Stiles Points: Sam Presti Remained True to His Word As OKC Thunder Arrive As Contenders

The Oklahoma City Thunder (52-22) have clinched a spot in the NBA Playoffs with eight games still to play. The Thunder currently sit as the top seed in the Western Conference with a young core poise to contend for the foreseeable future.

This marks the 12th postseason appearance since 2010 for the Oklahoma City Thunder which is second most in the NBA during that span.

On the heels of a rebuild that featured a 22 and 24-win season, the Thunder made the play-in tournament a year ago falling just a game shy of grabbing a spot in the playoffs. Leaping from 24 wins to 40 wins was impressive enough, but now the Thunder sit with 52 victories while having eight tilts to go.

Since the inception of this rebuild, Thunder General Manager Sam Presti has been preaching how things will go. One of his biggest talking points being "When we do get back to the postseason, we want it to be an arrival and not an appearance."

Mission accomplished. Some of some catastrophic injuries, the Thunder are on the doorstep of yet another historic run of sustained success. So much so, that even franchise legend Kevin Durant discussed how well-positioned this Oklahoma City squad is.

"Our ultimate goal is to build a team that will inspire the same kind of joy, success, and togetherness that we have all experienced over our first 11 years. This will take time and involve hard choices. There will always be the temptation to take shortcuts, to look for quick fixes, and to reach out for instant gratification. There will no doubt be criticisms — much of which we could all recite in advance right now. It is the job of the organization to resist those shortcuts, accept that criticism, and keep us deeply committed. If you want an exceptional outcome, you must be willing to be the exception. Therefore, my singular goal as we transition our basketball team is to reposition and replenish the organization to allow for optimal future success." Presti wrote in the Oklahoman back in 2019

Mission accomplished. While this is just the initial hurdle, the Thunder have cleared it. While still sitting on a mountain of draft picks, cap space and developmental touch points, Oklahoma City is also set to be perennial contenders. Including this season.

Their latest win in New York, scrapping and clawing their way to a last-second victory in a playoff environment, proves it.

In year four of their repositioning period, the Thunder turn in a top-five offense, defense and net rating with supremely efficient shooting, an MVP candidate, rising stars left and right and one of the league's best bench bosses.

Oklahoma City has arrived back to the postseason and they are not leaving the playoff picture anytime soon.

Stiles Points

• Josh Giddey became the first player in NBA History to log three triple-doubles in his first three appearances.
• Aaron Wiggins made hustle play after hustle play including wrestling away a late missed free throw to set up a Williams floater. The Maryland product has to continue to see an uptick in role as the playoffs draw near.
• The OKC Blue will take on the Vipers on Tuesday inside the Paycom Center in the first round of the G League Playoffs. This will be a single elimination format until a best-of-three G League Finals.
• OKC Thunder Playoff tickets go on sale on April 15th at 10 a.m. local time according to the Thunder's social media account.
• Billy Donovan's Chicago Bulls knocked off the Minnesota Timberwolves to hand the Thunder the top seed in the West after their win in Madison Square Garden.

Song of the Day: Avant Gardner by Courtney Barnett.

Want to join the discussion? Like Inside the Thunder on Facebookand follow us on Twitterto stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can alsomeet the teambehind the coverage.