Why OKC Thunder’s Sam Presti Thinks Depth is ‘Really Important’

Oklahoma City has one of the deepest rosters in the NBA and it’ll be more important than ever this season.

Feb 10, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder bench reacts during the second half against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

In the modern NBA, there are plenty of different approaches to building a roster. There are also many different opinions to which roster build is best suited to compete for an NBA championship.

There’s the Phoenix Suns model — and at one point the Golden State Warriors — that consists of attracting as many stars to suit up and figure the rest out later. There’s also the Denver Nuggets model of relying on a superstar, a strong supporting cast, and very little depth on the bench. But last season, the Boston Celtics won because of the strength of the entire team. 

In other words, last season proved depth in the modern NBA is important to success. During Sam Presti’s press conference on Wednesday, he echoed the importance of depth, and explained why he was content with where Oklahoma City is.

“Last thing on the season and the length of it, I think the depth of teams in the league and I think depth in general is really important,” Presti said. “I think depth relative to the parity in the league that we see now is directly linked because the teams are so deep.”

Presti is right. The NBA is deeper than ever and some teams have talented players buried deep on the roster. Oklahoma City is one of those teams. Players like Kenrich Williams and Jaylin Williams — both who have had a prominent, starting role in years past, might not play every single night. But having capable players that can step up can go a long way.

Oklahoma City’s general manager also noted the physical style of basketball the NBA shifted towards mid season a year ago. It’s hard for guys to play every single game. And the Thunder were one of the few teams fortunate to have injury luck while other playoff hopefuls couldn’t say the same. Planning for bad breaks is an important part to building a roster in the NBA.

“But I also think it's important for these reasons,” Presti said. “Midway through the season last year, there was a change in the points of emphasis relative to the officiating, so we saw a much more physical game. We like that. We're for that. We're certainly not against that in any way. We think it's probably better to have a balanced game.

“But you're still introducing a level of physicality into the game every single night that's going to wear anybody down. Couple that with the fact that the second half of the season is more compressed with less days off and more games, more travel days than we've seen in 10 to 12 years, and you're going to see just the attrition of the league probably change a little bit more, but to get a better product, which is totally understandable. But I think depth matters there.”

Having the ability to give guys rest is so important. For players like Chet Holmgren, who outwardly spoke about the challenge to play at a high level late in the season, might be able to catch a game or two off with added front court depth.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who leads the league in drives and takes hard contact at the rim, is able to take more breathers during the game. That’s a luxury the Thunder hasn’t truly had until this season. When Oklahoma City was fighting for a play-in spot two years ago, Gilgeous-Alexander’s health was critical for any win on any night — no matter the level of opponent. Obviously, his health is still the most important piece to the Thunder’s operation, but Oklahoma City might be able to survive a stretch to let him nurse a sprained ankle.

The Thunder’s depth — top to bottom — is up there with the league’s best. It’s one of the main reasons Oklahoma City is a trendy pick to make the NBA Finals.

“The icing on the cake for all of that relative to the depth is the pace of the modern game is much different, so the days are the same,” Presti said. “There's still 24 hours in the day. There was always physical basketball. But the amount of torque on the bodies and the way in which — and how many possessions there are within a modern NBA game is just a different load. That's why I think the depth is important to all teams, not just to our team, and I think we're well-positioned for that.”

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