OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma City Thunder GM Sam Presti addressed the media following his team's championship victory, the first in franchise history, on Monday. Presti revealed Jalen Williams will undergo wrist surgery among other things, such as the Thunder's offseason direction as Oklahoma City will look to defend its first title in 2025-26. For Presti, there's a formula the front office sticks to.
Speaking before a packed room of reporters, one asked if Presti takes pride in seeing his vision translate into a championship run with room to grow into a potential dynasty led by a pair of All-Stars, MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Williams, and Chet Holmgren.
“I don't know if pride is the right way. To me, that's a little judgmental of the other ways you can do it,” Presi said. “To me, there's kind of three ways in the league; you can assemble teams, you can inherit/modify a team, or you can build a team. So, I think there are three kind of modes; build, modify, assemble. How you do that or the way in which you do that, I think, is very contextual. For us, building is probably our best path here.”
To keep the Thunder competitive, Presti know he has to think three steps ahead as defending champions.
“Because of that, we don't have a lot of time to determine which way we should go. The paradox of choice is not really in our vantage point,” Presti added. “So, I think that helps us. We kind of know what our circle of confidence is and we try to really lean into that. But I think the way the guys have expressed that kind of in their play, the philosophies of the organization, and that's been a really special thing.
“And Mark being able to bring that to the court itself was really unique, and that's one of the reasons why I love working with him,” Presti concluded.
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It'll be interesting to see the Thunder offseason unfold.
Sam Presti on Jalen Williams' wrist injury before Thunder playoffs
Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) holds up the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP trophy after winner Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hands it to him at the end of game seven of the 2025 NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers at Paycom Center
Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
After All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander thanked Thunder GM Sam Presti for the opportunity to compete for an NBA title, Presti commended Jalen Williams for playing through injury en route to a championship. Presti announced Williams will go under the knife, and that it was an injury Williams suffered during the regular season.
“Jalen Williams, Dub, is going to have surgery on that wrist” Presti said. “I want to just acknowledge for a second how impressed I am with him. The injury took place before the playoffs began.”
Williams scored 40 points in Game 5 of the NBA Finals before helping the Thunder secure Game 7 against the Pacers.