Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti met with the media for over two hours to conduct his exit interview on Monday. One of the topics discussed is the Thunder becoming the face of tanking and how some media critics labeled the team as the “black eye of the league.” The Thunder finished the season with a 24-58 record and the fourth-best lottery odds; the team received significant criticism over the last few weeks of the season due to the handling of rotation minutes and the amount of players who sat out games.
Presti fired back and said that those who say such things are nothing but media pundits who are not fully informed about the rebuilding process and how to win as a small-market team in the current landscape in the NBA. Which is a strong argument to make, the Thunder will never be a free agency destination, so the only way the team can return to contention is through drafting young players with the chance of developing into stars under team control for several seasons. Here’s Presti’s full answer to the question as the Thunder continue to face scrutiny in some parts of the media for their shameless tanking efforts:
