OKC’s Sam Presti picked as the NBA’s executive of the year

Sam Presti of the Oklahoma City Thunder was announced Tuesday as the NBA’s executive of the year, the reward for building that team into a juggernaut that won a league-best 68 games this season.

It is Presti’s first time winning the award and the first time since 1994 that the franchise — which was then called the Seattle SuperSonics — had its top executive voted as the winner. Bob Whitsitt won it that season.

Presti, the Thunder’s executive vice president and general manager, got 10 first-place votes from a panel of 30 basketball executives — one from each of the NBA’s teams — who ranked their top three choices in order. Presti appeared on 22 of those 30 ballots.

“An award such as this is really the result of our players and their commitment to our program,” Presti said. “They push themselves in all capacities for the good of the team. I’m fortunate to work with this particular collection of men and I do not take their professionalism for granted.

“We have an incredible coaching staff and support staff, many who have been here for over ten years as the team behind the team, and I see their excellence day to day, in ways that are invisible but invaluable to a sustainable organization.”

Cleveland’s Koby Altman was second with six first-place votes, after the Cavaliers won 64 games and finished atop the Eastern Conference standings. Detroit’s Trajan Langdon also got six first-place votes and was third, after the Pistons went from a 14-win team to a 44-win playoff team in his first year leading that front office.

Houston’s Rafael Stone (four first-place votes) was fourth, the Los Angeles Clippers’ Lawrence Frank (one first-place vote) was fifth and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Rob Pelinka (also one first-place vote) was sixth. Pelinka engineered the biggest trade of the season, the one that brought Luka Doncic to the Lakers from the Dallas Mavericks — but was listed on only five of the 30 ballots cast.

Golden State’s Mike Dunleavy was seventh, Brooklyn’s Sean Marks and 2024 award winner Brad Stevens of the Boston Celtics (both of whom got one first-place vote) tied for eighth, and New York’s Leon Rose was 10th.

Sacramento’s Monte McNair was 11th, while Orlando’s Jeff Weltman and San Antonio’s Brian Wright tied for 12th.

This was not a one-year jump by the Thunder. Presti and the Thunder brought in Mark Daigneault as coach five years ago; the first season resulted in 22 wins, then 24 in 2021-22, then 40 in 2022-23.

But the last two seasons, plans became reality: Led by MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder won 57 games last season and 68 this season.

“I look at it like it’s a tremendous privilege to be able to do it,” Presti said at the start of the season when asked about his job. “Eventually someone else is going to be the person that’s doing it, and for me, while I’m serving the position, I think I’ve said this in the past, it’s not my job, it’s the Thunder’s job. I’m just serving the position the best that I can and hopefully doing a good job with it for as many people as possible, and I enjoy it.”

The executive of the year award is not like most NBA season honors that are voted on by a global panel of 100 writers and broadcasters who cover the league and cast ballots shortly after the end of the regular season.

Awards that were part of that voting process and have already had their results unveiled: Cleveland’s Kenny Atkinson winning Coach of the Year, Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels winning Most Improved Player, San Antonio’s Stephon Castle winning Rookie of the Year, Cleveland’s Evan Mobley winning Defensive Player of the Year, New York’s Jalen Brunson winning Clutch Player of the Year, and Boston’s Payton Pritchard winning Sixth Man of the Year.

Other awards announced by the league since the end of the regular season: Golden State’s Stephen Curry won the Twyman-Stokes teammate of the year award, Warriors teammate Draymond Green won the hustle award and Boston’s Jrue Holiday won the sportsmanship award for the second time in his career. The league’s social justice champion will be revealed Wednesday.

Major awards that will be announced later in the playoffs include MVP (either Gilgeous-Alexander, Denver’s Nikola Jokic or Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo), plus the All-NBA, All-Rookie and All-Defensive teams.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba