Thunder GM Sam Presti holds media call as NBA hits day 50 of hiatus during pandemic

Oklahoma City Thunder General Manager Sam Presti held a virtual conference call with the media Thursday, giving updates and thoughts as the NBA hit day 50 of their hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Presti shared the same sentiment everybody has had throughout the league when predicting when/if the season will return: nobody truly knows.

The Thunder are just following and trusting the league’s leadership during these strange times.

The NBA is allowing teams to open up their practice facilities to enable players to workout individually under strict guidance in states with expiring stay-at-home orders.

While the state of Oklahoma plans on lifting restrictions as soon as Friday, the Thunder aren’t committed to opening up their facilities on May 8 and will follow the league’s lead of prioritizing the health of everyone over everything else.

Coach of the Year candidate Billy Donovan is on the last year of his current contract, and the Thunder plan on discussing the status of his future with the franchise once a decision is made on this season.

It is fair to assume that the talks will center around working on extending Donovan as he has been the man with the clipboard for one of the NBA’s biggest overachievers this season as the Thunder sit in fifth in the standings with a 40-24 record.

Presti has stayed in touch with the team every week with Zoom calls.