Sam Presti won NBA Executive of the Year for the first time after building an Oklahoma City team that finished 68-14.
The Thunder also set an NBA record by outscoring opponents by 12.9 points per game and finished with the league’s best defensive rating.
Presti tops the 30-team ballot
One executive from each NBA club ranked three candidates. Presti received 10 first-place votes and appeared on 22 ballots.
Cleveland’s Koby Altman finished second, while Detroit’s Trajan Langdon placed third after the Pistons improved from 14 wins to 44.
Houston’s Rafael Stone was fourth and Clippers president Lawrence Frank completed the top five.
Summer moves strengthen the Thunder
Presti added Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein before the season without breaking up Oklahoma City’s young core.
Caruso reinforced the league’s best defence, while Hartenstein posted career highs of 11.2 points, 10.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists.
The additions gave coach Mark Daigneault more size, experience and tactical flexibility around Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Long rebuild delivers a contender
Presti became general manager in 2007 and had finished runner-up for the award three times.
He appointed Daigneault in 2020, then oversaw a rise from 22 wins in their first season together to 57 in 2023-24 and 68 a year later.
Presti credited the players, coaches and support staff rather than treating the award as an individual achievement. Their work turned a patient rebuild into the NBA’s strongest regular-season team.
