About 90 minutes before the 2021 NBA Draft Lottery was held, Thunder General Manager and Executive Vice President Sam Presti made it clear that he wasn’t interested in the pomp and circumstance around the made-for-television event. While the lottery is a fun and engaging moment that fans should anticipate with excitement, for the Thunder’s long-term planning the most important part was simply finding out the results.
“Nothing really changes for us other than gaining clarity,” said Presti at his pre-lottery press conference. “It really puts us in position to start thinking and being creative and having conversations with other teams and having conversations with agents.