Seattle general manager Sam Presti addressed the media on Tuesday to discuss the team’s preparation for the upcoming NBA draft.

With six picks in this year’s draft, and 13 picks in the next three years, the team is expected to be an active participant on Thursday.

The Sonics already have been involved in a couple trade rumors with the draft approaching.

One has Seattle trading its No. 4 overall pick and power forward Chris Wilcox, heading into the final season of a three-year deal that will pay him $6.75 million, to Miami for power forward Mark Blount and the Heat’s No. 2 overall pick, and a chance to select Kansas State power forward Michael Beasley, a Washington D.C. native and close friend of Durant.

Another rumor has the Sonics looking to trade down with the hopes of selecting UCLA product Russell Westbrook. Seattle reportedly is enamored by Westbrook because of his on-the-ball defense and overall athletic ability, but may not consider him worthy of the No. 4 pick.

Presti (shown in these photo's by Associated Press photographer Ted Warren) addressed the rumors and other questions regarding the draft in 20-minute conversation with the media. You can listen to part of that conversation here.

And here are some answers to some of the questions heading into the draft.

Q: If the first two guys go as planned and you do pick at No. 4 is there one guy that you want?

Presti: We certainly have a direction that we’re leaning. You always have to be ready for every scenario. And that’s not without a lot of thoughtful discussion and debate and preparation that goes into it. But we feel good about where we are.

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Q: With Seattle holding the 24th and 32nd overall picks, talk about the depth of talented players in the draft

A: I think there will be talented players in those areas. Obviously it depends on how things shake out in front of you and how things come together. But across the board there are definitely talented players through the first round.

Interesting I think is that a lot of the projected lottery talent are freshman and younger players. And with that comes a smaller window of opportunity to evaluate their body of work. So that may contribute to the challenge of separating those players for different team.”

Q: Obviously one of the first questions guys will ask is what about the future of this team in this city. How do you approach that?

Presti: We talk about the situation like we talk about it with our players. We talk about what we’re trying to do basketball-wise in the division that our team is in. And also about the fact that we choose to focus on the things we can control. And the things we can control happen on the basketball floor, happen in this building. And that’s really how we address it.

Q: How actively have you been shopping the first pick, whether it’s to move up or down?

Presti: I wouldn’t say we’ve necessarily been active. We have to evaluate all of our options. We have to listen. When the phone rings we have to pick it up. We call other teams. We look to improve our ball club any way that we can. But unless something really strikes us and we feel like it’s going to make us a better team, we’ll have that pick. But up until the last pick you kind of have to be ready for anything.

Q: Is this a draft worth moving up or down, whether it be with the later picks, or even with the fourth overall pick because of the depth of the draft?

Presti: I think every team has to evaluate that based on assets they have available. And I think that every team has to evaluate that based on what’s in front of them and what’s behind them, and in terms of value to their team and what they have on their draft board. So, if there’s a person that you feel can really help you, and you have the opportunity to acquire them, whether it’s backcourt or frontcourt, you have to pursue it.

Q: How is the international depth this year, compared to previous years when you heading that up for San Antonio?

Presti: It’s a little bit different. I think when we went through that period of time where there was just a huge run of international players in the lottery and mid-first round, and I don’t think you’re going to see that prevalence this year. There’s Gallinari from Italy, who is a fantastic player, a special player. And then I think there’s a number of other guys I think will kind of be sprinkled in, in the first round in different places.

In the second round generally there’s international players taken there. In years past I think you might of seen a few more candidates taken first, and less players are looking to kind stash picks and keep them overseas. You’ll probably see most of them in the second round.

Q: Give us a health report on Swift, Gelabale and Sene.

Presti: Robert was in today. He looks good and continues to work toward getting back on the floor. He’s made steady progress. Mo (Sene) is the same thing. He’s worked hard on his rehab. He’s been very diligent and has been in the weight room every day, which has been kind of interesting as we bring all of these draft prospects in and he’s in there working out. … But he looks good and his strong. Gelly (Gelabale) is obviously overseas, but things have progressed for him as well and he’s rehabbing over there.

Q: Have you made a decision in terms of addressing Swift and Gelabale’s future? (both player’s contracts end on July 1).

Presti: We’re going to continue to evaluate it. We’ll have some time in terms of making a final decision. We like both of those players. We’re going to have to evaluate how we look after the draft and make decisions from there.