Thunder Executive Talks NBA Expansion and Potential Rule Changes

The Oklahoma City Thunder would be one of the biggest teams hit by expansion and Sam Presti spoke about that possibility on Wednesday.

Thunder general manager Sam Presti speaks 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 NETWORK

NBA Expansion has been a long time coming and now feels to be a question of when, not if, the league will get to 32 teams. With that comes a plethora of discussions and debates - one of the topics that got hoop heads through the offseason was reviewing the impact expansion could have on the league and individual teams.

No team in the association will be impacted more by expansion than the Oklahoma City Thunder who have a loaded roster with all the draft picks imaginable to bring in more talent between now and the eventual expansion draft.

This led to top Thunder executive Sam Presti being peppered with questions about expansion at his annual preseason media availability on Wednesday. In which, he clearly was limited in what he legally could say about a potential shift in the league that has not been announced in an official capacity but still had strong points about what the future looks like.

 "I think the thing to note about the rules, or a lot of the expansion rules, relative to the personnel stuff were written in like 1980. They haven't been changed since 1980," Presti said "One thing that we know about Adam Silver since he's been the commissioner, and I think he's done an unbelievable job of this, is he has modernized the league in every single possible way. I think we're the most sophisticated league in a lot of different ways. The idea of working off a set of rules that were used when Bird and Magic were rookies, I don't think that's going to meet the smell test for his administration."

While everyone has defaulted to discussing the potential expansion in the context of the previous rules, Presti continued to preach on the league's cutting-edge views to modernize the NBA at every turn - expansion should be no different.

"One thing I think the league is really focused on, as well, is if there's a team or teams that are well-managed, you're not going to be randomly disadvantaged. So I think as -- if that ever comes about, I'm sure there will be plenty of focus and work to make sure that there's parity of opportunity and ultimately fairness about those rules, and also team building is so much different than it was at that point in time," Presti opined.

It is unclear what the rule changes will look like, but one of the best decision-makers in the sport talks fairly confidently a change is going to come.

"But those rules made it through '80 to 2004, and I'm sure every step of the way Adam [Silver] has looked at every square inch of the league to make sure that it's fair, but it's also modern, and I'm sure they'll do that again," Presti continued.

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