OKC Thunder: Sam Presti Explains Strategy of Trying to Move Up in Draft 'Every Year'

Oklahoma City made more deals in the 2024 draft, and it's something that has become a staple of Thunder offseasons.

From left, Ajay Mitchell, Dillon Jones and Nikola Topic stand with Thunder general manager Sam Presti during an introductory press conference for the 2024 Thunder draft picks at Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center in Oklahoma City, Saturday, June, 29, 2024. / SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY

Oklahoma City entered the 2024 NBA Draft with only one pick but still made three picks.

The Thunder’s ability to move up and into the draft is a process that GM Sam Presti has perfected. In the draft on Wednesday and Thursday, Presti made multiple moves to secure extra picks.

In the first round, Oklahoma City selected Dillon Jones with the 26th pick after sending five second-round picks to the Knicks. After trading Lindy Waters III to Golden State for the 52nd pick, Oklahoma City made multiple deals to trade up and select Ajay Mitchell at 38.

“With respect to this particular year, we have such a talented group of people that work -- that I have the privilege of working with, that are very creative and very thoughtful,” Presti said. “There's like 10 people that go into the decisions to get into these positions to select the players, and you have a group of people that I heavily rely on that are focused on personnel.”

Presti’s recognition for piling up draft picks began with his 2019 trades involving Paul George and Russell Westbrook. However, his draft-day deals easily predate the Thunder’s haul of picks.

In 2013, the Thunder had the 12th and 32nd picks from the James Harden trade, which they used to draft Steven Adams and Alex Abrines. The Thunder also had the 29th pick but moved up three spots to take Andre Roberson at 26. 

Even more than a decade ago, Presti used his ability to move up to set the Thunder up for the future despite already having a contender. In the draft after winning 60 games and earning the West’s top seed, Oklahoma City used picks it did not originally own to add multiple future starters.

Just two years ago, the Thunder had two late lottery prospects they liked but only one pick in that range. To select Jalen Williams and Ousmane Dieng, the Thunder sent three future first-round picks to New York to get the 13th pick and draft them with consecutive picks.

“Throughout time here, we've always done everything we can to move up the draft,” Presti said. “That's something we've done every year. If we're picking 12, we try to get to 11, we try to get to 10. If we're picking -- in some cases we didn't have picks. We're trying to get in the draft and then seeing if we can work our way up just because we really try to follow the board the best that we can.”

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