It's commonplace for general managers of NBA teams that are not in the NBA Draft lottery to make phone calls to teams with high draft picks, just in case the guy on the other line overvalues a piece on their team and/or he's a crazy person. Sam Presti, a smart GM for a good team outside of the lottery, is doing his due diligence on high-end draft prospects. He's spoken to Bradley Beal, who spoke to ESPN.com and said things Presti probably didn't want him to say.
Beal told ESPN.com Wednesday that Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti told him during an interview in Chicago that he was interested in trying to move up to draft him. The Thunder's first-round pick isn't until No. 28.
"He told me he was going to decide what they're going to do and considered getting up there," Beal said.
Beal said Denver, which picks at No. 20, also made a similar statement.
Masai Ujiri won't be too thrilled to read this either, but he doesn't have the same kinds of sexy assets that Presti has at his disposal. One of those sexy assets is James Harden, who is entering the last year of his contract. Presti will almost certainly have to pay one of Harden or Serge Ibaka, while getting rid of the other for salary cap reasons.
Beal would make a great replacement for Harden if he can make a deal, and the likes of the Charlotte Bobcats and Washington Wizards would undoubtedly be willing to at least listen to any offers that involved Harden, but it would be surprising to see this go past some friendly phone calls. Especially since Beal went and blew the lid off of everything.
For more on the Thunder, head over to Welcome To Loud City.
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