Awards Outlook: Making Sam Presti's Case for Executive of the Year

As the NBA calendar moves into October, with training camp in full swing and a preseason game just a few days away, Thunder players, staff and fans are all eagerly anticipating another NBA season.

With 82 regular season games come award races, which last season's team became very familiar with. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the Most Valuable Player runner-up, Chet Holmgren was the Rookie of the Year runner-up, Sam Presti was the Executive of the Year runner-up and Mark Daigneault won Coach of the Year.

If any award has already been decided, it is the one that depends on planning, phone calls and agreements rather than balls going through the hoop. Many previous Executives of the Year effectively sealed their wins in the summer, from Bob Myers signing Kevin Durant in free agency to Daryl Morey and James Jones trading for Chris Paul to catalyze massive win improvements.

After years of meticulous roster construction to obtain the Western Conference's No. 1 seed last year, Presti and his staff can check off another successful offseason. The Thunder acquired guard Alex Caruso from the Bulls in a one-for-one swap for Josh Giddey and signed center Isaiah Hartenstein to a three-year, $87 million contract, the largest free agent deal in team history. They also re-signed Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins to four and five-year deals, respectively.

Those four moves stack up well on paper compared to Executive of the Year winners in the last decade.

Among these winners, Presti's offseason transactions have been most similar to last year's victor, Brad Stevens. The Celtics won 57 games in the 2022-23 season, the same number as the 2023-24 Thunder, and supercharged their great core by trading for Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday. A seven-win increase for Oklahoma City would almost certainly make the final decision a formality.

The Thunder's most difficult task lies ahead, as repeating and/or improving on their 57-win output will be anything but straightforward. Only Bob Myers won the award in the last decade with fewer wins than the prior year, and he completed a move that guaranteed multiple championships. Regardless of how the season plays out, though, Presti has earned full marks for maximizing his team's championship chances. He will be in the Executive of the Year mix when the season comes to a close.