Thunder GM 'anticipates' Billy Donovan will remain in Oklahoma City next season
The Oklahoma Thunder seem to be sticking with Billy Donovan.
Thunder general manager Sam Presti said on Monday that while he hasn’t yet sat down with Donovan, he “anticipates” the head coach will return next fall for his fifth season with the team, according to The Oklahoman.
“I wouldn’t expect anything to change,” Presti said, via The Oklahoman. “There’s nobody that works harder than him.”
Oklahoma City picked up the fifth-year option on Donovan’s contract in December, which will mark the final year of his original five-year deal with the team.
The 53-year-old has compiled a 199-129 record with the Thunder, though has gone just 4-12 in the playoffs the past three years. Oklahoma City fell to the Portland Trail Blazers in their opening round playoff series this year in five games. The team hasn’t made it out of the first round of the postseason since Kevin Durant left in free agency in 2016, Donovan’s first year with the organization.
Despite the lack of postseason success, Presti stood by his head coach on Monday and sounds willing to work with him to improve the team going forward.
“Our job isn’t just to sit here and react to things,” Presti said, via The Oklahoman. “It’s to be methodical and understand how we can get better, what’s the plan for that. Last year, the team wasn’t good enough defensively and we put our heads together and became better.
“The margins of error are small. We’re not entitled to anything. We don’t come into the year expecting to be automatically served up. But you’ve also got to perform when you get here.”
Presti sticking by Russell Westbrook
Thunder star Russell Westbrook had yet another tremendous season this year.
The 30-year-old averaged a triple-double for the third straight season, putting up 22.9 points, 11.1 rebounds and 10.7 assists per game, a career-high.
He had his issues, too, though. Westbrook led the NBA with 16 technical fouls this season, which resulted in a one-game suspension. He continually went back and forth with Portland guard Damian Lillard throughout their playoff series, too, though Lillard insisted later that the pair are actually “really cool” off the court.
Perhaps most notably, however, was Westbrook’s expletive-filled confrontation with a Utah Jazz fan in Salt Lake City last month — which resulted in him being fined $25,000 by the NBA and a lifetime ban for the fan.
Despite those issues, Presti is sticking by his point guard of more than a decade. In his mind, Westbrook has more than earned that support.
“Russell Westbrook has been here 11 years,” Presti said, via The Oklahoman. “The reason there’s so many people in the room and people watching Russell Westbrook has helped us achieve a certain level. With all that being said, he’s not perfect. None of us are. I’m not going to let 11 years of his contributions and performance be completely overshadowed by a couple of pretty tough months.
“As a leader of the team and face of the franchise, we’ll have those conversations. Would we prefer he handled a few things differently? Yeah, we’ve talked about that. He made an adjustment to that particular approach and I think that’s a sign of growth.”
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