Thunder GM Sam Presti earns 2024-25 NBA Executive of the Year honors

After 18 seasons leading the Oklahoma City Thunder, Sam Presti has earned his first NBA Basketball Executive of the Year award. The league's GMs voted Presti to the top after he built a Thunder team that blitzed through the regular season with a league-best 68–14 record.

By The Numbers

Oklahoma City’s 2024-25 squad didn’t just win—they dominated. Their +12.9 average scoring margin set a new NBA record, and their win total tied for the sixth-best in league history.

Savvy Offseason Moves

Two of Presti’s key offseason acquisitions proved critical:

1. Alex Caruso, a defensive ace and proven winner, averaged 7.1 points and 1.61 steals per game while anchoring the NBA’s top-rated defense (106.6).
2. Isaiah Hartenstein delivered a career year, averaging 11.2 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 3.8 assists, solidifying the Thunder frontcourt.

Built From the Ground Up

Presti has led the Thunder since 2007, navigating the franchise’s move from Seattle and drafting superstars like Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and Serge Ibaka. He’s been the architect of multiple eras of OKC basketball—and now, the builder of a title contender.

Fourth Time’s the Charm

Despite finishing second in Executive of the Year voting three times (2010, 2020, and 2024), this marks Presti’s first win. The voting was conducted by one executive from each NBA team and tabulated by Ernst & Young LLP.

Presti released the following statement Tuesday:

First and foremost, this is an organizational and community driven award. As with all NBA organizations, ownership is central to everything that happens with the Thunder. On behalf of our entire staff, I want to thank Clay Bennett and our entire ownership group for their continuous support and belief in our vision for basketball in Oklahoma City and as a community accelerator. 

An award such as this is really the result of our players and their commitment to our program. 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. 

I am deeply grateful to the many front office members that I have been privileged enough to work with and learn from throughout my experience with the Thunder. There are too many people to thank but I am aware that I’m simply a representative of our front office and our commitment to improve one another. 

Lastly, I’m extremely humbled to be recognized by my peers, it is a privilege to be a member of such a talented group of basketball executives that work in the NBA today and I’m thankful for the relationships I've enjoyed with many of them over the years. We are all fortunate to have had people come before us who once served the position such as Donnie Walsh, Wayne Embry, Kevin O’Connor, Jack McCloskey, Rod Thorn, Sam Schuler, Jerry Colangelo, Mitch Kupchak, John Paxson, Mark Warkentien, John Gabriel, Bob Whitsitt, Danny Ferry, Carroll Dawson, Scott Layden, Bryan Colangelo, Geoff Petrie, Jerry West, Jerry Krause, and others who helped define the role that we are all now privileged to serve.