Coaching and development:
The trio of the Celtics, Clippers, and Pacers can point to wise coaching selections which have helped their teams grow and sustain playoff appearances.
For Brad Stevens, this past season offered his greatest test and most criticism as he navigated a predominantly young club who excelled last season with both stars (Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward) missing the playoffs due to injury. Finding a way to appease the youngsters while integrating the stars back into the fold proved costly these playoffs and points to lessons Sam Presti can learn from.
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Billy Donovan may well excel this season with a group of youngsters. That said, as Presti builds the new club he needs to keep in mind Donovan had issues with meshing stars and young assets.
Frequently, Billy D would pull the plug on a player after one mistake and he seldom provided consistent minutes per game which is a difficult situation for players to adjust to, especially the younger players. Presti can ill afford to cling to retaining Donovan if this situation arises again once the Thunder adds top tier talent.
Conversely, both Doc Rivers and Nate McMillan got the most out of teams either missing superstars or with injured stars and either could’ve won Coach of the Year this past season for getting their clubs to overachieve in spite of the adversity they faced.
Again, the takeaway here is for Presti to pair the right coach to the OKC Thunder in whatever form the new team takes. Or to hire a coach with the goal of having his squad emulate the coaches personality and then select the appropriate players who’ll excel under their leadership.