“The first thing is Russell is a tremendous competitor

but also highly intelligent,” Presti said. “He

understands that the approach that we have to take in

order to maximize ourselves is going to be one first,

making sure we’re sound fundamentally and we’re

continually growing through the season. That’s always

kind of been a staple of the organization.

“One of the reasons why we have a lot of optimism and

excitement frankly about this season upcoming is the fact

that [coach] Billy Donovan has demonstrated a tremendous

ability to be creative, adjust and evolve different

styles of play, and utilize a lot of our personnel.”

Donovan, who is entering his second season, struggled at

times last regular season, but he guided the Thunder to

the brink of the NBA Finals before Oklahoma City blew a

3-1 series lead to Golden State.

“It’s been tremendous to work with Billy. He is really

committed to and invested in [success] for the

organization,” Presti said. “We really saw his growth

during the season, but I thought the most impressive

thing he was able to do last year was take a longer view

and allow a commitment to the process of improvement to

really drive our results. This season coming in, he’s

going to have encountered a lot of the different first-

time challenges any coach would encounter. He did an

exceptional job last year dealing with a lot of

uncertainties.”

The Thunder will have a dramatically different look. Not

only did Durant sign with the Warriors, but Presti

shipped longtime forward Serge Ibaka to Orlando for

Oladipo. For nearly a decade, Durant, Ibaka and Westbrook

were synonymous with Thunder basketball. Now two of the

three are gone.

“Our ability to adapt and evolve is important and

certainly has been a big part of our organization,”

Presti said. “We’ve gone through several different

cycles as a team and have tried to evolve off of a

foundation of principles. The vision of the team and what

we want the Thunder to stand for is steadfast.

“The reason why we’re optimistic about the future is

because I think we have a clear identity of who we are.

We know there are going to be inherent challenges. Our

job is to figure out how to make progress and how to

continue the legacy of the organization, and how to

continue to create an environment where players and staff

can thrive and do their best work. That’s energizing for

everybody.”