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Can Presti balance urgency, long-term with Westbrook on board?
Ten months before, Thunder general manager Sam Presti sat down the same chair he did on Monday. He said the Thunder wouldn’t be reactionary, wouldn’t succumb to a temptation to knee-jerk as so many teams in the NBA do.
Kevin Durant was gone, and this next iteration of the Thunder wouldn’t be a quick fix. Even entering an offseason with Russell Westbrook’s future in question and a first-round
postseason exit fresh on the Thunder’s minds, the same theory still applies for Presti.
“We’ve been operating I think with a pretty aggressive mindset,” Presti said Monday at his season-ending media availability. “I don’t think that really changes.
“But I think being urgent is less important than being accurate.”
The question is can the Thunder continue its approach with Westbrook, the face of the franchise, approaching or at his apex?
The Thunder believes it’s on an upward trajectory. None of the 12 questions Presti answered on Monday had to do with Victor Oladipo or Steven Adams’ contract situations because the duo was locked up long-term via contract extensions in November. Presti touted the Thunder having four players age 25 of younger (Oladipo, Jerami Grant, Alex Abrines and Doug McDermott) shooting 35 percent of better from 3-point range. Ask members of the organization, and they feel Westbrook is getting better, which isn’t false. He did just average a triple-double.
What was unquestionably better, however, was Houston’s roster 1 through 8 in the Thunder’s 4-1 series loss. Westbrook was gassed at the end, attempting to beat the Rockets as the Thunder’s offense cratered without him in the game, while Houston rolled out three wouldbe-starters off the bench.
It’s why Presti is hedging on Oladipo and Adams improving. While each is coming off his best year in terms of offensive efficiency, contract extensions totaling $184 million over the next four years — unfair or not — will serve as the bar of expectation for many outside of the organization.
Rather than seeing another season of evaluation before rewarding Oladipo and Adams with extensions, the Thunder re-signed the two before they were allowed to hit restricted free agency. Barring a trade, they’ll be a part of the continuity Presti stressed as a way for the Thunder to get better.
“There’s no question, Victor, Steven, those guys have to get better for us to continue to get where we want to go, and I think they are going to work to get to that point,” Presti said. “But I also think there’s reason to believe that they will get better because they have every single season in the league.”
Will they progress and can the Thunder improve at a rate commensurate with Westbrook’s prime? The Thunder has one more guaranteed season of Westbrook left unless he agrees to resign long-term after July 1. Approximately $89.8 million of the projected salary cap of $101 million will be occupied by four players in 2017-18: Westbrook, Adams, Oladipo and Enes Kanter, the latter of which Presti and coach Billy Donovan feel can expand his game to the 3-point line.
Urgency in the form of pursuing of a max money free agent is a pipe dream under those salary constraints. The Thunder would have to clear $28.5 million in salary cap space. Thus the team isn’t in a position to wine and dine with the offer of a max deal. Rather, another team or teams would have to extend help via a trade.
Despite blowing past Kobe Bryant’s singleseason usage record of 38.74, the Thunder has downplayed the notion of Westbrook’s usage (41.7) — the number of possessions ending with a field-goal attempt, free throw attempt, or turnover by a player — being too high. After his video game season, putting limitations on Westbrook’s capabilities could end with the fiery guard proving doubters wrong.
But just because Westbrook can move mountains, it doesn’t mean the Thunder wants him to again.
Westbrook will be 29 in November.
“Do we need to reduce the reliance on him? Absolutely,” Presti said. “Is that going to take a little time for us to continue to grow and evolve in that way? Sure. But I think that’s something they can that can definitely be done.”
It’s where Presti and the Thunder’s mission begins and ends this offseason — balancing their long-term pragmatic approach with maximizing Westbrook’s window.
Next checkpoint: The NBA Draft on June 22.
“We need to continue to try to make the game easier for sure,” Presti said. “That’s going to take a lot of effort from a lot of people, and certainly I’ll be looking for ways to do that myself.”