Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder appear positioned to continually compete for championships.

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This has happened before, remember. The Oklahoma City Thunder went organic, grew into a contender thanks largely to Draft fertilizer, and quickly became a hoops heavyweight.

It was a study in vision, patience, development and young potential, and the process got the rest of the NBA taking notice. The Thunder’s meticulous blueprint was studied and envied… until it wasn’t.

This was twelve years ago, and the inability to make money from a championship was humiliating. Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden – all future Kia MVP winners, all in their 20s – never drank champagne together in their hometown in the NBA. All those rosy predictions of an OKC dynasty? They died ugly.

That doesn’t mean OKC’s first attempt at creating a Goliath from scratch was a miss. The franchise remained a winner for years.

Once again, OKC boasts what you see now: a team loaded with an MVP contender, multiple young assets, a manageable salary cap, and a treasure chest full of Draft capital.

Considering all of the above, OKC is currently in better shape from top to bottom than most, if not all, of its 29 competitors.

As the Thunder prepare to face the Spurs, their Tuesday game (9:30 PM ET, TNT) is curious in this regard: Both earned high praise for their team construction at some point in their history.

The big difference is that the Spurs have produced five championships. Oklahoma City is still waiting for the first.

It is no coincidence that the link between the two is Sam Presti, a master evaluator of talent and asset management. The OKC general manager’s ability to deal with today’s scheduling challenges was first developed in the Spurs organization, where he started at the bottom: as an intern, then as a video coordinator, then as a scout . His rise coincided with the Spurs’ championship run in the mid-2000s.

The year before the Seattle SuperSonics moved to OKC in 2008, Presti was hired at age 29 and given full control. Since then, he’s built a small-market team, made multiple franchise-altering personnel decisions and done everything but win a championship.

Until the Thunder get a big win with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and others, their business is not done.

Oklahoma City and Presti have time on their side as the Thunder are just getting started on their latest attempt at sustainable greatness. OKC opened the season with the league’s youngest roster (24.1 years old). Last season they were the youngest No. 1 seed in league history and OKC is once again lurking at the top of the Western Conference.

OKC’s process in building a winner

During his preseason press conference, Presti was both measured and optimistic about 2024-2025:

“There are no silver platters in Oklahoma. But I would say anything is possible,” Presti said. “It just can’t be expected… we as an organization and as a team have to earn our arrival.”

And regarding the composition of the team:

“We try to be the exception to an age-old rule in sports that you cannot win at the highest level with young players. We realize that in order to be that team, you have to be willing to be an exception.”

OKC tried to be that exception with Durant, Westbrook, Harden and Serge Ibaka (a good rebounder and defender). The Thunder reached the Finals in 2011, lost that series 4-1 and never returned.

What happened next was somewhat understandable: OKC couldn’t pay everyone… or refused to. Harden was shipped to Houston a year later. While Durant and Westbrook got rich extensions and went to four West Finals in six years – injuries happened the two years they didn’t – Durant was eventually released and Westbrook was traded.

“I’m not ashamed to say we didn’t get it done,” Presti said. “Proud to say that every year we were in the fight, in the arena.”

Basketball scholars will one day reflect and wonder why and how a dynasty never happened. But while such an experience could cripple most franchises, Presti has never allowed OKC to wallow in the midst of OKC’s reinvention. They’ve had just two sub-40 win seasons in the five years since Westbrook left.

Here’s why the Thunder are back in the contender’s circle:

• The Paul George trade. Knowing the Clippers needed George after signing Kawhi Leonard, Presti had rare leverage, and he squeezed it. He broke up a 49-win Thunder team because LA surrendered a haul: Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, five first-rounders and two pick swaps. OKC was fortunate that Gilgeous-Alexander, last season’s MVP runner-up, developed better than anyone expected.

• The Westbrook trade. The summer of 2019 wasn’t just about the George trade. It was also the right time to part ways with Westbrook, and once again Presti maximized the situation by getting Chris Paul, two first-round picks and two pick swaps from the Rockets to begin the rebuild.

• The Chris Paul trade. Everyone knew Paul was short-term, partly because he wanted to be a contender at that stage of his career. So after a surprisingly good 44-win season, Presti sent him to Phoenix for a package that included a 2022 first-round pick. Bonus: Paul was a good mentor for Gilgeous-Alexander that season.

• The 2022 draft. OKC was fortunate to draw the No. 1 pick in a draft that yielded a pair of franchise players: Paolo Banchero (who went No. 1 to the Orlando Magic) and Holmgren. But there’s more: Presti used a Clippers pick on Jalen Williams, who made the All-Rookie First Team and is a foundational piece.

TBD: The 2024 offseason, with the addition of Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso.

“We’re going to need some time with this group,” Presti said. “Our continuity will not be great anytime soon. I don’t think it’ll be a problem if we’re a few miles below us… We’ve always seen ourselves as a work in progress. I hope that doesn’t change.

“I think there is a difference between choosing players and selecting a team. I like the way the team has been selected.”

‘Ambitious but without agenda’

Team construction has always been tricky as salary cap and free agency rules have evolved. It is undoubtedly more difficult than before, with aprons, the luxury tax and other hurdles.

Here are a handful of post-1980 teams that were praised for their methods:

• Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, 1980s. They dominated the decade (eight titles) because their front offices were the best in the business. Red Auerbach and Jerry West drafted game changers: Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. But surrounding those greats took vision and smarts. Auerbach traded for Kevin McHale and Robert Parish to form the greatest front line in history. West brought in James Worthy and Michael Cooper to help form the Showtime-era team.

• Chicago Bulls, 1990s. Did Jerry Krause receive more criticism for dismantling a dynasty than credit for building one? He inherited Michael Jordan, but provided help: Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant entered the 1987 Draft and Dennis Rodman entered free agency. Oh, and he hired Phil Jackson from the minor leagues.

• Phoenix Suns, 1990s. A former Golden Gloves boxer from Chicago named Jerry Colangelo came to Phoenix and applied a deft touch that created a decade of excitement and hope. He traded for Kevin Johnson, drafted Dan Majerle, added Danny Ainge and Tom Chambers and then traded other assets to get the centerpiece: Prime Minister Charles Barkley. The Suns lost the 1993 NBA Finals to Jordan in what was their highlight reel.

• San Antonio Spurs, 2000s. Before the Spurs were good, they were lucky: they went No. 1 in a draft with Tim Duncan. Then the front office led by RC Buford – who hired Presti – became the gold standard, drafting Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Kawhi Leonard and becoming key figures over the years like Bruce Bowen, Patty Mills, Danny Green, Steve Kerr and others added. .

• Golden State Warriors, 2010s. This generation probably thinks the Warriors were always winners. Hardly. Aside from Run-TMC and the We Believers – both flashes in the pan – this franchise spent decades in the doldrums after the 1975 championship. Then former general manager Larry Riley drafted Stephen Curry. Other drafts produced Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. Andre Iguodala arrived in free agency and a dynasty followed.

The NBA has had a different champion for the past six seasons, mainly due to new cap rules and the difficulty of assembling a ‘Big 3’ – or even preventing key players from chasing money (see the Denver Nuggets since 2023) . What will help OKC avoid this is multiple future picks and first-round swaps that can be used to get players on rookie contracts.

As for the current roster, Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 28.5 points and Williams is averaging 20.8 ppg. There is plenty of depth as Caruso and Lu Dort lead the defense. A lack of rebounding will remain a glaring issue until Holmgren (hip) and Hartenstein (hand) return from injuries.

Presti described such a young group as largely selfless, ‘ambitious but without an agenda. If we can keep that up, we can be a very good team for a long time.”

Here’s the key: If a team gets multiple opportunities to compete for championships, there’s a good chance they’ll win at least one.

“We all want to be part of something that can last for a while,” Presti said. “We don’t run away from expectations. Whatever we want, it is possible.”

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Shaun Powell has covered the NBA for more than 25 years. You can email him here, his archive can be found here and follow him on X.

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