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Before laying waste to a bunch of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander narratives like Drogon, Sam Presti addressed several interesting topics in his 100-minute 2025-26 end-of-season press conference. In the annual event, the longtime NBA GM discussed the Oklahoma City Thunder and league-wide issues.
One being what the Thunder do with a quartet of players. Nearing the end of this group's life cycle, roster change is expected — one way or the other. OKC fell five wins shy of its ultimate goal of back-to-back NBA championships. That means some shakeup on the roster is the next move to get back on the basketball throne.
The Thunder will need to address the long-term future of three players this summer. Lu Dort, Isaiah Hartenstein and Kenrich Williams all have 2026-27 team options. Dort is at $17.7 million; Hartenstein is at $28.5 million; Williams is at $7.2 million.
Of the three, it feels like Hartenstein is the most likely to stay. In his two seasons, he's completely transformed OKC's identity for the better. He adds size, rebounding, and secondary playmaking to a team that badly needed it. His arrival was synonymous with their first NBA championship. I could also see Williams' return. Albeit on a cheaper salary. He wants to retire in OKC. And there are many worse players to have who slot into one of your third-string spots.
Dort, on the other hand, feels like the writing has been on the wall all year for an inevitable departure. Not only did he have a down season that saw his playing time dwindle, but his replacement is waiting in the wings. Cason Wallace is ready to be a permanent starter and bear more responsibilities. And being eligible for a contract extension this summer, too, could force OKC to show its hand.
In his press conference, Presti said the Thunder are keeping all of their options open for Hartenstein, Dort and Williams. For now, he has a few weeks to mull over the plethora of options before OKC has to officially decide once the offseason kicks off.
"On the team option stuff, first thing, like I said, I've got to talk to everybody. I've got to get a sense of kinda where everybody is. There's a human component, an emotional component to all of these things that I think sometimes people don't understand," Presti said. "Because they don't have to. With all the constituents I'm talking to. I've got to be able to take it in and understand it and see how I can position it for everybody, if possible."
This is the first time in two summers that you could see the Thunder make a serious change on their roster. Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams remain as the building blocks, but the rest of the rotation could get tweaked as a necessity for both adjusting to the modern game and managing a payroll that is about to balloon up thanks to those three's salaries jumping up.
As said earlier, there are several ways to go here. The Thunder could decline and re-sign who they want to keep around for the long haul. Or they could opt into the option and eventually trade whoever they think is most replaceable for pieces that could better help this group. Or they could simply pick up the team options and go from there.
"I do feel comfortable saying the process itself to get to what these potential options might be, it could take a little while. I could see it going a little deeper into the summer than we're used to because I want to try to understand everything that's available to me in terms of how to put things together," Presti said. "I wouldn't put like a specific timeline on it because I've got to spend time really trying to sort it all out."
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Sam Presti addresses long-term future of 3 OKC Thunder players
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