OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Sam Presti doesn’t remember exactly what time it was when James Harden wrapped up an evening session shooting hoops and the two were finally able to go out to dinner.

Harden was getting ready for his pre-draft workout with Oklahoma City and he wanted to make sure he was on his game — and that meant the Thunder’s general manager had to wait.

“I really don’t like to eat real late, but unfortunately that night James Harden was getting shots up, so we were eating a little later than I like to,” Presti said Thursday night after making Harden the No. 3 overall pick in the NBA draft. “But it was worth it.”

Harden made exactly the right kind of impression with Presti during that June workout — and during the session the night before and during the morning-after weightlifting session that followed. His work ethic reminded the GM of Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook — the trio of top-5 picks he’s been building around for the past year.

“He understands that he’s got a lot of work in front of him, and that’s impressive to me, too,” Presti said. “He understands that there’s work and there’s expectations, but he’s ready to meet those.”

Harden, who entered the draft after his sophomore year at Arizona State, offers a well-rounded game after averaging 20.1 points, 4.2 assists and 1.7 steals. His scoring and steals totals led the Pac-10, where he was named the conference player of the year.

“That’s why I think Sam Presti and those guys chose me is because I’m a pass-first guy. They have great scorers over there,” said Harden, who was also an All-America selection. “With my ability to pass first and score second, with those great players over there, helps that organization a lot.”

Harden, 19, joins a pair of 20-year-olds in Durant and Westbrook on a Thunder roster that’s an overflowing fountain of youth. The Thunder also picked up 7-foot center B.J. Mullens, a 20-year-old from Ohio State, and swingman Robert Vaden from Alabama-Birmingham in a pair of trades.

Presti has added a trio of 25-year-olds in center Nenad Krstic and guards Thabo Sefolosha and Shaun Livingston outside of the draft in the past year.

“This is not a meant to be disrepectful but we look at our team as a team, not just as a core or as a single, small group. Our team is more than Kevin, Russell and Jeff,” Presti said. “And the thing I like about those guys is that they’ll be the first people to tell you that. That’s part of the reason why we like those guys and want them to be part of our organization.

“We think James Harden will take the same approach.”

Harden was the only top-5 pick who visited Oklahoma City for a workout leading up to the draft and said he felt a “good vibe” before he left town — but only after he squeezed in another shooting session and lifted some weights.

“Just being there for two days, it gave me real great feeling about that group of people there,” Harden said. “They’re great. We had a lot of bonding time together, just to get to know each other, and not just the basketball player James but just the person off the court. It was just a great feeling.

“I felt comfortable, they felt comfortable with me. Just being honest and being myself was something that I tried to do.”

The next step will be blending with many of his new teammates — including Serge Ibaka and DeVon Hardin, two 2008 picks who spent last season overseas — during summer league play.

After tearing apart the franchise’s nucleus of Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis two years ago in Seattle, Presti is slowly moving forward with the rebuilding process.

“We have a lot of needs that we have to fill and areas that we have to improve,” Presti said. “It’s not going to happen in one draft, it’s not going to happen in one summer, but we’re just going to keep chipping away at it and trying to do it the way that we feel like will put us in the best position to build a sustainable organization.”