OKC Mayor jokes about Sam Presti’s draft choose stockpiling as Thunder eyes new area

The Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder are having a big-time future in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, and Chet Holmgren — along with their huge draft chest. With this, town’s native authorities chief would need them to take pleasure in a way more spacious presentation in preparation for brilliant occasions to come back.

With Thunder’s lease at Paycom Heart set to run out on the conclusion of the 2025-2026 season additionally, Mayor David Holt echoed his need to construct a brand new one for the franchise which is simply a should given their present area’s measurement, capability, and age. 

“We’ve got a workforce that desires to be right here for the lengthy haul and our metropolis simply has to do what nice cities do,” Holt mentioned in his latest State of the Metropolis deal with, per Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. “We’ve got to put money into ourselves.” 

The formulation of the muse of the brand new area to function the most recent home of OKC is being eyed on the finish of this 12 months’s summer time.

Paycom Heart, the present house of the Thunder, has been standing since 2002 — six years earlier than the membership modified its branding from the Seattle SuperSonics.

It additionally has the smallest NBA Enviornment when it comes to sq. footage at 586,000 toes and might maintain over 18,000 spectators.

Per Holt, no tax improve could be handed to the locals in an effort to construct the brand new area as Thunder possession chairman Clay Bennett will shoulder monetary contributions when it comes to public funding.

“We’ve got a workforce that desires to be right here for the lengthy haul and our metropolis simply has to do what nice cities do,” Holt mentioned. “We’ve got to put money into ourselves.” 

With how high govt Sam Presti is at present orchestrating one of many distinctive team-building strikes in in the present day’s NBA, Holt believes that the creation of a brand new area for Thunder is simply crucial.

From this, he can solely make a joke about how town would warmly welcome its future basketball prospects and upcoming superstars by the usage of the sector that they’re plotting to develop.

For context, after one other fruitful offseason of reaping this 2023, OKC now has 35 draft picks – 15 for first-round – within the subsequent seven years to come back.

“We are going to safe this workforce for such a span of time that I can let you know in the present day {that a} celebrity who will play for our metropolis on this new area, within the subsequent lease time period, isn’t even born but,” he mentioned. “And but, Sam Presti might be already holding the draft choose to get him.”