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OKLAHOMA CITY – In response to Kevin Durant 's recent critical comments about Oklahoma City' s Thunder organization, general manager Sam Presti has objected to the idea of ''. persistent animosity.
"If there is something Kevin Durant ever needed from me or anyone here, it would be a warning time for that to happen," Presti said Thursday. "I also think that if you work with people for eight years like us, he and I – he was 19 when he entered the NBA, I was 29. We both had a lot of changes together and I only have positive things to say about him and his mandate here.
"You asked me that in the past, you asked me that today, you can ask me in the future if something like that happens again. that air because that's what I feel. "
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Durant chose Presti while criticizing his team's staff and fans for how he had been treated in his first return match against OKC with the Warriors.
"I've finally wanted to come back to this city and be part of this community and this organization, but I do not trust anyone there," Durant said. "It's … it must be wrong, what they were doing The organization, the general manager, I have not spoken to any of these people, even had a good exchange with these people since I left."
Durant shares his feelings about OKC and Thunder since his departure in 2016, calling him "home" in an interview and also saying that he had fun during the return match. But his last comments were more about Presti and the organization.
"I would always be there if he needed something from me, and I honestly think it would be the case if it were, it would also be reciprocal," Presti said of Durant. .
Asked about Durant's statement, he would not have had a "positive conversation" with anyone in the organization, Presti, who called the contributions of Durant "monumental" to the Thunder.
"I've never got in the habit of getting into my personal conversations with our former players, except to say that I feel really good with those relationships and I think you can hear in my voice what I feel for him, "he said. . "It has not changed, and it will not change."
Presti also corrected the facts following recent comments from Clippers' coach, Doc Rivers, who claimed the Thunder wanted to know "disband his team", which motivated the move to trade Paul George.
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"No," said Presti when asked if Rivers' request was true. "I mean, again, I do not know the context in which this comment was made, and obviously nobody asked us our opinion about it, but no, I mean, I think that in ultimately we all know that players like Paul George and Russell Westbrook is extremely difficult to acquire in the cities, in the smaller cities of the league, and when you have these players, you try to do everything you can to build loyalty. "
George was traded for almost a week in free mode – it was not really the perfect time to start the roster – after the Thunder agreed to negotiate deals with veterans Mike Muscala and Alec Burks, expecting to they are added to a competing team. Once George was traded and the Thunder's prospects changed, they allowed Muscala and Burks to re-evaluate their options. (Muscala stayed, Burks signed with the Warriors.)
"I think the thought pattern does not really align if you look at it logically," Presti said. "This sort of thing would probably have been done much sooner and that would not have been the result of an exchange request from one of your best players."
As a result of George's trade, Presti was very outspoken, stating that the Thunder was approaching the coming season, with the possibility that it would be the last for their base group. The pivot to a possible demolition was not to occur until at least the following summer, but as a result of George's trade request, the Thunder enacted a new plan.
"There is nothing illegal – at least to my knowledge, unless something I do not know – but there is nothing illegal about what's going on." Has passed, "said Presti. "PG handled it like a pro with us, it was not the conversation I wanted to have in the midst of free will, but it was handled professionally and in a respectful way, and we we managed to make it work for us. "
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