As Training Camp 2020 opens for the Thunder, General Manager and Executive Vice President Sam Presti laid out the path and vision for the organization as a whole. As he does at the beginning of each season, Presti took the bird’s eye view of the Thunder’s status and laid out the goals ahead.
The core values and principles of the organization stand firm, but there’s an open embrace of change and a willingness to take risk that carried through Presti’s remarks on Monday afternoon. With a coaching change and flurry of trades, the Thunder opted not to cling to the familiar. Instead, the organization is striking boldly into an unknown future.
“I think rather than holding on to that, fearing that you're losing something, it's changing all the time no matter what,” Presti said. “You look to the past for inspiration, but you're certainly having to create something new going forward.”
“We feel passionate about relentlessly pursuing a bright future for this organization,” added Presti. “If you're comfortable during that period of time, I don't know that you're doing anything that's going to lead you to be different.”
There’s a constant balance between adventure and safety, and that’s why the Thunder won’t abandon its core principles even while staking out new turf. In fact, the dedication to hard work, resilience, commitment and community will be the characteristics that define decision-making in the future, even if the road to elite contention is long and winding. What will be required of the Thunder is diligence and effort every day at the Thunder ION.
“It's having a set of values, having a vision for the organization, one that we really do believe we're trying to build a legacy in real time for our organization – a very young organization at that,” Presti explained. “Second, we are relentlessly trying to improve, and pursue progress, each and every day in every way that we come to the office or take the floor, and then how do we create the optimal conditions where people get better.”
“The people that last, the organizations that last and the teams that last have resiliency to them. They have a commitment to a central set of themes that they don't waver from when it's good or when it's bad,” Presti noted.
In order to understand what lies ahead for the Thunder as it navigates the challenging route back to contention, Presti and the organization must evaluate what the team currently has. The motivation was evident – to clear a wide track for players to make mistakes, to prove their value and to learn about who they are and who they can be in the most competitive league in the world.
“Opportunity is where you learn where your deficiencies are, where your limitations are and where you experience failure,” said Presti. “Failure is literally the engine to improvement. If you don't get a chance to fail, if you don't get a chance to get feedback as to what's not working, it’s really, really hard to get better.”
As the Thunder embarks on this new chapter, there will be tough times and bright moments on the floor. The organization will support the team as deeply and fully as ever, providing the platform to stretch wings, fall short and reach out for greatness again. In their corner will be faithful Oklahomans and fans from around the world, cheering on their team unwaveringly.
“As an organization we've prided ourselves on being resilient,” said Presti. “That’s very much what runs through the blood of people in Oklahoma and we want to represent that resiliency and commitment.”
The Thunder recognizes that there are both opportunities and realities to being in one of the smallest markets in the NBA. The organization chooses to approach both with pride, knowing that with a commitment to the team’s foundational values and a willingness to take chances, there will be a chance to re-establish excellence in OKC.
“We're happy being David to Goliath,” Presti added. “We want to own that. That's what we're built on. We're not looking for half measures around here. We want to strive to see if we can be great and we're willing to take the paths that require extreme competitiveness to do that.”