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New England native and SuperSonics general manager Sam Presti is focused on making his team an NBA power. (FILE/TED S. WARREN/ASSOCIATED PRESS) |
SEATTLE - At Emerson College, Sam Presti was a basketball star. As a first-year general manager with the Seattle SuperSonics, the Concord, Mass., native lets his players take the shots while he calls them.
"I feel very fortunate to have been around really good people throughout my life from high school to college to the NBA," said Presti in a recent telephone interview. "I'm certainly grateful. I enjoy what I do very, very much."
Presti was a Dual County League All-Star in basketball at Concord-Carlisle. After transferring from Virginia Wesleyan, the 6-foot-2-inch shooting guard played Division 3 ball at Emerson. The two-time captain was twice named a member of the Great Northeast All-Conference Tournament Team and averaged 12.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.6 assists as a senior. He graduated from Emerson in 2000 with a bachelor's degree in communications, politics, and law, and was the first Rhodes Scholar nominee in school history.
"As a player, I was very aware of my limitations and I tried not to step out of them," Presti said. "I'm very, very aware of my limitations."
Presti grew up a big fan of the Celtics and enjoyed rooting for the other Boston sports teams. And to the dismay of first-year Sonics coach and avid Yankees fan P.J. Carlesimo, his boss is still a Red Sox fan.
"I went to a lot of games when I was growing up in the old Garden," Presti said. "A lot of Fenway games. A lot of Bruins games . . .
"Obviously, Boston is a passionate sports city. With the major sports being represented there, there are always games to go to and games to watch and listen to. It's a great sports town."
"The only negative is that he's a Red Sox fan," Carlesimo said.
Presti joined the San Antonio Spurs organization in the summer of 2000 and was promoted to special assistant in 2001. From 2002-05, he held positions as assistant director of scouting and director of player personnel. He served as the Spurs' assistant GM from September 2005 through June 2007.
Presti has been credited for pushing the Spurs to draft French point guard Tony Parker, who was the MVP of the 2007 NBA Finals, and designing the franchise's scouting database. And during his time in San Antonio, the Spurs won three of their four NBA titles.
"It was a great organization to work for," Presti said. "Good people. It was a great place to work and learn. I'd say they definitely had a strong impact on me."
Carlesimo was an assistant with the Spurs when Presti hired him to coach the Sonics.
"One of the most attractive things about this job was the fact that Sam was coming here," Carlesimo said.
Just before the Spurs won the title last season, Presti was named the GM of the Sonics at age 30, becoming the youngest GM in the NBA. During his introductory press conference in Seattle, many of the inquiries were about his age.
"It's never really been an issue for me from a professional standpoint," he said. "I understand that some people may look at it or talk about it. But it's never been an issue for me personally."
Presti hasn't been shy to make changes to the Sonics, a franchise that has been to the playoffs once in the last five seasons.
He hired Carlesimo and added several new executives and scouts. He selected Texas star Kevin Durant with the second pick in the 2007 draft. He traded seven-time All-Star Ray Allen and the draft rights to Louisiana State forward Glen Davis to the Celtics on draft night for guard Delonte West, forward Wally Szczerbiak, and the draft rights to forward Jeff Green. He dealt forward Rashard Lewis to the Magic for a conditional second-round pick and a trade exemption believed to be in the $9 million range. He also acquired veteran forward-center Kurt Thomas and two first-round picks from Phoenix for a conditional second-round pick.
"It's a challenge, obviously," said Presti, whose Sonics are 8-20, already nine games behind Denver in the Northwest Division and well out of the playoff picture in the competitive Western Conference. "But I'm really excited about the direction we're going in and the people we have on board with us. We have to continue to stay focused on what it is we are trying to do and chip back on it every day."
Although Presti loves where he came from, his focus now is making the Sonics an NBA power again.
"I love coming back to the area because, obviously, that's where I'm from," Presti said. "But I spend my time primarily on the job that we have to do here."
Marc J. Spears can be reached at mspears@globe.com
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
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