OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma City draft picks Thomas Sorber and Brooks Barnhizer sounded like Thunder veterans during their introductory press conference on Saturday.
Sorber mentioned several times that he looks forward to learning from his new teammates and Barnhizer talked about stacking days. Both are hallmarks of the messaging that comes from general manager Sam Presti and coach Mark Daigneault.
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Thomas Sorber reacts after being selected 15th by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the NBA basketball draft, Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Thomas Sorber poses for a photo with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected 15th by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the NBA basketball draft, Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Thomas Sorber reacts as he walks off the stage after being selected 15th by the Oklahoma City Thunderin the first round of the NBA basketball draft, Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Oklahoma City Thunder draft picks, from left, Brooks Barnhizer and Thomas Sorber, center, pose with general manager Sam Presti during an NBA basketball news conference, Saturday, June 28, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Cliff Brunt)
Presti brought up how the players match the franchise's mentality. Both were selected within a week of Oklahoma City winning the NBA title.
“They both represent the type of things that we’re constantly striving to add to the organization,” Presti said. “One, they bring positive energy to the environments that they’re in. They’re defensive minded players. They’re physical players, and they have team orientation. And because of that. That’s why they’re sitting here today.”
Thunder culture also includes barking and postgame shenanigans during interviews. The draftees like how the Thunder — the youngest team since 1977 to win a championship — let loose and have fun while keeping success at the forefront.
“I mean, there’s just no better fit for guys like me and Thomas to come in and try to add whatever we can, stack days day by day and try to join that, kind of just immerse ourselves in that environment,” Barnhizer said. “And we can’t wait for that.”
Sorber, 19, was the 15th overall pick in the first round on Wednesday. The 6-foot-9, 263-pound forward/center averaged 14.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2.0 blocks and 1.5 steals per game as a freshman at Georgetown before a toe injury cut his season short.
“He’s got a ways to go in some areas, but he’s pretty holistic in terms of his ability to catch, finish pass, defend,” Daigneault said.
Barnhizer, 23, was a second-round pick who went 44th overall. The 6-6, 230-pound forward averaged 17.1 points, 8.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game last season. He played all four years of his career at Northwestern, though a foot injury shortened his final season.
Presti might have found yet another diamond in the rough. He said he stumbled upon Barnhizer by accident at a game he attended to scout a different player.
“I had no idea who he was, honestly,” Presti said. “And then within the game, I found myself watching him more than the person I was supposed to be there watching, and we kind of put his name down and made sure that we kept tabs on him from that point on. And. I’m very fortunate to have him in the program.”
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Thomas Sorber reacts after being selected 15th by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the NBA basketball draft, Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Thomas Sorber poses for a photo with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected 15th by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the NBA basketball draft, Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Thomas Sorber reacts as he walks off the stage after being selected 15th by the Oklahoma City Thunderin the first round of the NBA basketball draft, Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Oklahoma City Thunder draft picks, from left, Brooks Barnhizer and Thomas Sorber, center, pose with general manager Sam Presti during an NBA basketball news conference, Saturday, June 28, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Cliff Brunt)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Thousands of people marched in Minneapolis Saturday to protest the fatal shooting of a woman by a federal immigration officer there and the shooting of two protesters in Portland, Oregon, as Minnesota leaders urged demonstrators to remain peaceful.
The Minneapolis gathering was one of hundreds of protests planned in towns and cities across the country over the weekend. It came in a city on edge since the killing of Renee Good on Wednesday by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.
“We’re all living in fear right now,” said Meghan Moore, a mother of two from Minneapolis who joined the protest Saturday. “ICE is creating an environment where nobody feels safe and that’s unacceptable.”
On Friday night, a protest outside a Minneapolis hotel that attracted about 1,000 people turned violent as demonstrators threw ice, snow and rocks at officers, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Saturday. One officer suffered minor injuries after being struck with a piece of ice, O’Hara said. Twenty-nine people were cited and released, he said.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey stressed that while most protests have been peaceful, those who cause damage to property or put others in danger will be arrested. He faulted “agitators that are trying to rile up large crowds.”
“This is what Donald Trump wants,” Frey said of the president who has demanded massive immigration enforcement efforts in several U.S. cities. “He wants us to take the bait.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz echoed the call for peace.
“Trump sent thousands of armed federal officers into our state, and it took just one day for them to kill someone,” Walz posted on social media. “Now he wants nothing more than to see chaos distract from that horrific action. Don’t give him what he wants.”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says its deployment of immigration officers in the Twin Cities is its biggest ever immigration enforcement operation. Trump's administration has said both shootings were acts of self-defense against drivers who “weaponized” their vehicles to attack officers.
Connor Maloney said he was attending the Minneapolis protest to support his community and because he's frustrated with the immigration crackdown.
“Almost daily I see them harassing people,” he said. “It’s just sickening that it’s happening in our community around us.”
Steven Eubanks, 51, said he felt compelled to attend a protest in Durham, North Carolina, on Saturday because of the “horrifying” killing of Good in Minneapolis.
“We can’t allow it,” Eubanks said. “We have to stand up.”
Indivisible, a social movement organization that formed to resist the Trump administration, said hundreds of protests were scheduled in Texas, Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio, Florida and other states.
In Minneapolis, a coalition of migrant rights groups organized the demonstration that began in a park about half a mile from the residential neighborhood where the 37-year-old Good was shot on Wednesday. Marchers carried signs calling for ICE to leave and voiced support for Good and immigrants.
A couple of miles away, just as the demonstration began, an Associated Press photographer witnessed heavily armed officers — at least one in Border Patrol uniform — approach a person who had been following them. Two of the agents had long guns out when they ordered the person to stop following them, telling him it was his “first and final warning.”
The agents eventually drove onto the interstate without detaining the driver.
Protests held in the neighborhood have been largely peaceful, in contrast to the violence that hit Minneapolis in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd in 2020. Near the airport, some confrontations erupted on Thursday and Friday between smaller groups of protesters and officers guarding the federal building used as a base for the Twin Cities crackdown.
O’Hara said city police officers have responded to calls about cars abandoned because their drivers have been apprehended by immigration enforcement. In one case, the car was left in park and in another case a dog was left in the vehicle.
He said immigration enforcement activities are happening “all over the city” and that 911 callers have been alerting authorities to ICE activity, arrests and abandoned vehicles.
The Trump administration has deployed thousands of federal officers to Minnesota under a sweeping new crackdown tied in part to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents. More than 2,000 officers were taking part.
Some officers moved in after abruptly pulling out of Louisiana, where they were part of another operation that started last month and was expected to last until February.
Three congresswomen from Minnesota attempted to tour the ICE facility in the Minneapolis federal building on Saturday morning and were initially allowed to enter but then told they had to leave about 10 minutes later.
U.S, Reps. Ilhan Omar, Kelly Morrison and Angie Craig accused ICE agents of obstructing members of Congress from fulfilling their duty to oversee operations there.
“They do not care that they are violating federal law,” Craig said after being turned away.
A federal judge last month temporarily blocked the Trump administration from enforcing policies that limit congressional visits to immigration facilities. The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by 12 members of Congress who sued in Washington, D.C. to challenge ICE’s amended visitor policies after they were denied entry to detention facilities.
Associated Press writers Allen Breed in Durham, North Carolina, and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed.
People place flowers for a memorial at the site where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
Protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Friday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
Protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Demonstrators protest outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Demonstrators march outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Demonstrators march outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Rep. Kelly Morrison D-Minn., center, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., second from the right, and Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., far right, at the Bishop Whipple Federal Building, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey holds a news conference as Police Chief Brian O'Hara listens, on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
Protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Federal agents stand outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building as protesters gather in Minneapolis, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Federal agents stand outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building as protesters gather in Minneapolis, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Federal agents look on as protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A woman holds a sign for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis earlier in the week, as people gather outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Two people sit in the street with their hands up in front of Minnesota State Patrol during a protest and noise demonstration calling for an end to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Minnesota State Patrol officers are seen during a protest and noise demonstration calling for an end to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Minnesota State Patrol officers are seen during a protest and noise demonstration calling for an end to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Two people sit in the street holding hands in front of Minnesota State Patrol during a protest and noise demonstration calling for an end to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
