If Michael Reinsdorf is a fan of Sam Presti, what can Bulls fans expect in executive search?
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What notable comments did Michael Reinsdorf make about Sam Presti?
Rahimi Harrison-Grody. That sounds so crazy. 104.3 the score. Wow, I like that.
Middays 10 to 2 on 104.3 the score.
This is Rahimi Harrison-Grote on 104.3 The Score. And we're discussing the concept of tanking and how it has gotten to a point where the NBA is going to have to do something based on that Kings and Warriors game last night. And in the meantime, there is an example to be followed in that process. And Joel Lorenzi, as we mentioned, his conversation with us was fantastic. And I feel like it was the jumping point, the jumping off point for a lot of what we're talking about today. Because Joel was in Oklahoma City where he covered the Thunder before he moved over to the Athletic where he's now covering the Bulls in the NBA. And it was brought up. Marshall and I have talked about him a ton. The example here is obvious.
It's Sam Presti. the general manager of the Thunder. Thunder, as we mentioned, just clinched top spot in the West. They look unstoppable yet again.
How does tanking influence NBA team strategies?
The only team that may be able to do so in the West is the Spurs, who also got the first overall pick when they got Victor Wimbanyama. They also tanked. So Michael Reinsdorf spoke about Sam Presti, and he was referring to him being brought up before in the press conference. Here's what he had to say for reference.
I actually really admire—I've always admired Oklahoma City. Obviously, Sam Pressy, and I've thought this for years, he's the best general manager out there in basketball. Sam does things a lot different than other teams. If you look at Oklahoma City, I think Sam's title is he's GM, and then he has a bunch of other people in his organization, but he doesn't have— it's not set up like a head of basketball operations and then a general manager like we had with Arturas and Mark. So what we're gonna do through this process is we're gonna look at all the organizations and say, what are things that we really admire about these teams? What are they doing that we haven't been doing? What can we do differently?
Clearly Oklahoma City is, they're the world champs and Sam is a very unique individual. And if you look back at it, I think he was hired when he was a 28-year-old. So there's a lot we can learn from other teams in the league, for sure.
And I love that he said it. I liked Michael Reinsdorf, his candor that he had, his candor with everybody at the press conference. I feel like he spoke genuinely and authentically. But are you willing to do what it takes to to do what Sam Presti and the Thunder did, trading away their superstar in Paul George. That made it a little bit easier. That's why I think it was only two years of really bad tanking going on. That was why you only got two of the sub-25 win totals instead of maybe three or four, because you were able to have one of the biggest assets to trade in the league. But those were big swings, and it was big swings to get to the bottom before they ended up coming back and getting guys like Shea Gilgis-Alexander on this team, the eventual MVP, and being in the position they're in.
I think he needs to understand because, look, that was my big question, if you'll remember, before we said, well, what questions do you want answered from Michael Reinsdorf? And we all had our specific questions. Mine is, who is that you see in the NBA running the organization in a way that you feel like exemplifies what you want the Bulls to become?
Who's the standard?
Who is your standard? Yes. And he mentions Sam Presti by name. But I think, and this was to Joelle Lorenzi's point from The Athletic who we had on, talking about nobody is talking about when they were bad because labor pains happen. People are only going to talk about how beautiful the baby is once the baby is born. The problem is the Bulls have been out here showing us nothing but labor pains over the last however many years.
I don't even know that that is an appropriate... comparison to speaking with someone who has the parts because there's no baby. That's what I'm saying. I think it's just months of cramps, to be honest.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What notable comments did Michael Reinsdorf make about Sam Presti?
0:01–1:06
2
How does tanking influence NBA team strategies?
1:06–4:25
3
What lessons can the Bulls learn from the Oklahoma City Thunder?
4:25–5:00
4
Why is Sam Presti considered a model for NBA executives?
5:00–8:35
5
What challenges do the Bulls face in their current organizational structure?
8:35–10:05
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from Rahimi & Grote Show
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