Thunder Hires New Faces, Promotes Within

The Oklahoma City Thunder operations will feature some new faces and see some old faces in new positions. Sam Presti, executive vice president and general manager, announced today they hired Mike Wilks as a Pro Scout and Amanda Green as Basketball Operations Coordinator/Legal & Administration. They promoted Paul Rivers to Director of Basketball Operations, Will Dawkins to Director of College Player Personnel and Brandon Barnett to Director of Minor League Operations/Pro Scout.

Presti says the team looks forward to the changes in personnel.

"We are pleased to welcome Mike and Amanda to the Thunder," said Presti. "We believe that they will each make positive contributions as we maintain our focus on building and enhancing our basketball operation. We are also pleased to see the continued development and promotion of Paul, Will and Brandon within the organization. Each of them have been integral to our growth and progress as a team and organization."

Wilks is a former player for the Thunder appearing on the team during the 2009-10 season. He appeared in 233 career NBA games over seven seasons averaging 2.5 points, 1.2 assists, 1.0 rebounds in 9.6 minutes per contest. Wilks most recently played in Poland before announcing his retirement from playing.

Green joins the club from Proskauer Rose LLP where she served as an Associate, after working as an IP Attorney in the NBA Legal Department from 2010-11. Prior to receiving her law degree from Georgetown, Green earned her undergraduate degree from Duke, where she served as manager for Duke's Men's Basketball Team from 2002-2006.

Rivers enters his sixth season with the Thunder. He served as the Director of Minor League Operations and Basketball Technology each of the previous two seasons and prior to that as the Director of Basketball Administration and Technology. He began his NBA career with the San Antonio Spurs as a video coordinator in 2004 before spending two seasons with the Detroit Pistons in a similar capacity.  

Dawkins begins his fifth season with Oklahoma City, after first joining the Thunder as a front office intern in the summer of 2008. During his time with the Thunder, he has served as assistant video coordinator and scouting coordinator before assuming his current position.

Barnett starts his fifth season with the Thunder. He most recently served as Director of Minor League Scouting and Manager of Minor League Operations. Barnett originally joined the Thunder as the team's Manager of Minor League Operations after spending two years in the NBA league office in New York.