Thunder GM Sam Presti Ushers Out Rumors With Nod to Donovan Mitchell
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The NBA is a business.
Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti made that a point in his press conference on Thursday prior to the opening of training camp.
The comment came about when he was discussing the Donovan Mitchell to Cleveland trade mixed with the rumors of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander being on the trade block.
Presti, as most coaches and front office folks would, danced around the direct answer of the rumors but what he said spoke volumes of truth.
"The only reason we're talking about it is because another player on another team got traded, '' Presti said. “The machine — the aggregation machine — is empty now. So we need a little more content.
“That’s the price of admission. It’s not a penalty. No one’s out to try and disrupt the Thunder or create problems for the Thunder. This is the business we work in.”
Sure, Presti never said OKC wouldn’t shop Gilgeous-Alexander, and obviously he’ll have suitors from around the league, but in a sense for now he closed the book of that idea.
He’s right, the SGA rumor mill didn’t begin until the Knicks — again — swung and missed on a blockbuster deal this time for now Cleveland guard Donovan Mitchell. The obvious path once he was dealt was find the next contender for a major talent to be dealt and with the Thunder’s recent track record of selling star players, it made sense.
But Gilgeous-Alexander hasn’t voiced displeasure or want to depart OKC, and the team has never voiced, openly, a want to move him to a different team for more picks.
SGA is 24-years old, he fits the mold of the current OKC roster, young and high ceiling. Presti values the youth and the talent SGA has and the role he has on the team as a young leader of the starters.
Sure, there was a way to decipher the quote and be glass half empty because Presti never stated directly SGA wasn’t going to leave, but he never said he was on the market either.
It’s a business, there’s always going to trade rumors, it’s the price to pay for having a hot young commodity on the roster — Presti knows that.
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