be done much more eloquently than what I'm about to type,but...

"It sucks considering what you had at 1 point, but that's the NBA."

Not sure you can minimize OKC's "What if?" story to that degree. It's one of the single-greatest "What if?"s in NBA history. I'm fully aware that in the 11 seasons the team has been located in OKC, us fans haven't had to suffer like most every other fanbase has had to suffer at some point. Yes, Thunder fans walked into a once-in-a-generation situation two years into our franchise's history. It's unprecedented.

However, given the possibilities and all of the controllable and uncontrollable factors that have played out against OKC the past 11 years, we have every right to be bitter and feel empy-handed. This is a team that, just seven years ago, had three generational talents on its roster and, in 2019, have zero championships to show for it. It was supposed to be the next great home-grown dynasty in the NBA. It didn't work out that way and it sucks. It REALLY sucks.

I'll greatly appreciate what I got as a Thunder fan and, after a brief mourning period, I'll get on-board with our first true rebuilding phase and see what comes of it. I am 100% on-board with the "tear it down and rebuild" direction we're headed. As frustrating as it is, this team wasn't going to ever be a true contender with the current roster. And, with no roster flexibility (cap hell), there was no way to fix it. But it's a bitter pill to swallow to realize this is really and truly the end.

[seanbig]

Basically 7 first round picks for Ibaka

Who’s stupid now

[daswunderboy]

Presti did well getting and resigning George. He did well getting out of the contract with a great haul right now, especially since the team showed it had a very hard ceiling as a 2nd round team at best.

[Richfield]

Ibaka's expiring contract, eventually turned it into this:

2021 MIA 1st (unprotected)
2022 LAC 1st (unprotected)
2023 Heat 1st (protected)
2023 LAC pick swap
2024 Clips first (unprotected)
2025 LAC pick swap
2026 LAC 1st (unprotected)
Shai-Gilgeous Alexander, Jerami Grant, Gallinari

I guess it depends on how much you want to blame him for roster construction and how much you will blame coaching or the play of your superstar. It's a complex equation, but there is little doubt that Presti will not be out of a job for long.

When did that Ibaka trade happen again?

And where are the Thunder today?

That's all that matters. You're supposed to take steps forward. Not steps back for unknown intangibles.

As a neutral basketball fan, gotta say Ive been pretty frustrated with OKC over the years. The things they don't change versus the things that they do.

[iggymcfrack]

Sure, he is a mvp and triple double machine, one bad playoff series with injuries btw dont change that.

2018 exposed Lillard worst, and he comes back.

It wasn’t just a bad playoffs. He shot 29% from three, 34% from mid-range, and 66% from the line FOR THE SEASON. If you wanna be the lead option and shoot 20+ times a game you can’t shoot that poorly in the modern NBA. You just can’t. If he’d start using the same shot selection as Ben Simmons, he might be able to be a Top 10-15 player in the league again, but he’s certainly not on track for it right now.

[NuggetsWY]

Not too confident that the problem is Presti. He's done fairly well in the draft and acquiring free agents and making trades. Not perfect, but better than quite a few other GMs. Small-market team with an owner that is not willing to pay the repeater tax (at least so far); yet the Thunder have been relevant and contenders for quite a few years.

[timO]

Sure, he is a mvp and triple double machine, one bad playoff series with injuries btw dont change that.

2018 exposed Lillard worst, and he comes back.

It wasn’t just a bad playoffs. He shot 29% from three, 34% from mid-range, and 66% from the line FOR THE SEASON. If you wanna be the lead option and shoot 20+ times a game you can’t shoot that poorly in the modern NBA. You just can’t. If he’d start using the same shot selection as Ben Simmons, he might be able to be a Top 10-15 player in the league again, but he’s certainly not on track for it right now.

Sure, 43% FG in RS, like his career, 29% from 3 yes his career is 31% you are discovering the wheel? and the FT in playoffs was 88.5%.

He fails FT in RS in **** games, when it counts he made all, like 3 FT in a row from a fouled 3 or in clutch i dont remember he failing one that matters.

The fact is the regress of Russ its not at all or minimum compared than you are selling, and now he is alone again his numbers will up again.

[Antinomy]

A few years back, I liked OKC’s team & wanted Russ to win a title. I spent a lot of time on the OKC board arguing with guys over there. My stance was that players like Roberson & Sefolosha were KILLING the Thunder even though their advanced stats were great on paper. You could SEE it. You simply cannot pair an absolute non-shooter next to Westbrook & it’s gotten worse with time.

My biggest issue with OKC is that they never stopped building a team to beat the 2009-2012 Gasol-Bynum Lakers. The league passed Presti by YEARS ago in terms of team-building. It made no sense to be starting 3 dudes next to Westbrook & Durant who were complete nonfactors offensively (Ibaka to a lesser degree). Then they went ahead & did it again when PG replaced Durant.

For nearly an entire decade now, they have YET to put a legit 3-D guy next to Westbrook but seem to have no shortage of combo forwards/wings with athleticism & little to no basketball skill.

In the end, I & a few others were proven right. They should’ve moved on from guys like Roberson, Grant, Perkins, Sefolosha, and maybe even Ibaka if they could’ve packaged him for a 3rd guy muuuch earlier than they did. Especially since they blew tons of picks to move other guys later on. It just didn’t make any sense.

Just realized that I typed that whole thing & didn’t even mention their coaching. LOL

[Jables]

I kinda miss arguing with people that said he was the puppet master super saiyan genius of the NBA.

Did you see in George's farewell he didn't even mention Billy Donovan?

[Antinomy]

Presti has had

Durant- MVP
Westbrook- MVP
Harden- 6th man, under team control
Ibaka
Paul George- MVP candidate, DPOY candidate
Adams
Melo- set career high in 3s in OKC on limited touches
Roberson- All-NBA defense
Oladipo- Got better after leaving

Dude couldn’t make any combination of these players work but there’s a common denominator and it’s Westbrook controlling far too much of what happens on the court on both ends.

He pounds the rock on O, doesn’t let others rebound, shoots bad shots, gambles far too much defensively and gets into shootouts with dudes he can’t even come close to.

Presti’s biggest issue is his loyalty to Russ.

Presti’s biggest issue is doubling down on clear negatives instead of moving them early on: Roberson, Grant, Perkins, Kanter, chucking undersized 2 guards off the bench, Scott Brooks & Billy Donovan. Along with his constant obsession with building a roster to beat the 2010 Lakers even till this day.