OKC Thunder In the news for June 4th centers on Billy Donovan’s coaching staff movement and TI previews draft prospect Jarrett Culver.
Former and existing OKC Thunder assistant coaches making their mark:
Thunderous Intentions has touched on how Billy Donovan’s coaching staff is getting poached this offseason. Although not confirmed yet it’s likely Mark Bryant will head to Phoenix to work for another former OKC Thunder assistant, now head coach Monty Williams. While Bob Beyer is confirmed to have accepted a position on Luke Walton’s staff with the Kings.
This isn’t something new for the Thunder as recent seasons have witnessed other exits from the staff. Last season Adrian Griffin exited to work under Nick Nurse and his presence with the Raptors has paid tangible dividends.
Adrian Griffin’s work with Jerami Grant is well documented. But, as Erik Horne of the Oklahoman points out both the Griffin of the Raptors and David Vanterpool of the Blazers helped get their squads deep into the postseason with the former in the NBA Finals.
"Because of limited access, learning about assistants’ impact often comes down to talking to players, head coaches and league sources. The Thunder is one of numerous teams which don’t allow media to speak to assistants on the record. Bryant’s reputation for helping develop big men is renown. Griffin’s talent for relationship-building and his defensive acumen preceded his arrival in OKC, but his film study and scouting talent was illuminated in a piece for The Athletic in March."
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Perhaps the flashing neon light for those of us who feel Billy Donovan hasn’t gotten the most out of his assets is how much leeway he affords his assistants.
Based on where the Blazers and Raptors got in their postseason runs it can be argued Vanterpool and Griffin are having a greater impact on their current teams. Does this speak to Donovan not giving his assistants as much leeway?
Moving forward clearly new assistants will be on the 2019-20 staff and their impact will be important since the Thunder youngsters will need to play a greater role next season. Which makes growth and development more essential than ever.
Draft Prospect Jarrett Culver:
One prospect whose stock is rising is Jarrett Culver. The guard is said to be garnering interest from many of the top teams and may well end up being selected higher up the board than initially suspected.
"Like his program, Culver didn’t appear to be anything special prior to the season; most mock drafts had him in the mid-20s and some left him out of the first round entirely. He had some interesting tools and flashed some promise in his freshman year, but there was no way he’d be able to compete with what seemed to be a top-heavy freshman class.When the season started, though, Culver came out firing, averaging 19.1 points, 5.7 boards, and 4.5 assists per game to help Tech win their first ten games of the year. And as the school rose through the ranks, so did Culver’s draft stock."
Although the OKC Thunder don’t select until 21st in the first round Noah Schulte looks at Culver in our prospect series. Schulte examines the pluses and minuses and considers whether Culver is a prospect Sam Presti should move mountains to add to the team.
Keeping with the draft prospects with just 17 days until the 2019 draft Thunderous Intentions will be upping the ante with our profiles over these coming days. Please make sure to let us know which prospects appeal to you and who if any Sam Presti should move heaven and earth to land.