Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti supported center Chet Holmgren following their disappointing playoff exit and hit back against the nagging criticism star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gets for his foul-drawing.
Presti called Holmgren "one of our guys" during a postseason news conference that ran past 100 minutes Monday, reiterating a continued belief in him as a franchise pillar as another transaction cycle in the NBA looms.
"He drives winning on so many different levels for us," Presti said. "He's a first-time All-Star, second in Defensive Player of the Year, third-team All-NBA. We were sweeping our way to the Western Conference finals primarily because of his efforts in the [Lakers] series."
But Holmgren struggled mightily in the seven-game series loss to the Spurs, watching his scoring average dip from 17.1 points per game in the regular season to 10.7 against San Antonio.
Holmgren took only three total 3-pointers in the last four games of the series and put up a nearly silent four-point, four-rebound night in Oklahoma City's Game 7 loss, admitting afterward he could've attempted more shots after taking only two.
"This is a guy that is intrinsically motivated," Presti said. "He doesn't need people questioning him or things on the internet to drive his improvement. ... He doesn't need somebody to nudge him, he doesn't need somebody to question him. It's just kind of how he's wired. So I'm not really that concerned about him."
Presti called Holmgren an "underdog," referencing the doubts that scouts had about him dating back to high school and college and maintained that he "fits" with the Thunder and is "confident" in Holmgren moving forward.
Presti was later asked about the constant free throw discourse surrounding Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning two-time league MVP who is regularly ridiculed for his ability to draw fouls, often leading to online videos analyzing some of his more exaggerated movements that lead to a whistle.
"He's playing against six people," Presti said. "He has five defenders and the sixth defender is social media.
"It's a reality. He's not going to be the last player that the machine decides to target. But nobody is going to handle it as gracefully."
Presti then went on to list several aspects of Gilgeous-Alexander's game and personality he feels should be celebrated by the viewing public, noting that he is the antithesis of many modern NBA critiques.
"One, 'players don't play defense,'" Presti said. "Shai's a two-end player. He plays with four or five All-NBA defensive players. Sometimes his defensive ability gets undersold. But he plays two ends.
"Second, 'all NBA players do is complain, bitch and moan and try to intimidate the officials with bad behavior to get foul calls.' He's gotten three technical fouls this year, none for complaining. One was for waving a towel in support of someone who hit a shot who doesn't play very often."
Presti then mentioned Gilgeous-Alexander's durability and availability in the load management era, his accessibility -- noting that he signs "400 autographs" before every game -- and closed his answer with some statistical proof he had ready.
"If we are just trying to talk about drawing fouls, he drew 415 fouls this year," Presti said. "Eleven were challenged. Eleven. Four of those were overturned. That's like 2.5% of the foul calls challenged. In the fouls drawn, he's tied with Joel Embiid for eighth in terms of number of fouls called. Six and seven are Jaylen Brown and [Victor] Wembanyama. That's kind of the group of players he is in."
Presti also addressed some of the financial and roster questions ahead for a Thunder team that is about to spike in cost.
Holmgren and Jalen Williams have five-year, $239.2 million contract extensions that are both set to kick in next season, sending their team salary from $186.7 million this past season (slightly below the luxury tax) beyond a currently projected $250 million next season, deep into the luxury tax and past the second apron.
"Just because we're [in Oklahoma City], I don't think we should be told that we shouldn't dream as big or go as hard [financially] as a team on the coast, if we have a team that's capable or demonstrated it is capable," Presti said. "That's the competitor in all of us in the organization and our ownership."
The Thunder hold team options on Isaiah Hartenstein ($28.5 million), Luguentz Dort ($17.7 million) and Kenrich Williams ($7.2 million) for next season, allowing them to shed a ton of salary if ownership demanded or Presti desired.
But Presti reiterated that there is no firm mandate to slash finances. The Thunder franchise made significant money during their lean years (twice finishing 30th in team salary), received an $850 million pledge from the city to help build a new arena and is a beneficiary of the league's new TV deal and the possibility of expansion. They've planned for this surge in salary.
"We have a master plan for a practice facility, all this land to the south of us," Presti said. "It's ready. But we're waiting on that. We're not hitting go on that so that we can invest into the team itself."
The Thunder have the 12th, 17th and 37th picks in the upcoming draft and currently no roster space for new players. There is a leaguewide expectation that Presti will clear room, trim the finances a bit and refresh the back end of the roster.
But Presti said no decision has been made.
"Is it possible that we just pick up the options for everybody and roll into next season when we have a bigger financial jump for the team?" Presti said. "That's certainly possible. ... The process itself to get to those potential options, it could take a little while. I could see it going a little deeper into the summer than we're used to."
The team options for Hartenstein and Dort have a June 29 decision date, though that could theoretically be pushed back if both sides agree.
"I want to understand everything that is available to me, in terms of trying to put things together," Presti said. "I wouldn't put a specific timeline on it. We could even be in a situation, because we have the draft coming up, where we might have more players [than 15 roster spots]. If we feel it's more beneficial as an organization to have the draft rights to certain players, we might draft those players irrespective if they're going to be on the team. It could take some time. It may not look clean."