Ever since the Thunder went all-in on the rebuilding process, Sam Presti’s activity in the trade market has been focused on loading up on picks. Oklahoma City has a cupboard of picks that is unparalleled; no other team has made such a point of acquiring picks over anything else.
The Cleveland Cavaliers under Chris Grant prioritised asset acquisition but that strategy was derived out of a need to gut the roster and start again. Grant inadvertently built up the reserves that David Griffin deployed to win a championship in 2016. Presti’s effort has been much more concerted.