Basketball Operations
Sam Presti | General Manager
The 2008-09 season marks the second year for Sam Presti as the General Manager of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Professional Basketball Club (PBC) Chairman Clayton Bennett appointed Presti to the position on June 7, 2007.
In his first two drafts with Oklahoma City, Presti has acquired the building blocks of the future. Presti selected Kevin Durant as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2007 draft, and acquired Jeff Green (No. 5 overall) on draft night through a trade with Boston. In the 2008 Draft, Presti drafted Russell Westbrook at the No. 4 overall pick, Serge Ibaka at No. 24 and acquired D.J. White through a trade with Detroit (No. 29 overall). In addition, Presti has worked to create salary cap flexibility through multiple player trades and has acquired seven draft picks since his arrival, which includes five first-round picks from 2007-2010.
Prior to joining the Thunder, Presti held a variety of roles with the San Antonio Spurs from 2000 to 2007. Most recently, he served as the team's assistant general manager from Sept. of 2005 - June of 2007. Presti led the design and implementation of the Spurs scouting database, a system that is now being used by numerous teams throughout the NBA. From 2003 - 2005, he served as the director of player personnel. Prior to that role, Presti was the assistant director of scouting in 2002 and 2003. He joined the Spurs organization as an intern in the summer of 2000 before being promoted to special assistant in the summer of 2001.
Presti earned his bachelor's degree in 2000 in communications, politics and law from Emerson College in Boston, where he was the first Rhodes Scholar nominee in school history. The Concord, Mass. native was a four-year basketball letterman and served as team captain his junior and senior seasons. In addition, Presti earned All-Academic honors two times and was also twice selected to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference All-Tournament team. He was honored with the Emerson College Young Alumnus Award in 2005.
An accomplished drummer, Presti has produced three music CDs with all proceeds benefiting the Extra Ordinary Needs Fund at Children's Hospital in Boston.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Rich Cho | Assistant General Manager
Rich Cho enters his 11th season with the organization and his eighth as assistant general manager. Cho is responsible for contract negotiations, salary cap and Collective Bargaining Agreement matters, player contracts and all player personnel issues.
Cho has also served as the team's director of basketball affairs (1997-2000) and vice president of legal (2005-07).
As an attorney with experience on both the team and agent sides of professional sports, Cho calls upon his diverse skill set to aide the Thunder management staff. He also helped design and implement one of the NBA's most advanced and comprehensive college and professional player-evaluation systems.
A member of the Washington State Bar, Cho is a graduate of the Pepperdine University School of Law with an emphasis in sports law, contract negotiations and dispute resolution.
Prior to attending law school, Cho earned his engineering degree from Washington State University and worked as an engineer at Boeing in Seattle for five years. He began his work with the team as an intern in May of 1995. He continued in that role until his graduation from law school in May of 1997 when he was hired as a part-time consultant.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Troy Weaver | Assistant General Manager
Troy Weaver begins his first season as the club's assistant general manager after joining the Thunder in May of 2008. Weaver will assist General Manager Sam Presti with roster development and day-to-day basketball operations. In addition, he will coordinate the team's player personnel matters including NBA Draft preparation, player free agency and summer league roster.
Weaver held the position of director of player personnel for the Utah Jazz in 2007-08. He spent three seasons (2004-07) as head scout for the Jazz before his promotion to director of player personnel.
Prior to joining the Jazz, Weaver was an assistant coach at Syracuse University for four seasons (2000-04). The Orangemen won the 2003 NCAA National Championship led by Weaver recruit Carmelo Anthony. In addition to his experience at Syracuse, Weaver spent time as an assistant coach at New Mexico (1999-2000) and Pittsburgh (1996-99).
Prior to his collegiate coaching days, Weaver amassed an 85-17 record as an AAU coach in Washington, D.C. He guided DC Assault to the 1996 AAU Tournament of Champions.
Weaver graduated with an associate's degree from Prince George's Community College (MD) in 1991, where he also played one season of basketball.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Bill Branch | Director of Pro Player Personnel
Bill Branch enters his second season as director of pro player personnel with the Thunder in 2008-09, his 22nd year in the NBA. Branch oversees the scouting and assessment of potential Oklahoma City players and assists General Manager Sam Presti with player-personnel decisions.
In 2007, Branch was selected by USA Basketball to scout for the men's national team in preparation for the 2008 Olympics. This past summer he continued his duties for USA Basketball during the 2008 Olympics, culminating in a Gold Medal for the United States in Men's Basketball.
The 2007 offseason also marked the second summer Branch has served as a coach in the NBA's Basketball Without Borders program. He traveled to South Africa and participated in a weeklong camp attracting Africa's top-100 basketball players.
Branch held the position of assistant coach/director of scouting for the Denver Nuggets from 2002-07. In that role, he was responsible for the preparation of all game plans, as well as assisting with practices. Branch also managed the team's pro personnel scouting, including the NBA Development League and the CBA. Branch originally joined the Nuggets as an advance scout, working in that capacity from 1997-2002.
Branch began his NBA career with the Charlotte Hornets in 1987 as the expansion team's first intern. The North Carolina native spent 10 seasons on the Hornets basketball operations staff. An administrative assistant in the player personnel department from 1987-90, Branch designed the team's first computerized scouting database to track collegiate and pro talent. He was promoted to team scout in 1990-91 and completed his tenure with the Hornets as director of scouting from 1995-97, managing the operations of the club's scouting department and overseeing the team's computerized and video scouting services.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Rob Hennigan | Director of College/International Player Personnel
Rob Hennigan enters his first year with the franchise as the team's Director of College/International Player Personnel. Hennigan spent the last five seasons with the San Antonio Spurs and was named the director of basketball operations in September of 2007. He joined the Spurs as an intern during the 2004–05 season and was later named the team's basketball operations assistant in the summer of 2005.
Hennigan graduated from Emerson College in Boston in 2004 with a degree in broadcast journalism. The Worcester, Massachusetts native, was named a Division III All-American and an Academic All-American as a senior and was the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Player of the Year three consecutive seasons. He finished his career as the all-time scoring leader in Emerson history.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Frank Ross | Director of East Coast Scouting
Frank Ross enters his second season as Oklahoma City''s director of east coast scouting.
Ross served as a scout with the Charlotte Bobcats from 2003-07, evaluating college and minor league player talent. While with the Bobcats, he was also a part of an NBA delegation that conducted the Basketball Without Borders program in South Africa for two summers. Ross joined the Bobcats after two seasons as the lead assistant coach with the University at Albany (NY).
A fifth-round draft choice by Philadelphia in the 1987 NBA Draft, Ross played professionally in the Continental Basketball Association with the Sioux Falls Skyforce and in Germany with TTL Bamberg.
Ross attended American University in Washington D.C., where he was a two-time All-Colonial Athletic Association selection. He averaged 25.2 ppg as a senior to rank eighth in Division I. He is fourth on American's all-time scoring list with 1,921 points and set a school and conference record by scoring double figures in 56 consecutive games. Ross also scored 30 or more points on 10 occasions in 1986-87.
Prior to joining the collegiate coaching ranks, Ross was a five-year veteran of the Arlington County Police Department in northern Virginia. His areas of responsibility included drug enforcement as well as youth and drug counseling. In 1993, Ross received the Meritorious Service Award for extraordinary humanitarian effort.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Massimo Biasin | International Scout
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Paul Rivers | Director of Basketball Administration & Technology
Paul Rivers enters his second season as the Thunder's director of basketball administration & technology. Rivers served as a video coordinator with the Detroit Pistons from 2005-07, assisting the coaching staff during practices and games while also handling all of the club's video operations and footage.
Rivers began his NBA career with the San Antonio Spurs as a video coordinator during the 2004-05 season. Prior to joining the Spurs, he spent two years at Michigan State University. Rivers served as video coordinator under head coach Tom Izzo and the men's basketball team in 2003-04, and for the Spartans' women's basketball team during the 2002-03 season.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Dr. Donnie Strack | Director of Medical Services
Dr. Strack begins his first season in Oklahoma City as the Director of Medical Services. Since 2005, Dr. Strack has practiced as a physical therapist at Orthopaedic Physical Therapy Services in Wellesley Hills, Mass. Dr. Strack graduated with a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from the University of Indianapolis in 2005 after serving as a Graduate Assistant athletic trainer for the Indiana Pacers from 2002-2005.
He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Indianapolis in 2002 and was awarded the Athletic Training Department Performance Award that same year. Dr. Strack also served as an athletic trainer during the 2002 World Basketball Championships in Indianapolis and the RCA Tennis Championships in 2001 and 2002.
Currently, Dr. Strack is in the Manual Therapy Fellowship program at Regis University. In addition to being a licensed physical therapist and athletic trainer, he is also a certified strength and conditioning specialist.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Joe Sharpe | Head Athletic Trainer
Joe Sharpe joins the Thunder from the Charlotte Bobcats where he served as the head athletic trainer for the team since its inception into the NBA in 2004. Prior to Charlotte, Sharpe was the assistant athletic trainer/strength and conditioning coach or the Minnesota Timberwolves for two seasons, which included the team's Midwest Division title and run to the Western Conference Finals.
Sharpe was previously the head basketball athletic trainer at the University of Connecticut during a nine-year stint with the Huskies and was in charge of the team's medical care during its NCAA Championship season in 1999. In 2002, he worked at Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, New York, and worked with the USA Basketball men's junior national team in 2002 and 2008.
Joe and his wife, Jennifer, have one son, Joseph III.
The 2008-09 season marks the second year for Sam Presti as the General Manager of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Professional Basketball Club (PBC) Chairman Clayton Bennett appointed Presti to the position on June 7, 2007.
In his first two drafts with Oklahoma City, Presti has acquired the building blocks of the future. Presti selected Kevin Durant as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2007 draft, and acquired Jeff Green (No. 5 overall) on draft night through a trade with Boston. In the 2008 Draft, Presti drafted Russell Westbrook at the No. 4 overall pick, Serge Ibaka at No. 24 and acquired D.J. White through a trade with Detroit (No. 29 overall). In addition, Presti has worked to create salary cap flexibility through multiple player trades and has acquired seven draft picks since his arrival, which includes five first-round picks from 2007-2010.
Prior to joining the Thunder, Presti held a variety of roles with the San Antonio Spurs from 2000 to 2007. Most recently, he served as the team's assistant general manager from Sept. of 2005 - June of 2007. Presti led the design and implementation of the Spurs scouting database, a system that is now being used by numerous teams throughout the NBA. From 2003 - 2005, he served as the director of player personnel. Prior to that role, Presti was the assistant director of scouting in 2002 and 2003. He joined the Spurs organization as an intern in the summer of 2000 before being promoted to special assistant in the summer of 2001.
Presti earned his bachelor's degree in 2000 in communications, politics and law from Emerson College in Boston, where he was the first Rhodes Scholar nominee in school history. The Concord, Mass. native was a four-year basketball letterman and served as team captain his junior and senior seasons. In addition, Presti earned All-Academic honors two times and was also twice selected to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference All-Tournament team. He was honored with the Emerson College Young Alumnus Award in 2005.
An accomplished drummer, Presti has produced three music CDs with all proceeds benefiting the Extra Ordinary Needs Fund at Children's Hospital in Boston.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Rich Cho | Assistant General Manager
Rich Cho enters his 11th season with the organization and his eighth as assistant general manager. Cho is responsible for contract negotiations, salary cap and Collective Bargaining Agreement matters, player contracts and all player personnel issues.
Cho has also served as the team's director of basketball affairs (1997-2000) and vice president of legal (2005-07).
As an attorney with experience on both the team and agent sides of professional sports, Cho calls upon his diverse skill set to aide the Thunder management staff. He also helped design and implement one of the NBA's most advanced and comprehensive college and professional player-evaluation systems.
A member of the Washington State Bar, Cho is a graduate of the Pepperdine University School of Law with an emphasis in sports law, contract negotiations and dispute resolution.
Prior to attending law school, Cho earned his engineering degree from Washington State University and worked as an engineer at Boeing in Seattle for five years. He began his work with the team as an intern in May of 1995. He continued in that role until his graduation from law school in May of 1997 when he was hired as a part-time consultant.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Troy Weaver | Assistant General Manager
Troy Weaver begins his first season as the club's assistant general manager after joining the Thunder in May of 2008. Weaver will assist General Manager Sam Presti with roster development and day-to-day basketball operations. In addition, he will coordinate the team's player personnel matters including NBA Draft preparation, player free agency and summer league roster.
Weaver held the position of director of player personnel for the Utah Jazz in 2007-08. He spent three seasons (2004-07) as head scout for the Jazz before his promotion to director of player personnel.
Prior to joining the Jazz, Weaver was an assistant coach at Syracuse University for four seasons (2000-04). The Orangemen won the 2003 NCAA National Championship led by Weaver recruit Carmelo Anthony. In addition to his experience at Syracuse, Weaver spent time as an assistant coach at New Mexico (1999-2000) and Pittsburgh (1996-99).
Prior to his collegiate coaching days, Weaver amassed an 85-17 record as an AAU coach in Washington, D.C. He guided DC Assault to the 1996 AAU Tournament of Champions.
Weaver graduated with an associate's degree from Prince George's Community College (MD) in 1991, where he also played one season of basketball.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Bill Branch | Director of Pro Player Personnel
Bill Branch enters his second season as director of pro player personnel with the Thunder in 2008-09, his 22nd year in the NBA. Branch oversees the scouting and assessment of potential Oklahoma City players and assists General Manager Sam Presti with player-personnel decisions.
In 2007, Branch was selected by USA Basketball to scout for the men's national team in preparation for the 2008 Olympics. This past summer he continued his duties for USA Basketball during the 2008 Olympics, culminating in a Gold Medal for the United States in Men's Basketball.
The 2007 offseason also marked the second summer Branch has served as a coach in the NBA's Basketball Without Borders program. He traveled to South Africa and participated in a weeklong camp attracting Africa's top-100 basketball players.
Branch held the position of assistant coach/director of scouting for the Denver Nuggets from 2002-07. In that role, he was responsible for the preparation of all game plans, as well as assisting with practices. Branch also managed the team's pro personnel scouting, including the NBA Development League and the CBA. Branch originally joined the Nuggets as an advance scout, working in that capacity from 1997-2002.
Branch began his NBA career with the Charlotte Hornets in 1987 as the expansion team's first intern. The North Carolina native spent 10 seasons on the Hornets basketball operations staff. An administrative assistant in the player personnel department from 1987-90, Branch designed the team's first computerized scouting database to track collegiate and pro talent. He was promoted to team scout in 1990-91 and completed his tenure with the Hornets as director of scouting from 1995-97, managing the operations of the club's scouting department and overseeing the team's computerized and video scouting services.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Rob Hennigan | Director of College/International Player Personnel
Rob Hennigan enters his first year with the franchise as the team's Director of College/International Player Personnel. Hennigan spent the last five seasons with the San Antonio Spurs and was named the director of basketball operations in September of 2007. He joined the Spurs as an intern during the 2004–05 season and was later named the team's basketball operations assistant in the summer of 2005.
Hennigan graduated from Emerson College in Boston in 2004 with a degree in broadcast journalism. The Worcester, Massachusetts native, was named a Division III All-American and an Academic All-American as a senior and was the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Player of the Year three consecutive seasons. He finished his career as the all-time scoring leader in Emerson history.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Frank Ross | Director of East Coast Scouting
Frank Ross enters his second season as Oklahoma City''s director of east coast scouting.
Ross served as a scout with the Charlotte Bobcats from 2003-07, evaluating college and minor league player talent. While with the Bobcats, he was also a part of an NBA delegation that conducted the Basketball Without Borders program in South Africa for two summers. Ross joined the Bobcats after two seasons as the lead assistant coach with the University at Albany (NY).
A fifth-round draft choice by Philadelphia in the 1987 NBA Draft, Ross played professionally in the Continental Basketball Association with the Sioux Falls Skyforce and in Germany with TTL Bamberg.
Ross attended American University in Washington D.C., where he was a two-time All-Colonial Athletic Association selection. He averaged 25.2 ppg as a senior to rank eighth in Division I. He is fourth on American's all-time scoring list with 1,921 points and set a school and conference record by scoring double figures in 56 consecutive games. Ross also scored 30 or more points on 10 occasions in 1986-87.
Prior to joining the collegiate coaching ranks, Ross was a five-year veteran of the Arlington County Police Department in northern Virginia. His areas of responsibility included drug enforcement as well as youth and drug counseling. In 1993, Ross received the Meritorious Service Award for extraordinary humanitarian effort.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Massimo Biasin | International Scout
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Paul Rivers | Director of Basketball Administration & Technology
Paul Rivers enters his second season as the Thunder's director of basketball administration & technology. Rivers served as a video coordinator with the Detroit Pistons from 2005-07, assisting the coaching staff during practices and games while also handling all of the club's video operations and footage.
Rivers began his NBA career with the San Antonio Spurs as a video coordinator during the 2004-05 season. Prior to joining the Spurs, he spent two years at Michigan State University. Rivers served as video coordinator under head coach Tom Izzo and the men's basketball team in 2003-04, and for the Spartans' women's basketball team during the 2002-03 season.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Dr. Donnie Strack | Director of Medical Services
Dr. Strack begins his first season in Oklahoma City as the Director of Medical Services. Since 2005, Dr. Strack has practiced as a physical therapist at Orthopaedic Physical Therapy Services in Wellesley Hills, Mass. Dr. Strack graduated with a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from the University of Indianapolis in 2005 after serving as a Graduate Assistant athletic trainer for the Indiana Pacers from 2002-2005.
He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Indianapolis in 2002 and was awarded the Athletic Training Department Performance Award that same year. Dr. Strack also served as an athletic trainer during the 2002 World Basketball Championships in Indianapolis and the RCA Tennis Championships in 2001 and 2002.
Currently, Dr. Strack is in the Manual Therapy Fellowship program at Regis University. In addition to being a licensed physical therapist and athletic trainer, he is also a certified strength and conditioning specialist.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Joe Sharpe | Head Athletic Trainer
Joe Sharpe joins the Thunder from the Charlotte Bobcats where he served as the head athletic trainer for the team since its inception into the NBA in 2004. Prior to Charlotte, Sharpe was the assistant athletic trainer/strength and conditioning coach or the Minnesota Timberwolves for two seasons, which included the team's Midwest Division title and run to the Western Conference Finals.
Sharpe was previously the head basketball athletic trainer at the University of Connecticut during a nine-year stint with the Huskies and was in charge of the team's medical care during its NCAA Championship season in 1999. In 2002, he worked at Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, New York, and worked with the USA Basketball men's junior national team in 2002 and 2008.
Joe and his wife, Jennifer, have one son, Joseph III.
