Sam Presti is the third longest tenured head of basketball operations in the league.
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Sam Presti is not an uncommon name in the NBA! The general manager for the Oklahoma City Thunder, Presti has held the position since 2007 when he was hired at 30 years old. With this, Presti became the second-youngest person to ever hold the position in the NBA. As of now, he is the third longest tenured head of basketball operations in the league.
A prophetic clip from Sam Presti outlining how the Thunder needed to be the exception to the rule.
Incredible stuff and worth your time today
Sam will address the media again sometime next week pic.twitter.com/gUBukJxxt2
— Andrew Schlecht (@AndrewKSchlecht) June 28, 2025
Sam Presti’s Career at San Antonio Spurs
Presti graduated from Emerson College, and following it, he worked at a basketball camp before he was offered an internship at San Antonio Spurs. He started off as a video coordinator for Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich. His career rose through the front office ranks and became the assistant director of scouting in 2002, and was soon promoted to the position of Vice President and Assistant General Manager.
As a part of the league, Presti was a part of the teams that won championships in 2003, 2005, and 2007, as well as five division titles. Before the 2001 NBA Draft, Presti played an instrumental role in encouraging the Spurs to draft Tony Parker.
Sam Presti’s Career at OKC Thunder
The blueprint to the Thunder’s 2025 championship started in 2007 👀
◽️ 2007 – Sonics GM Sam Presti sign-and-trade Rashard Lewis to the Magic for a conditional 2nd-round pick
◽️ 2007 – Sonics trade the 2nd-round pick to the Phoenix Suns for Kurt Thomas and two first-round picks… pic.twitter.com/75snG09iw3
— The Athletic NBA (@TheAthleticNBA) June 23, 2025
Presti moved to the OKC Thunder in 2007 as their newest general manager following the demotion of Rick Sund. His first trade at the Thunder came in the form of Ray Allen, who the Thunder let go of to acquire Jeff Green. He then signed and traded Sonics forward Rashard Lewis to sign a draft pick and a trade exception worth $9 million. He also acquired Kurt Thomas and two future first-round picks, one of them being Serge Ibaka.
Presti, the mastermind, drafted Russell Westbrook, the fourth overall pick and Serge Ibaka, the 24th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft before the franchise relocated to Oklahoma City. In the 2012-13 season, Presti offered a four-year $55 million extension which was $4.5 million less than the max contract that Harden coveted.
Sam Presti decided to trade Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, and a few draft picks in 2019. He also ended up trading Westbrook to the Houston Rockets to sign Chris Paul as well as a few draft picks. After the 2019-20 season ended in an unexpected way, he rebuilded the Thunder, and let go of key veterans.
Since then, he decided to build the Thunder around SGA and with that, Presti gained a reputation for acquiring draft picks. He picked Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams in the 2022 NBA Draft. As a result, the Thunder finished the 2022-23 season with a 40-42 record. Later, in the 2023 NBA Draft, he acquired the draft rights to Cason Wallace in a trade with the Dallas Mavericks. He later traded Giddey to the Chicago Bulls and acquired the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Alex Caruso. Under his management, the OKC Thunder then went on to win the NBA Championship in 2025, making his first as a GM.