Thunder GM Sam Presti details draft philosophy to always move up

The Oklahoma City Thunder entered the 2024 NBA draft with one selection and exited the two-day event with three rookies.

The Thunder stood pat at the No. 12 spot and selected Nikola Topic. It’s a calculated swing. OKC can afford to wait out a redshirt year and not rush the 18-year-old to play.

For the other two rookies, it was a multi-step process to acquire them.

The Thunder shipped five future second-round picks to the New York Knicks for the No. 26 selection to add Dillon Jones. The next day, OKC made a series of trades to go up to the No. 38 pick to draft Ajay Mitchell.

Thunder general manager Sam Presti detailed the process to add Jones and Mitchell in the 2024 rookie introductory presser . He said it aligns with their philosophy of always being aggressors during the draft.

“We’ve always done everything we can to move up the draft. That’s something we’ve done every year,” Presti said. “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.”

The Thunder have a wealth of draft capital at their disposal. They’ve built it up over the years for these exact moments. OKC can afford to overpay for a draft selection without leaving a dint in its treasure trove.

“There have been a lot of times we’ve tried and haven’t been successful. But these situations worked out for us,” Presti said. “The players that we wanted were there. I’m really excited about it.

“But philosophically we’re always trying to maneuver and move ourselves up there, and some years are different than others.”

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