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The Oklahoma City Thunder have a couple big decisions to make within the next year one involving Kevin Durant if he will walk in free agency to get the most you can in a trade or to let him walk.
The Thunder also have to decide Head Coach Scott Brooks future which is directly linked with the Durant decision.
Head Coach Scott Brooks looked like one of young up and coming coaches in the league back in 2012 after guiding The Thunder to an NBA Finals appearance and winning Coach Of The Year back in 2010.
Apparently Oklahoma City will take take into consideration if Brooks can lead Oklahoma City into the Finals before picking up his team option. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
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All of this pressure stems from Durant’s looming free agency in 2016 which General Manager Sam Presti needs to be confident in his decision whether he picks that option up or lets Brooks walk.
Brooks is a good coach and I believe he can get the job done if the roster is healthy. Oklahoma City had the injuries to Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook then Serge Ibaka and Steven Adams too this season which forced them to fight an uphill battle in The Western Conference.
Brooks also had to deal with the a couple trades which were brilliant moves to add depth and young talent to the roster, but they needed time to gel.
Oklahoma City needs to stick with Brooks next season if a new Head Coach is brought in who’s to say they can utilize the players on The Thunder roster? Scott Brooks knows this roster better than any Head Coaching candidate The Thunder can bring in.
Wojnarowski also mentioned Head Coach Billy Donovan as a possible replacement if Brooks option is not picked up and that could be a mistake. To hire a Head Coach that has no NBA experience even if he’s had success at the college level just does not make sense to me.
The Thunder need to ride it out with Brooks for one season see what the team can do in 2015-2016 and go from there. Donovan could make sense for the team, but that’s when Durant is committed to the team long term.
The candidate if Brooks is let go I’d look into is Tom Thibodeau which it’s no secret he could be done in Chicago. Thibodeau has worked with both Durant and Westbrook in his time with Team USA while proving he is a good Head Coach in The NBA.
General Manager Sam Presti has the big choice to make lets hope it’s the right one for the organization or else we could be looking at the storyline of Kevin Durant moving on from Oklahoma City in 2016.
