OKC Thunder GM Sam Presti Wins Executive of the Year
Despite a disappointing 121-119 loss to the Denver Nuggets in Game 1, OKC Thunder General Manager Sam Presti won the NBA’s Executive of the Year award. Presti, 47, turned the Thunder into a contender. Presti’s efforts helped the Thunder finish an NBA-best 68-14 in the 2024-25 NBA season. Read on for further details.
OKC Thunder GM Sam Presti Wins
On Monday, ESPN’s Shams Charania posted on X, formerly Twitter, “2024-25 NBA Executive of the Year: Oklahoma City Thunder GM Sam Presti.” Charania’s post attracted attention from users. One user wrote, “TRAJAN LANGDON WAS ROBBED.” Another user wrote, “League might actually hate Detroit (Pistons).” The pro-Detroit Pistons users might be onto something, but that’s a topic for another article.
OKC Thunder GM Sam Presti’s History
Good things come to those who wait. Sam Presti has been serving as the Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder GM since 2007. Presti previously served as the San Antonio Spurs’ Assistant GM from 2000 to 2007. Presti, a Concord, Massachusetts native, attended Concord-Carlisle High School and played college basketball at Virginia Wesleyan from 1995 to 1997 and Emerson College from 1997 to 1999.
Fast forward to 2024-25 when Presti managed a winning Thunder team for the first time in a while. During the Thunder’s third season in Oklahoma City, Presti’s Thunder finished with a 55-27 record, with Russell Westbrook being named to his first NBA All-Star Game. The Thunder built off the previous season and reached the NBA’s Western Conference Finals as the No. 4 seed, becoming the youngest NBA team to do so.
Final Thoughts
Sam Presti and the Oklahoma City Thunder weren’t the only hot topic in the race for the NBA’s Executive of the Year award. Nico Harrison and the Dallas Mavericks were thrown into the spotlight. Harrison, 52, didn’t receive a single third-place in the race for the NBA’s Executive of the Year award, per Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal. Harrison received backlash for trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis.
In the end, neither the Mavericks nor the Lakers became a contender in the 2025 NBA Playoffs. However, Lakers GM Rob Pelinka received one first-place vote, one second-place vote, and three third-place votes, finishing in sixth place with 11 points. Pelinka’s sixth-place finish might’ve been sparked by his trade for Dorian Finney-Smith, an arguably important move that changed the Lakers’ regular season.
Harrison’s legacy as the Mavericks’ GM might be defined by how the Doncic trade played out. The Mavericks reportedly entered the 2024-25 NBA season with renewed optimism and a clear sense of purpose, but the injury bug and the Doncic trade negatively affected the team. The Mavericks might become contenders again in 2027, as long the Mavericks’ depth, performance, and avoidance of the injury bug improves over time.
