HoopsHype.com Rumors

The new committee was hand-picked by Stern and consists of two owners, four GMs and three coaches. When they come up with rules changes, those will go directly to the 30 owners for their consideration and vote. The members are: owners Dan Gilbert (Cleveland) and Joe Lacob (Golden State); GMs Bryan Colangelo (Toronto), Mitch Kupchak (Lakers), Kevin O’Connor (Utah) and Sam Presti (Oklahoma City); and coaches Rick Carlisle (Dallas), Lionel Hollins (Memphis) and Doc Rivers (Boston). New York Daily News

Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, Oklahoma City Thunder, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz, Doc Rivers, Mitch Kupchak, CBA, Sam Presti, Bryan Colangelo, Dan Gilbert, Kevin O'Connor, David Stern, Joe Lacob, Lionel Hollins, Owners, Rick Carlisle 

The NBA on Wednesday announced the members of the league’s new competition committee, including Utah Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor. The announcement follows a decision by the league’s board of governors last month to change the committee’s composition. The committee will now include two owners, four general managers, three head coaches and one representative from the NBA Players Association. Joining O’Connor are fellow GMs Bryan Colangelo (Toronto Raptors), Mitch Kupchak (L.A. Lakers) and Sam Presti (Oklahoma City); owners Dan Gilbert (Cleveland Cavaliers) and Joe Lacob (Golden State); and coaches Rick Carlisle (Dallas Mavericks), Lionel Hollins (Memphis Grizzlies), and Doc Rivers (Boston Celtics). Salt Lake Tribune

Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, Oklahoma City Thunder, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz, Doc Rivers, Mitch Kupchak, Sam Presti, Bryan Colangelo, Dan Gilbert, Joe Lacob, Lionel Hollins, Rick Carlisle, Golden State 

"I think NBA fans understand and appreciate the concept of rebuilding," says Joel Litvin, the league's president of basketball operations. "Whether that’s done through the draft, through signing free agents, it’s a process that is not helped when a team has a lot of highly paid players who are either in the middle or approaching the end of their careers. ... Go young. Lower your payroll. Draft intelligently. Be smart about your free agent signings and your rookie extensions and hope you can become the Thunder." ESPN.com

Oklahoma City Thunder, Free Agency, Draft, Sam Presti, Joel Litvin 

Let him describe, harkening back to the summer of 2007: “OKC has the best record in the league right now, but people forget how hard it was when we started out that first year of the rebuild. There are a lot of parallels’’ between that and the Bobcats now, Cho described Wednesday. “We traded Ray Allen (to Boston) and drafted Kevin Durant and Jeff Green. People forget we won only 20 games that year. We had a 14-game losing streak, an 11-game losing streak and an eight-game losing streak. We started out the season 9-36. “So we go back into the lottery and draft (Russell) Westbrook. And we start out 3-29. We have another 14-game losing streak and an eight-game losing streak and a seven-game losing streak. Wind up the season 23-59. “So we go back into the lottery and draft James Harden. There’s a whole process and it’s not easy going through this process.’’ Charlotte Observer

Charlotte Bobcats, Oklahoma City Thunder, Sam Presti, Rich Cho 

Cho’s point: Without a plan and the patience and conviction to stick to it, the Bobcats won’t get markedly better. That plan is about drafting wisely, managing the salary cap and looking for trades that add draft picks or young prospects. “Rod and I are definitely on the same page as far as where we are with the team,’’ Cho said. “We’re fortunate to have an owner who is very supportive and on the same page. It’s not easy going through it, but that’s part of the process.’’ What about the criticism in the short run? “If you don’t have a thick skin, you shouldn’t be in the business,’’ Cho replied. Charlotte Observer

Charlotte Bobcats, Oklahoma City Thunder, Sam Presti, Rich Cho 

Before Presti was charged with putting together players who worked together on a roster for OKC, one of his responsibilities when he was with the Spurs was to put songs that would work together as mix CDs for Brown. "He used to be into music. I don’t know if he is now, but he used to make me music CDs," Brown said before the Lakers' game against the Thunder on Thursday. "I listen to all types of music. I like the jazz, smooth, mellow type. He turned me on to that a little bit. He’s a good guy." ESPN.com

Oklahoma City Thunder, Coaching, Sam Presti, Mike Brown 

Presti is actually a pretty good drummer, but his most impressive solo to date didn't involve music. Rather, it was drumming it into the Spurs' organization's head that Tony Parker was the right person to draft with the No. 28 pick in the first round in 2001. "[Presti] worked extremely hard. You could tell he was bright," Brown said. "He was the one that convinced us to basically draft Tony Parker." ESPN.com

Oklahoma City Thunder, Coaching, Sam Presti, Mike Brown 

Brown recalled he and another assistant coach putting through a young guard from France named Tony Parker through a workout. Brown didn't think Parker looked like NBA material at the time, but Presti persuaded the team to take a second look. Parker performed much better the second time. The Spurs said their prayers and then watched him fall to them in the draft. The rest is history. Parker became an NBA champion and an All-Star with the Spurs. Presti became the general manager of the Seattle SuperSonics in 2007, drafted Kevin Durant from the University of Texas and then moved with the team to Oklahoma City in 2008. "He was the one who basically convinced us to draft Tony Parker," Brown said of Presti. "He worked him out and he was terrible. We told Tony he needed to develop a medium game. He was quick but he couldn't really shoot. "Sam and R.C. (Buford, the Spurs' general manager) convinced us to bring him back in San Antonio. He worked out against Jamison Brewer and another guy, and he just torched everybody. … We took him. It was Sam and R.C. who led the charge. Los Angeles Daily News

Oklahoma City Thunder, Sam Presti 

There were no shortcuts those first two years. Brooks had been a finalist for the coaching job in Sacramento before the Kings hired Reggie Theus before the 2007-08 season. When Brooks didn't get that job, he went north to be Carlesimo's top assistant in Seattle. Brooks emphasized defense when he came in, but again, everybody emphasizes defense when they come in. "I knew his basketball background and I knew how much he knew about the game," Durant said. "But to be honest, once they got rid of P.J., I didn't know he would be the interim coach. I didn't know they'd bring him in as a coach. But once they did, the concepts and the identity that he tried to bring to this organization was something I believed in, and I knew it was going to be good for our organzation. I always, since Day One, I believed in Sam Presti and the guys in our organization." NBA.com

Oklahoma City Thunder, Kevin Durant, Sam Presti 

"He just looks like a smart guy," Durant said of Presti, with a laugh, as if he was trying to explain why one might like chocolate ice cream. "He just looks like he knows the game of basketball. Since we traded Ray Allen to get Jeff Green, and they brought in myself, I knew that was a bold move. I knew he saw something. And ever since then, I've been a Sam Presti fan. Every person he's brought through here has been a class guy, and basketball-wise, a hard worker. He knows his stuff ... NBA.com

Oklahoma City Thunder, Kevin Durant, Sam Presti 

The beginning of this season has been crazy for everyone. How crazy do you think it has been for coach Scott Brooks? Sam Presti: "Scott deserves a tremendous amount of credit for keeping our guys focused in such a unique year. Scott has done a great job of identifying the core principals that we'll try to improve upon as the year goes on. I think you just have to grind that out and periodically look back and evaluate where you are." Oklahoman

Oklahoma City Thunder, Coaching, Sam Presti, Scott Brooks 

What, if anything, have you done differently with a 66-game schedule? "Our organization is a collection of people who embrace the daily grind. I feel really fortunate to come to work with a group of people who have a common vision, who understand that to sustain success in the NBA is a process, not an event. We're going to have to continue to work at it and stick together as we go through that." A 10-2 record in the first 18 days. Not bad. "We're certainly pleased, but not content. As I said before, Scott and the players deserve a lot of credit for coming into the season prepared to get started on the right foot, but we all know the season is a marathon and not a sprint and we're going to have to maintain a high level of focus and discipline." Oklahoman

Oklahoma City Thunder, Coaching, Sam Presti, Scott Brooks 

On the first day that NBA front office executives were allowed to resume communication with player agents, Thunder general manager Sam Presti began preliminary discussions with Russell Westbrook's agents on a contact extension. Westbrook is now eligible to receive an extension to his rookie scale contract after playing three seasons. A potential deal cannot be signed until Dec. 9, when the free-agent signing period officially begins. But a new deal would not take effect until the 2012-13 season. Oklahoman

Oklahoma City Thunder, Sam Presti, Russell Westbrook 

“We made calls to all kinds of (representatives of) free agents, as well as our own players to touch base and talk about whatever issues we need to cover with each player respectively,” Presti said Wednesday night at a Thunder fit clinic at the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club in southeast Oklahoma City. “Everybody knows how we feel about Russell Westbrook as a person and as a player, and we're looking forward to having those conversations at the appropriate time.” Oklahoman

Oklahoma City Thunder, Sam Presti, Russell Westbrook 

OKC has managed to put a pretty good team around Kevin Durant without breaking any banks; to the contrary, the Thunder have structured contracts with Nick Collison and Kendrick Perkins that go down in the years to come, not up, freeing up funds that can be used to extend Durant and Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka. How did Sam Presti do this? Ouija board? Short-selling on the stock market? He did it the same way R.C. Buford did it in San Antonio, and the way Joe Dumars did it in Detroit when he built a champion in 2004 out of parts other teams didn't care for, and the way Donnie Walsh did it in Indiana for, oh, 20 years, and the way Kevin O'Connor does it in Utah this morning. Draft the right guys. Sign the right guys. Trade for the right guys. And pay the right guys the right amount of money. NBA.com

Detroit Pistons, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, RC Buford, Sam Presti, Joe Dumars, Lockout 

Sam Presti is an opportunist, and he is patient. Mirotic, based on talent, is a lottery pick. But a massive buyout means he won't be playing in the NBA anytime soon. If he stays in the draft -- a big "if" at this point -- someone will gamble on him. If it's Presti, he could be getting a major steal down the road. If Mirotic is off the board, Bogan Bogdanovic and Lucas Nogueira are possibilities. ESPN.com

Oklahoma City Thunder, Draft, Lucas Nogueira, Sam Presti, Nikola Mirotic 

Sam Presti did a long interview with The Sports Animal in Oklahoma City and covered a lot of ground without saying a whole lot. You know, the Presti way. But he was asked about his feelings on all the criticism surrounding Russell Westbrook during the playoffs. "You’re only human if you know it’s there. Once you get to this point in the year, there’s only a couple teams or a couple series playing and that’s part of it. One thing we really learned about Russell through that process, or one thing that was confirmed, he’s an incredibly resilient person. … I think the other thing we learned is he’s really only focused on the things that he can control. … I think he deserves a lot of respect as a second-team all-NBA player, a 22-year-old point guard in the Western Conference Finals, in being self-critical." DailyThunder.com

Oklahoma City Thunder, Sam Presti, Russell Westbrook 

Does he want to keep this roster intact for next season? Sam Presti: “Always we’re looking for ways to improve and we’ll take some time over the next weeks and months to look at all of our decisions. One of the things we’ve consistently said is we want to be a team capable of lasting success. Part of that is continuity, part of that is allowing things to take place. … I think the better word is evolutional, and this team is evolving. … We feel good about where we are.” Sports Radio Interviews

Oklahoma City Thunder, Sam Presti 

Evaluating the trade for Kendrick Perkins now that the season is over: Sam Presti: “Obviously when you make a trade like that you’re making it for a lot of different reasons. … It was a chance to not only get a player who understands the finer points of the games, understands how high-performing teams work, especially the defensive end. But to get someone like that, at that position, at 26 years old, was something we were very excited about. … We know and we knew when we made the trade that he was on pace in his recovery but he wasn’t going to be 100 percent. … You never heard Kendrick complain or make an excuse that, although he was deep into his rehab, it wasn’t completed. We like the fact that his standards never changed.” Sports Radio Interviews

Oklahoma City Thunder, Trade, Kendrick Perkins, Sam Presti 

"Every team handles their business differently," Presti said. "For us, we've chosen to focus on trying to build a team that is sustainable and, in doing that, certainly have had to make some decisions that were very tough decisions. Understanding that at the time they were difficult for people to understand and to accept but also recognizing that for us to continue trying to build in a proactive fashion, they were necessary. "One of the hardest principles to assimilate into your process is that of restraint. And understanding that any time you're team-building and your goal is to build something sustainable that has a foundation and a strong base, there is a level of patience and an approach you have to take where sometimes you have to wait for things to develop as opposed to looking for quick fixes or things that might make you feel better." ESPN.com

Oklahoma City Thunder, Free Agency, Sam Presti