Seattle SuperSonics new general manager Sam Presti listens to a question during a news conference Thursday, June 7, 2007, in Seattle. The 30-year-old San Antonio assistant general manager replaces Rick Sund, who was demoted to consultant after Seattle's 31-51 season. Presti's first jobs are to help hire a coach to replace Bob Hill, who was fired, and to prepare for the June 28 draft. Seattle has the second pick. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

SEATTLE --  Sam Presti owes becoming the youngest general manager in the NBA to a homesick teammate at Emerson College.

Eight years ago, Presti, captain of the basketball team at Boston's renowned school for communication and the arts, talked the discouraged player out of quitting and going home to Colorado.

The teammate's father, the superintendent of schools in Aspen, was so appreciative that he invited Presti to coach at a summer basketball camp that happened to be run by R.C. Buford, the general manager of the San Antonio Spurs.

"Fortunately, I somehow endeared myself to them," Presti, now 30, said Thursday of Buford and the Spurs, who entered Thursday four wins from a fourth NBA title since 1999.

By the next summer, Buford had hired Presti as a $250-per-month intern. Seven years later, after establishing himself as a scouting guru and salary cap wizard, San Antonio's former assistant GM is in Seattle.

"Once he was in San Antonio for a month, I think we realized that it was going to be important that we not let him leave," a "crushed" Buford said Thursday from the NBA finals. "Now who knew that seven years later he'd still be with us and continue to grow and turn into one of the outstanding front office talents that I've ever seen, especially when you consider the age."

Presti's mandate as he replaces Rick Sund: Lead the Sonics' search for a new coach, then their return to relevance after their worst season in 21 years.

"I view the San Antonio Spurs as the premier franchise in our business. And Sam Presti had clearly had an important role within that organization, contributed to their winning and how they do business," Sonics owner Clay Bennett said. "But that is not why he got the job.

"He got the job because of who he is, how he does things. ... He is thoughtful. He is methodical. He is measured."

Lenny Wilkens will return to his role as vice chairman. Wilkens, the 70-year-old Hall of Fame coach, had been the president of basketball operations and Bennett's point man on team matters since last fall.

The Sonics own the second pick in the June 28 draft. Seattle's selection is expected to be easy: Kevin Durant or Greg Oden, whomever Portland doesn't take with the No. 1 pick.

Days after that, the Sonics must decide how much money and effort to direct at Rashard Lewis, the team's second-leading scorer, who opted out of the last two years of his contract to become a free agent.

The Sonics still don't have a coach after firing Bob Hill on April 24, the same day they demoted Sund to consultant.

Presti spoke in generalities about his vision for the Sonics, including on the hiring of a coach. Former Sonics assistant Dwane Casey has said he is interested in the job after getting fired last winter in Minnesota. Rick Carlisle, the former coach with Detroit and Indiana who was a Sonics broadcaster in 2000, is another possibility.

Seattle SuperSonics chairman Clay Bennett, left, listens as the team's new general manager, Sam Presti, addresses a news conference Thursday, June 7, 2007, in Seattle. The 30-year-old San Antonio assistant general manager replaces Rick Sund, who was demoted to consultant after Seattle's 31-51 season. Presti's first jobs are to help hire a coach to replace Bob Hill, who was fired, and to prepare for the June 28 draft. Seattle has the second pick. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Spurs assistant P.J. Carlesimo, the former coach at Portland and Golden State, instantly becomes a more viable candidate because he worked with Presti the past five seasons.

About the only thing Presti committed to was saying that his Sonics will not try to become Spurs West on the floor. But he will address what has been one of the league's worst defenses in recent seasons.

"That's San Antonio. It's a special situation with some special, special talents," Presti said. "That's not what we are trying to recreate here."

Presti is currently the league's youngest GM -- but not the youngest in NBA history. A 28-year-old Jerry Colangelo became GM of the expansion Phoenix Suns in 1968.

"I wanted a candidate on the way up," Bennett said, "who perhaps in their youth perhaps would not hesitate on certain decision-making processes or ideas or concepts that an older candidate might, because he's tried that or thought he's tried that or seen that."

In San Antonio, where the Spurs were preparing to host Cleveland in Game 1 of the NBA finals, coach Gregg Popovich wasn't surprised by Presti's departure.

"He has been a key component of the success of the Spurs organization and, although we hate to lose him, we knew it was a matter of time before a team came calling," Popovich said.

Buford said people form misconceptions after learning of Presti's intellect and the fact that he is an accomplished drummer who produced three albums at Emerson.

"He's a basketball junkie. I think there's a conception that he's this brainiac and that's not the case," Buford said. "This is an extremely well-balanced individual who has great appreciation for basketball, for music, for a lot of different things. He's incredibly thirsty for knowledge and he is very diligent in establishing processes that work for him."

AP Sports Writer Elizabeth White in San Antonio contributed to this report.