Billy Donovan and Thunder part ways

[gundysburner]

Thunder tickets will be cheap for a minimum of the next 5 years or so. Probably give out free hot dogs with a ticket. That's a "we're going to be in tank mode for a while" hire.

Eh, maybe.

And I say that because they've got a boatload of draft picks & the recent number of coaches we've never heard of doing pretty well the last few years & Presti's San Antonio blueprint. Nobody had ever heard of Popovich before he oversaw a dynasty there. Not sure many of us would've had a clue who Nick Nurse was.

It seems a little like NBA head coaching candidates are somewhat mirroring the shift in philosophy regarding NFL QB's. Used to be, get the veteran guy, pay him a ton, & trust that his experience would produce better results than an unproven rookie. Now, every team's looking for the rookie they can pay nothing for the first five years, but use the savings to put the best team around him & roll the dice.

You'll always have the retreads & names everyone knows, like D'Antoni, Rivers, etc..., but more & more organizations seem to be looking to younger guys that none of us have heard of, but have pretty decent pedigrees. I guess I like seeing some fresh faces, too, instead of the same old guys just getting handed the gig.

 

[OrangeFan69]

Super letdown of a hire. Sure, he could be the next Spoelstra or Popovich; But this looks like more of a substitute coach hire than a real commitment to excelling.

The Thunder let three league MVPs and likely hall of fame players go for:
One year of Kevin Martin (Harden)
Jeremy Lamb (Harden)
Draft Pick that became Steven Adams (Harden)
Draft Pick that became Mitch McGary (Harden)
One year of Chris Paul (Westbrook)

It just seems like an organization that isn't trying.

 

[jetman]

Super letdown of a hire. Sure, he could be the next Spoelstra or Popovich; But this looks like more of a substitute coach hire than a real commitment to excelling.

The Thunder let three league MVPs and likely hall of fame players go for:
One year of Kevin Martin (Harden)
Jeremy Lamb (Harden)
Draft Pick that became Steven Adams (Harden)
Draft Pick that became Mitch McGary (Harden)
One year of Chris Paul (Westbrook)

It just seems like an organization that isn't trying.

Substitute coach hire is right. No one worth a damn is going to want to put their career record on the line with how bad the Thunder will be for the next several years. This is a tear down and rebuild and as they start getting pieces through the draft and when they start trending back upward, they'll bring in someone else and this guy will go back to being an assistant somewhere.

 

[LS1 Z28]

Steven Adams got traded today for more draft picks. It feels like the Thunder have traded away every asset they had other than SGA. The next few years could be rough. I hate tanking, but it would be cool if Cade Cunningham ended up in OKC though.

 

[Coolfogg]

Substitute coach hire is right. No one worth a damn is going to want to put their career record on the line with how bad the Thunder will be for the next several years. This is a tear down and rebuild and as they start getting pieces through the draft and when they start trending back upward, they'll bring in someone else and this guy will go back to being an assistant somewhere.

They had serious financial issues, which shocks me with the hoford deal. 33 yo center on a big contract. That all but assured a adams trade. I think I would have kept adams contract over horford. He would have been easier to move next year. Nerlens will probably get a new deal, when he was in the last spot for the thunder

 

[Chunks]

They had serious financial issues, which shocks me with the hoford deal. 33 yo center on a big contract. That all but assured a adams trade. I think I would have kept adams contract over horford. He would have been easier to move next year. Nerlens will probably get a new deal, when he was in the last spot for the thunder

Yeah that one caught me off guard as well. I heard an "expert" talking about it and they said the Thunder would likely move him again before the deadline to a team needing a big man. I don't know though, with that contract the team will have to have cap and be desperate. I think it would have been easier to move DG than Horford. Maybe I'm just kind of bummed to lose Adams. I think he could have been a huge piece in a turnaround a vet leader, if he wanted to stay through that... Like a Nick Collison.

It will be interesting to see Adams with Zion in a complete overhaul in New Orleans. It's weird Zion is now the longest tenured pelican on the roster

 

[Jostate]

Okay, I'll admit I don't pay as much attention to the Thunder as I once did (fair weather and what not).

I turn on a game the other day and see the head coach of the Thunder, I was pretty sure he is in one of my Son's classes at PC North. Then I look at his resume' and see he was assistant coach at Holy Cross and head coach of the G league Thunder team. Is that different than D league?

Anyway, he's bound to be making a little more them I am, although probably not much. And they may have him on an hourly thing, so there's that. So I'm thinking of applying next time there's an opening.

Could someone explain to me, in 100 words or less, why a guy with similar qualifications to the night manager at Burger King is a head NBA coach?

 

[osupsycho]

Okay, I'll admit I don't pay as much attention to the Thunder as I once did (fair weather and what not).

I turn on a game the other day and see the head coach of the Thunder, I was pretty sure he is in one of my Son's classes at PC North. Then I look at his resume' and see he was assistant coach at Holy Cross and head coach of the G league Thunder team. Is that different than D league?

Anyway, he's bound to be making a little more them I am, although probably not much. And they may have him on an hourly thing, so there's that. So I'm thinking of applying next time there's an opening.

Could someone explain to me, in 100 words or less, why a guy with similar qualifications to the night manager at Burger King is a head NBA coach?

He has proven that he knows how to develop young players. Thus he is a great fit for what they are trying to do right now. Doubt he lasts once he actually gets this done though. At that point they will want a coach that knows how to win games.