In last season's playoffs, the Oklahoma City Thunder's dreams of repeating as NBA champions dwindled with a string of untimely injuries and then faded altogether in a Game 7 Western Conference Finals loss at home to the San Antonio Spurs. For the Thunder, an offseason of change followed, namely trading starter Lu Dort and key reserves in Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins -- all cost-saving moves that shrunk the team's payroll by more than $300 million.

"I think the team last year had another level to it," Thunder executive vice president and general manager Sam Presti said Thursday in his annual preseason news conference. "I think we could have got to another level. But I think in due time, like I said earlier, this particular group of players, if we stay healthy, if it has time together, it has a chance to be as good if not better than any of the teams we've had."

Speaking of their championship core of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 28, Chet Holmgren, 24, and Jalen Williams, 25, Presti later said, "We have three guys, two of which are not even in their prime, that are All-NBA players, and also the other guy that's a back-to-back MVP [Gilgeous-Alexander], and he's only getting better as well in his prime." Williams played in just 38 games last season because of injuries.

"He looks fantastic," Presti said. "He looks great. He's playing great. We're looking forward to him being himself again." Presti praised the key contributions of Dort, Joe and Wiggins while saying it was "certainly disappointing" to lose them. He also spoke at length about the second apron, saying, "For us, the ghost in the machine is the finances, not so much the aprons."