With plenty of questions surrounding the Oklahoma City Thunder this offseason, one can be put to rest: The organization will be bringing back Billy Donovan as head coach. In a press conference, GM Sam Presti confirmed the news.
Just to be clear, Sam Presti is saying Billy Donovan will be back.
— Brett Dawson (@BDawsonWrites) May 2, 2018
This doesn’t mean Presti is pleased with how the season ended, though. But he did have praise for how the regular season played out for the team.
“48 wins, one of 3 or 4 teams in top 10 in offense and defense, 7th best net rating in the league, 9th best record and we’re disappointed and we should be. We expected more out of the team.
Team we have now-albeit disappointing w/respect to expectations-is much further along to where we ultimately want to be w/Russell’s best years & Paul’s best years-because they’re so aligned from an age standpoint & w/Steven now accumulating experience he’s accumulated. We’re going to take where we are and we’re going to compete… keep coming, keep our eye on the ball and figure out ways we can get better. We’re going to keep standing up and finding ways we can take this group and get it to another level.”
Though they’re still waiting to see whether or not Paul George will return or go elsewhere next season, Presti is optimistic about his return.
Carmelo Anthony? Not so much. There were reports today from Sporting News that said that the organization is looking to moving on from the former All-Star forward whether through trade options or a potential buy-out.
Although it’ll be extremely difficult to get rid of his $28 million dollar contract, the Thunder need to surround Russell Westbrook with more complimentary pieces that will help him succeed, even if he is going full throttle. Steven Adams gives them a great rim protector and if George returns, that gives them three key pieces to build around. With another shooter and the players they have now, they can only improve from what they did this season.
But if George leaves and they can’t trade ‘Melo? It’ll be a rough season for Russ.
OS REWIND: Reports Come Out That Paul George is Leaving Oklahoma City