The two biggest things the Thunder proved this summer

An offseason that began with uncertainty and ended in style: the Oklahoma City Thunder definitely took a step in the right direction this summer. Few people could estimate what June through August would look like for the franchise and what pieces of the puzzle general manager Sam Presti would address. But reflecting on the moves made this summer, it was clear that it was all done by design.

The Thunder aren’t stubborn in their approach. While they’re not exactly married to blueprint, they are to their core principles, which were constant over the offseason even through all the roster shakeups.

The first takeaway

There is a team culture, and then there is a front-office culture. While Thunder players are often jerky after a win in the locker room and nonchalant during timeouts on the sidelines, the higher-ups have kept it at one speed through the thick and thin of this rebuild, which is one thing The Oklahoman’s Joel Lorenzi outlined in a recent article.

“General manager Sam Presti, clearly understanding that the team’s needs were most likely to be met in free agency, didn’t elect to draft a big,” he writes . “Or a traditional forward. Or even someone who spent most of their career as a wing. … Instead of collecting a random assortment of players with separate, defined skill sets and limitations, the Thunder is grouping players with a baseline of requirements. Whether those players collectively sprout from that baseline to becoming a dream core depends on what OKC’s system does for them.”

Presti used the word “counterbalance” in multiple offseason press conferences, most notably during rookie introductions last month. He remains stubbornly proud of his team-building philosophy, which is to compile talent that combines each player's best skill set into one.

Selecting Nikola Topic in the NBA Draft was a decision that raised eyebrows. But the point guard’s sheer passing ability is perhaps something Presti forecasts as synchronous with Chet Holmgren’s development or Shai Gilgeous-Alexnader’s reduced workload. The same applies for the other two Thunder draft picks, as well as for Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso. All these players have an outlining skill.

The second takeaway

Considering how its offseason transactions played out, it seems Oklahoma City prepared well for the league’s new collective bargaining agreement, which took effect this July. While more ill-prepared teams like the Los Angeles Clippers clearly struggled through the month of July, the Thunder entered the month and took care of their immediate and long-term future in one fell swoop.

There were no lengthy contract negotiations, controversies, or delays — none of it; their speed in making moves reflected that. The franchise also braced itself for an easier contractual future by front-loading Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe’s contracts and slapping an option in the final year of Hartenstein’s three-year pact.

NBA teams will only now begin to realize what a luxury it is to have a capable organization in their front office. With the league cracking down on popular team-building tactics of the past, formulating a juggernaut just got far more challenging, and the Thunder seem to be the most prepared to take on those challenges.

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