Sam Presti has long been considered one of the best executives in the NBA.
On Tuesday, he finally got the hardware to back it up.
Presti was the NBA’s Executive of the Year, which marked the first time the Thunder’s 47-year-old executive vice president and general manager has won the award. He has been with the organization for 18 years after being named general manager in June 2007.
With ten first-place votes, Presti beat out Cavaliers executive Koby Altman and Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon (six each) for the honor. Presti previously finished in second place for the award three times, in 2010, 2020 and 2024.
Rob Pelinka was ranked on five ballots and received one first-place vote after pulling off the Luka Doncic heist in February.
Known for his ability to draft and develop talent, Presti hit on two lottery picks early in his tenure with James Harden and Russell Westbrook. Adding those two to Kevin Durant made the Thunder immediate contenders after their move from Seattle.
This season, the Thunder went 68–14, which was the best regular season record in the NBA. They outscored opponents by more than a dozen points per game.
This iteration of the Thunder is in title contention five years after blowing it all up in the summer of 2019. That’s when Kawhi Leonard recruited Paul George to join him in Los Angeles, and Presti convinced the Clippers to trade him Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in addition to five first-round picks and two swaps. Gilgeous-Alexander finished second in MVP voting in 2024 and is favored to win his first later this month. Presti has used the war chest of picks to draft the likes of Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren.
This past offseason, Presti swung a trade for defensive stopper Alex Caruso and signed center Isaiah Hartenstein away from the Knicks. Both contributed to the Thunder having the league’s best defensive rating this season.
In December, The Athletic polled dozens of executives across the “Big Four” (MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA) North American sports leagues about who they thought did the best job in their own sport. Presti and the Thunder came out on top.
