Paul George Applauds Thunder GM Sam Presti for Building a Winning Environment in OKC

The Oklahoma City Thunder have dominated the NBA this year en route to a 68-14 regular season record and a dominant playoff run. Now tied with the Indiana Pacers 1-1 in the NBA Finals, they’re just three games away from winning the first championship in franchise history. No, we’re not counting the 1979 SuperSonics. That ring belongs to Seattle.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been the unquestioned leader on his way to winning the scoring title and his first Finals MVP. Mark Daigneault has continued to build on last year’s Coach of the Year win. The additions of Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein have fueled the league’s best defense, and the return of Chet Holmgren has made the Thunder impossible to match up with.

Raymond Felton spent the final two seasons of his career in Oklahoma City, and on his recent appearance on Podcast P with Paul George, he was asked to explain why the Thunder are so good.

“Management, man,” he replied. “You gotta give big shoutouts to Sam Presti over there, just the things that he’s done over the years. The types of players that he’s brought to a small market in Oklahoma. You gotta take your hat off to this guy, he’s one of the best in the game. He cares about his players; he cares about the community.”

Presti has done an incredible job in crafting this roster, and though the Thunder have been the best team in the league all season long, it’s not because they pushed all their chips to the middle by selling out their long-term future for short-term gains.

OKC is the envy of the league, not only because they have the best top-to-bottom roster in the NBA, but because they also have a treasure trove of future draft picks that will guarantee their success for years to come. Analysts and fans alike have been talking about this being the potential start of a dynasty, and they may be right.

The Thunder have become the NBA’s model franchise

The Thunder have been nearly unbeatable at home, going a combined 44-8 at the Paycom Center in the regular season and postseason combined. A huge part of that is due to having such a great team, but OKC also has an incredible fanbase.

Felton gave the fans props for their role in the team’s success, saying, “The fans are nothing but amazing there. I played in a lot of places, and this is probably one of the best places I’ve ever played in terms of fan base, and they really love the Oklahoma City Thunder, man. They love their team.”

One interesting wrinkle to Felton’s conversation with George is that the Thunder were able to rebuild so quickly in part because they traded George to the Clippers in 2019 for SGA and five first-round picks. George is great, but that’s going to go down as one of the most lopsided trades the league has seen, especially if the Thunder win one or multiple championships because of it.

The Pacers can also trace their success back to trading George, as their 2017 deal with the Thunder landed them Domantas Sabonis, whom they later turned into Tyrese Haliburton. Though Haliburton’s mostly been frustrated by OKC’s elite defense, his Game 1 winner is the reason this is still a series heading into Game 3.