Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Will Leave OKC Thunder Offseason to Sam Presti

The Oklahoma City Thunder are the talk of the town in the NBA after being ousted by the San Antonio Spurs in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals. Some are pointing to panic moves Oklahoma City should make in the wake of being knocked off by San Antonio to end the Thunder's title defense question. Others –– including this scribe –– think the Thunder should largely run it back.

Though running it back will not look as it did a year ago. Oklahoma City will not and can not retain 99% of its roster as it did last summer. Most importantly for the Thunder, while it is not a requirement for the team, getting under the second apron just makes sense, given how relatively easy it is to do.

The Thunder have team contract options on Isaiah Hartenstein ($28.5 Million), Lu Dort ($17.7 Million) and Kenrich Williams ($7.1 Million) this offseason. Keeping Hartenstein long-term is the most important outcome for the Bricktown Ballers. Declining and re-signing Williams to a near veteran minimum seems likely. Dort appears to be the odd man out, despite his incredible story.

The defensive ace was an undrafted guard for Oklahoma City who made an immediate impact as a rookie and a massive difference maker in the bubble playoffs during a seven-game series with the Houston Rockets back in 2020.

Dort worked his way up a pillar of this team and became a key cog in the Thunder's 2025 championship, which can never and will never be taken away from his legacy. The emotions of what he means to this franchise, and his superstar teammate in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who shares the floor with him for Team Canada events in the summertime, will be no small or easy decision to lose him.

Most superstars throw their weight around on decisions like this, but Gilgeous-Alexander has said twice in the last week that offseason decisions rest squarely at the feet of Oklahoma City's top front office decision maker, Sam Presti.

"I don't have the time or energy to do Sam's job in my everyday life. Basketball takes up a lot. And then -- I mean, you can't wear every hat in every relationship. I can't go home and be the wife of the house and the kid of the house. I just can't do that. I've got to wear my dad hat," Gilgeous-Alexander explained. "It's the same thing when I come to work. Like I wear the Shai hat and Sam wears the Sam hat, Mark wears the Mark hat, and Chet wears the Chet hat. We all do our part to make our family in the building whole and running on all cylinders. That's how we've operated, and that's how we're going to continue."

For a superstar to have this amount of trust in his organization is a great sign and Presti deserves it. The Oklahoma City Thunder have proven to be able to build rosters that contend for the better part of decade(s) and are in line to do the same with this bunch regardless of the summer fall out.

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