OKC add Vince Rozman to head up the front office’s Identification and Intelligence operation

It was reported earlier today by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN that Vince Rozman, VP of scouting for the 76ers, has joined the Thunder’s front office to lead the team’s scouting operation.

Rozman joined the Philadelphia 76ers in 2006 as an intern and worked his way up into an assistant general manager for Philly in Daryl Morey’s front office. He is a well-liked individual and has been a big part of the Sixers’ stellar work in the draft over the last few years,

Rozman largely led the 76ers’ pre-draft process in 2020 and is responsible for Philly landing Tyrese Maxey, Isaiah Joe and Paul Reed. All three players have proven to be reliable rotation players and it is clear that Philadelphia was able to maximise the value of their picks.

Oklahoma City’s front office has gone through some changes over the last few years. Will Dawkins was promoted to fill Troy Weaver’s old role and his portfolio has changed quite a lot. Dawkins moved away from focusing solely on talent identification and intelligence gathering to the overall building of the roster.

His promotion meant there was an empty spot in the front office. Acquiring Rozman from the Sixers should cover those responsibilities while providing Sam Presti with an astute, shrewd executive to lean on.

It is a wise move for the Thunder as the team prepares to move out of the rebuild stage and back into competitive basketball. As the Thunder move up the standings, the value of their draft pick will fall and it will be harder to add talented contributors to the roster.

Adding an executive who has experience with working on the margins and finding hidden gems is a prudent decision by Sam Presti. Oklahoma City play in one of the smallest markets in professional sports and players do not see Oklahoma as a destination market. Talent acquisition is crucial in the Thunder’s operating environment. Rozman should hopefully make this process much sharper.