During last week’s preseason media availability press conference, Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti delivered a quote about the parity that exists in the NBA that went viral.
The Thunder GM was asked what he thought about Brooklyn Nets GM Sean Marks saying that he studied how Presti built the Thunder from scratch. Sam said that while it’s a compliment that a contemporary appreciates the work he’s done, no one can really follow another GM’s blueprint because the NBA is more like poker, not chess.
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“I don’t think any teams are looking specifically at one team. The NBA is not a chess game. It’s a poker game, right? In chess, you set everything up. You have the same pieces and you start from there. That’s not the NBA. It’s poker. Everyone’s got a different hand that they’ve been dealt with, right? They have strengths, they have limitations in that hand,”said Presti.
Thunder got lucky in the 2022 NBA Draft Lottery
The quote made waves online, with people talking about how brilliant Presti’s mind works and how great his understanding of the game is. However, unknown to many, that was not the first time that Presti compared the NBA to poker and chess.
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He first did that in 2022, shortly before he entered the NBA Draft Lottery room, when he talked about how the luck of the ping pong ball could alter the trajectory not only of a team’s future but a player’s career as well.
“The NBA is not really like a chess game,” he explained. “In a chess game, everybody starts from the same place, has the same number of pieces, and you get to the end of the game and you start over and everybody goes back to the same square, goes back to the same starting point.”Â
“The NBA is more like poker, where you get a very random hand and you have to play the hand that you’re given. Those hands can be dealt to you in different ways. Could be the outcome of the lottery, could be different things. I think the real skill comes in being able to play the hands that you’ve been dealt over time to the best of your ability and to be able to stay in the game to continue to have future hands,” Presti added.
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Presti got lucky in the 2022 NBA Draft Lottery
Hours after making that statement, the Thunder went up from their number four pre-lottery position to number two. Because of that, they were able to select Gonzaga big man Chet Holmgren with the second overall pick of the 2022 NBA Draft. Imagine if the Thunder did not move up, they would have chosen between Keegan Murray, Jaden Ivey, and Benedict Mathurin.
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Presti also had a second lottery pick in that year’s draft, from the L.A. Clippers by virtue of the Paul George trade. Sam used the pick to select Jalen Williams at 12 overall.
You can just imagine, there were nine teams after the Thunder picked Holmgren that passed on Williams before Presti picked him.
Fast forward to 2025, Holmgren and Williams were starters on an Oklahoma City team that won a franchise record 68 regular season games and finished as the top seed in the 2025 NBA Playoffs. Although it wasn’t easy, they beat the Indiana Pacers in the 2025 NBA Finals to win their first NBA title in the OKC era.
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Going back to Presti’s quote, he talked about the lottery outcome changing a team’s destiny. That happened when they got Holmgren. He also talked about staying in the game by keeping future hands. The Thunder still have 10 first-round picks until 2030, giving them the assets to remain competitive in the coming years.
Last May, Presti was named NBA Executive of the Year and rightfully so. We’ve seen a lot of brilliant GMs in the past and present.
But Sam is on a league by himself right now, setting up the Thunder for present and future success.
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This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 29, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.