Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti should already have the Executive of the Year award wrapped up after the trade for Carmelo Anthony.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have had quite the past 14 months. It all began during free agency in 2016 when the path of their franchise was changed with Kevin Durant departing as a free agent. Durant left the Thunder to join the Golden State Warriors, the same team that came back from a 3-1 lead to defeat the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals.
Losing Durant was a big blow, but it was offset a little by having another superstar, Russell Westbrook in place. Having Westbrook gives the Thunder a fighting chance on a nightly basis. However, the Thunder are also lucky to have Sam Presti in their front office.
Presti has been with the organization since 2007, when they were still the Seattle SuperSonics. He is one of the best executives in the NBA, and he showcased that again this offseason.
The loss of Durant hurt, but Presti has not just sat back. He reloaded, in a big way, this offseason on the trade market. With the moves Presti has made this offseason, he should have the Executive of the Year award locked up.
At the onset of free agency, Presti pulled off a shocking move. The Thunder were able to acquire Paul George from the Indiana Pacers, ending an era in Indiana.
George had informed the Pacers prior to the 2017 NBA Draft that he would not be returning to the team after the 2017-18 season. He also added that his preferred destination was the Los Angeles Lakers. Put into a bind, the Pacers began fielding offers for George.
The Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, Atlanta Hawks and Lakers were all teams mentioned as teams interested in acquiring George since the NBA Trade Deadline in February. The Thunder were never mentioned, but they came away with George anyway.
It was a landing spot that George was even surprised with. The biggest takeaway from the George acquisition was how little the Thunder had to surrender. In exchange for George, Oklahoma City sent Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis to Indiana.
Not only did the Thunder acquire the best player in the deal, improving their team immediately, they cleared a ton of future cap space to help in the future as well.
Acquiring a player like George already makes for a great offseason. Presti did not stop there, as he pulled off another great coup. In addition to George, Presti also was able to pry Carmelo Anthony away from the New York Knicks.
Related Story: NBA Trade Grades - Knicks deal Carmelo Anthony to Thunder
The Anthony trade saga is one that has dragged on for months. The no-trade clause that Phil Jackson gave Anthony in his contract made him very difficult to move. It looked like Anthony would be joining Chris Paul and James Harden with the Houston Rockets. Their trade package was not something that enticed the Knicks.
Jackson was relieved of his duties following the NBA Draft. Scott Perry was hired as general manager, with Steve Mills being promoted to president of basketball operations. The Anthony trade talks were halted for a little while, as Perry and Mills re-evaluated things.
Trade talks were eventually re-opened, as Anthony hoped to be traded prior to Media Day on Monday. He got his wish, as Presti stepped up and traded for the beleaguered All-Star.
Like the George trade, people came away scratching their head at this trade as well. Once again, the Thunder came out of this deal with the best player and an improved future outlook. In exchange for Anthony, the Thunder will send Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott and a 2018 second round pick to New York. Talk about a lopsided trade.
The Thunder were struggling to use Kanter in the postseason because of his ineffectiveness on defense. McDermott battled injuries and was unable to carve out a role with the Thunder, and was unlikely to play much more this season. A second round pick via the Chicago Bulls is about as valuable as it could be for a second-rounder, but it’s still just a second round pick.
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Presti did a great job improving the roster not only for the upcoming season but in the future as well. By trading away Oladipo and Kanter, the Thunder have shed over $79 million alone in future salary. With Westbrook, George and Anthony all potential free agents in 2018, the Thunder are left with a lot of flexibility in terms of building their roster.
The trades garnered a lot of headlines, but Presti also did well in free agency. Coming into the offseason the Thunder were maxed out in terms of salary, so they were unable to go big fish hunting. They did, however, add depth to the roster with Patrick Patterson and Raymond Felton.
Patterson, who signed for the mid-level exception, gives Oklahoma City a perfect stretch-4 complement. Felton provides veteran insurance at point guard, a position they had very little outside of Westbrook to rely on.
Next: Top 5 candidates for 2017-18 Executive of the Year Award
Overall, the Thunder may have had the best offseason of any team in the NBA. They already had a successful offseason prior to acquiring Anthony; he is just the icing on the cake to Presti being deserving of the 2017-18 Executive of the Year Award.