Three Rotation Players Gone, $300 Million Saved: Sam Presti Still Likes His Team

Oklahoma City's season ended at home, in Game 7 of the conference finals, against San Antonio. Injuries had piled up during the playoffs. Then the Thunder spent the summer cutting, trading Lu Dort, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins in moves that took more than $300 million off the payroll.

Sam Presti doesn't think that means a step back. At his annual preseason news conference on Thursday, he said last year's team had another level it never reached, and that if this group stays healthy and gets time together, it can be as good as or better than any team the Thunder have had.

His reasoning starts with the three at the top. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is 28, a back-to-back MVP, and still getting better, Presti said. Chet Holmgren (24) and Jalen Williams (25) are already All-NBA players and not yet in their primes. Williams played only 38 games last season and spent most of the Spurs series with a hamstring strain, but Presti said he looks fantastic.

He didn't downplay the departures. Dort, Joe and Wiggins played roughly 10,000 minutes combined over two seasons, and Presti called losing them disappointing. The team will have to learn a new way of playing, which he called healthy.

He also spoke at length about the second apron. His view is that it affects every club differently depending on where it is, and that for the Thunder the real pressure is money itself. Every rule change, he said, is something teams have to adapt to.