Sam Presti told you what he thought.

His draft steps might feel dizzying now. Stubborn, even — guard after guard, ball handler after ball handler. But don't let it feel surprising.

Because during his end-of-season press conference, Presti led anyone willing to listen inside his mind and right toward his philosophy. He thought out loud about what he saw in the postseason. At the time, one particular thought felt like an ode to development.

This week's NBA Draft illuminated the thought as something more: A state of mind. One Presti would soon double and triple down on.

"Regular season, I think you can win with the dribble," Presti said back in May. "Postseason, I think you win with the pass. Then, toward the end of the game, your best players got to make the plays off the dribble, which we all know. I think our intentions were good. We just hadn't seen that yet. I think we'll get better with it."

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Win with the dribble the Thunder did. 57 games of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams' wrath, of bottomless drives and, usually, no sufficient answers from defenses. And in the postseason, they indeed lost without the pass. Without any resemblance of the offense they'd known, and with so many failing to make the right reads while faced with Dallas' switching defense.

So on Wednesday night, Presti moved as if to see if anyone was listening. Then he explained himself even further. He detailed why he snatched an injured Nikola Topic at No. 12 and, without being able to explicitly say so, traded five second-round picks for Weber State’s Dillon Jones, which later explained his interest in UC Santa Barbara's Ajay Mitchell.

“If you looked at the night as a whole, I think the themes are pretty consistent with other nights that we've had draft-wise,” Presti said. “There's high processing on offense, high skill level with regards to vision and passing, and that's combined with big players, people that can handle the ball, make decisions with the ball, are pretty big for their position, are interchangeable.

“I think it's a relatively consistent focus for us, and it's something that we value in players.”

The draft was surely never meant to patch any glaring needs for a team fresh off 57 wins that also added an All-League defender in Alex Caruso — or in other words, a contender. Spectators dying for another big man, perhaps one that can split some of Chet Holmgren’s grueling workload, likely weren’t going to find that player in this draft. And if Oklahoma City still wants that mold, or a big forward to play the four, or both, this week’s moves don’t take those possibilities off the table.

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If anything, they reaffirmed Presti’s philosophy. It’s simple, really: Presti wants tall, capable decision makers with ball skills. He’ll hoard them and let them compete for supremacy. But the last thing he’ll look to struggle with is fit; They all will, more or less, possess some overlapping traits.

Topic is the bench facilitator Presti wanted in Josh Giddey, who looked to pursue his own ambitions. They’re not clones. Topic is a far more encouraging finisher, but he’s also similarly defined by being such a talented passer. He’s 6-foot-6, sizable for a point guard of any kind, which is among the things that makes him most intriguing.

He’d been a projected top-five pick before being selected at No. 12 Wednesday, the subsequent slide of his partially torn ACL, which was diagnosed earlier in the month.

For the Thunder, Jones is likely a wing with ball skills. He’s 6-6 with a 6-11 wingspan, and he got into a little bit of everything during a productive college season. He ran pick-and-rolls, he pushed in transition, he was a nationally great positional rebounder. It’s unclear what — or who — forced OKC to shoot for the 26th pick to grab him, but Presti saw what he hopes to see in so many of his targets: Versatility.

The Thunder essentially swapped Lindy Waters III, who was unlikely to return, for Mitchell, who’s likely to fill a two-way spot. And you guessed it: Mitchell is a 6-5 guard, one who showed upside as a scorer with sound decision making and remarkable change of pace.

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If it wasn’t clear by Mitchell’s selection, Presti aimed for versatility and upside in the draft. Players who had ways to go, but had already shown the traits he wanted in targets.

Perhaps these recent thoughts of Presti’s are him speaking aloud as his philosophy actively takes firmer shape with this iteration of the Thunder. A seemingly mulish approach to fans who’d rather see Andre Drummond or Presti’s favorite rebounder-for-hire, Wayne Embry.

It’s worth asking what that means for free agency and the trade market, areas the Thunder still have room to be aggressive in.

It wouldn’t be a nightmare for the Thunder to consider what a bruising big man could look like in a relatively cheap, reserve role. But you’ll have to consider the cost of the ones that are attractive — monetarily and with fit.

You’ll have to consider what Presti already told you.

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Thunder GM Sam Presti still detailing his philosophy on NBA Draft