Sam Presti: Change is sometimes necessary

Sam Presti met with the media tonight to discuss the decision to “part ways” — also known as firing — with Scott Brooks.

He talked for almost 40 minutes, using his always impressive vocabulary, even digging so deep to throw out “intrinsic,” “organizational arch,” and “Socratic.” Big time night for Presti.

Here are the notable quotes:

On moving on from Brooks: “I want to stress this decision is not connected or related the results of last season. In fact, I’m not sure that anybody could’ve done a better job than what Scott was able to do and what the team was able to do given the circumstances we encountered.”

On what Brooks meant to the team: “There’s no way to quantify what Scott has meant to this organization, nor direct the necessary amount of praise for getting us to the point we are in our development as the Thunder. We have a deep, deep respect for Scott Brooks as a professional and a person, and and whomever will assume the role of the next Thunder head coach will have a great foundation to work off of thanks to Scott.”

On why now: “I looked at the option and studied the option of Scott returning very closely. But it would’ve been entering the final year of a four-year contract and after a lot of thought and deliberation, and although I think Scott would’ve been very comfortable coaching on that, I did not feel we were in a position to make another long-term commitment based on what I felt was simply a natural need for transition.”

On making a change: “Change in organizations are necessary at times. As much as continuity is required for lasting success, change and transition are the engine for progress and evolution. And so we’re embracing that change and looking toward the next stage of our development of our organization in Oklahoma City.”

On considering a college coach: “We’re not going to limit ourselves, or limit the scope of people we would look at for this position. It’s going to, at the end of the day, be directed by the vision of our team, the values of our organization, and the best person we feel like can assume a leadership role for this organization going forward. Not based on one season, but someone we feel like can re-establish our continuity and who is a fit for so many aspects of what it is here.”

On the coaching search: “We wouldn’t put a timetable on anything. We’re going to start to work on that this evening.”

On what they’re looking for: “We’ve got a pretty clear identity of the type of person and specific vision for that role going forward, but I’m hesitant to speak directly about it because I don’t want to get into comparing and contrasting what we’re looking for and what we had in that position prior in Scott.”

On the next coach’s fit: “The team is a local team that competes nationally. It has a civic purpose to it, I believe, because it exists for the people. Because of the people that come every night. So to work here in a position like a head coach, I think it’s important that person really embraces the overall purpose of the work that gets done with the Thunder and I think it’s a privilege to work here for that reason.”

On reaching out to potential candidates yet: “We haven’t had any contact with anybody. I understand in these type of situations the speculation and the ether of social media, but no [we have not made any contact yet].”

On talking to Durant or Westbrook before the move: “We wouldn’t consult [the players]. I think that would be a terribly unfair position to put players in, to ask them to input on or make decisions on staff or personnel. Obviously they’re aware of the decision, but they’re not an active participant in that.”

On consulting players about the next hire: “I’m certainly not going to lock myself in my office and ignore people. But at the same time I think there’s a genuine respect for the fact we have to make decisions that best serve the organization. We’re very fortunate that we have a group of people that have been together for a fair amount of time and there’s a certain understanding in what we value.”

On the pressures of next season for the next coach: “Certainly, heading into that season, listen, we understand there will be an incredible amount of attention paid to next season. There will be a lot of different distractions, that will be our job to try and manage. Not to eliminate, but try to manage so that we can play our best basketball. I think at times, the risk is not in moving forward, but I think the risk can be in being fearful of moving forward. If you identify somebody you feel like can help the organization that is a good fit here, I believe that’s kind of part of the job. But no matter what the circumstances are we have to be able to put it in the proper place and understand we have to play good basketball knowing there will be an interpretation anything that happens outside, or what the weather is, or those types of things. But we’re prepared for that to the best of our ability and we’ll go about our business that way.”

And on Enes Kanter: “We wouldn’t have traded for him if we didn’t feel like we’re going to be in a position to have him with us going forward.”