Examining 30 OKC Thunder head coach candidates

With a myriad of head coach candidates to select from who’ll be tapped to lead the OKC Thunder into the next phase of the franchise?

Of the 30 teams in the association, the OKC Thunder is the only team that doesn’t currently employ a head coach. It’s presumed that situation will change shortly and likely this coming week.

With one candidate quarantining the thinking is there is a front runner but we’ll save that announcement until there is confirmation.

This season was one that shook up the coaching ranks dramatically with almost a third of the teams making a change. The eight open spots that have been filled are:

• Philadelphia 76ers – Doc Rivers (Clippers – fired)
• LA Clippers – Ty Lue (promoted from an associate role on Rivers staff)
• Indiana Pacers – Nate Bjorkgren (Raptors lead assistant)
• Brooklyn Nets – Steve Nash (had a specialized role with Warriors)
• New Orleans Pelicans – Stan Van Gundy (TV analyst, Pistons last coaching gig)
• Chicago Bulls – Billy Donovan (Thunder contract complete -mutual agreement to move on)
• New York Knicks – Tom Thibodeau (last with Timberwolves)
• Houston Rockets – Stephen Silas (Mavericks assistant)

OKC Thunder on the precipice of hiring a new head coach

Oddly, at least three coaches and front-offices mutually agreed to part ways. Of those, the Brooklyn Nets and Kenny Atkinson reached this decision before the end of the season. It was clear the superstars on the club wanted a new voice at the helm. With the hire of former player Steve Nash, it sure would seem former OKC Thunder superstar Kevin Durant was the driving force behind the shift.

Mike D’Antoni of the Rockets and Billy Donovan were the other two coaches who exited via mutual agreements. More precisely, these two coaches were at the end of contracts. In D’Antoni’s case, it seemed ownership played a role either by not extending his contract earlier or what the team was willing to offer moving forward.

Of these three examples, Billy Donovan’s case is the least contentious. Although the speculation has been Donovan wasn’t willing to ride out years of tanking and rebuilding that’s not necessarily the main reason for his exit.

Simply put, it was Donovan’s best opportunity to cash in on a season of overachievement. His peers tapped him (tied with Mike Budenholzer) as Coach of the Year and the media placed him third behind winner Nick Nurse.  Just like players capitalize on strong seasons typically landing their highest contract and longest terms, this was Donovan’s opportunity to do the same.

Conversely, the Thunder are headed into an era of rebuilding and youth. The trio of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort, and Darius Bazley will be joined by more youth as those copious draft picks Sam Presti amassed get conveyed. Given those facts, it makes sense for Presti to hire a coach with player development strengths and a candidate who would earn a more economically friendly contract.

The head coach candidate series:

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• 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
• Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
• Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder

Over the past few weeks, we’ve examined numerous candidates for the OKC Thunder open coaching vacancy. In case you missed any of those articles you can click the links below:

• Three potential candidates with G-League head coaching experience (click here)
  • Mark Daigneault
  • Chase Buford
  • Nate Reinking
• Three former players with strong coaching backgrounds (click here)
  • Jacque Vaughn
  • Darvin Ham
  • Sam Cassell
• Becky Hammon – breaking the glass ceiling (click here)
• A trio of candidates from the Popovich coaching tree (click here)
  • Tim Duncan
  • Will Hardy
  • Becky Hammon
• 10 NBA assistant coaches to consider for OKC Thunder head coach (click here)
  • Jamahl Mosley (Mavericks)
  • Wes Unseld Jr, David Adelman, Jordi Fernandez (Mavericks trio)
  • Charles Lee, Vin Baker (Bucks duo)
  • Pat Delany, Steve Hetzel (Magic duo)
  • Chris Finch (Pelicans)
  • Sergio Scariolo (Raptors)
• 7 candidates with ties to the Thunder franchise (click here)
  • Adrian Griffin
  • Brian Keefe
  • Mark Daigneault
  • Kevin Ollie
  • Maurice Cheeks
  • Nick Collison
  • David Vanterpool
• Thunder should usurp Clippers to hire Chauncey Billups as head coach (click here)
• 5 dark horse head coach candidates including (click here) 
  • Jerry Stackhouse
  • Brent Barry
  • Will Weaver
  • Phil Handy
  • Sarunas Jasikevicius
• Will Weaver leaps to the top of head coach candidate list (click here)

It’s expected one of the 30 names on that list is about to be announced as the OKC Thunder next head coach. At that point, many of the names on this list might get revised as potential assistants to help the new bench boss move the Thunder forward in this new era.

Having looked at the list is there someone you prefer or a candidate T.I. didn’t include that should’ve got consideration? Let us know in the comments section.