The Oklahoma City Thunder have a chance to sweep their way into the Western Conference Finals on Monday evening, currently sitting at 7-0 so far in these playoffs. No team has accomplished this feat since the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors each did in the 2017 season, nine years ago, and the Thunder will look to join them when Game 4 against the Los Angeles Lakers gets underway.
The architect of this Thunder squad is Sam Presti, who has done an unbelievable job of acquiring both star talent and elite bench depth to overwhelm opponents, resulting in an NBA championship last season.
Recently, ESPN sports media personality Stephen A. Smith took to “First Take” to hit Presti with some lofty praise.
“Sam Presti, right now, might go down as the greatest executive in the history of basketball,” said Smith, per First Take on X, formerly Twitter.
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While he has some stiff competition, there's certainly no one in the league right now better at his job than Presti, who first built a legit title contender around Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in a run that spanned well into the 2010s, and then pivoted following a few frustrating years in the wake of Durant's exit to rebuild the team around Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who will likely be awarded with his second straight league MVP in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, Presti has found numerous diamonds in the rough over the last couple of seasons, including Ajay Mitchell, who poured in 24 points in the Game 3 win over the Lakers, and somehow still has assembled valuable draft assets for the team moving forward.
The Thunder will look to make it 8-0 in their playoff run when they hit the floor for Game 4 against the Lakers on Monday at 10:30 pm ET from Los Angeles.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have a chance to sweep their way into the Western Conference Finals on Monday evening, currently sitting at 7-0 so far in these playoffs. No team has accomplished this feat since the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors each did in the 2017 season, nine years ago, and the Thunder will look to join them when Game 4 against the Los Angeles Lakers gets underway.