Durant seemed pretty bummed about Brooks being out, which changes his free agency situation after next season. If he doesn't have good karma with the next coach, I can see him leaving OKC and going to a place that would respect him more.
Give me durant, Westbrook, ibaka, and harden for half the tenure, and I bet you I can win 62% of the games has OKC head coach as well. Brooks is an average head coach that OKC hung onto for too long. They should've fired him a while ago. He's not the only problem though, the front office is also pretty terrible. They got lucky in a few drafts, but now those pieces are leaving for greener pastures because OKC can't bring in quality vets or role players.
Exactly what coach is available for the Thunder - that is any better?
Rumor has it thibideau will be fired after the playoffs. A lot of people are high on Freddy hoiberg out of Iowa state (I'm not sure he's still coveted after the early tourney exit though). I think Avery Johnson would give up his gig at Alabama to coach Durant and Westbrook. There's probably a few im missing as well.
So far I haven't heard any names with a proven track record worthy of being called better than Brooks. Personally I never was high on him, but I think he did a pretty decent job considering that the OKC screwed up royally when they let both Harden and Perkins leave.
I would put all three at least on par with Brooks. I'd rate them all above Brooks actually because they have done it with less talented teams and have a better track record than Brooks outside of OKC. OKC was Brooks first job head coaching and he benefitted from it. Brooks just backed into the job of coaching an elite team and for some reason hasn't been fired yet.
My next question is why? What have they done to demonstrate that they are on par with Brooks? For the record - doing a great job at the collegiate level is not the same as the NBA level. That is not proof that they are on par
They could hire Larry Brown away from SMU. He's been proven better. But he has also proven he will only be around for 2-3 years before he bolts for somewhere else. May be a good fit as OKC's window may not be much bigger than that.
Coach K would be foolish to leave Duke. He's got the keys to the castle and can do no wrong. I think if he wanted to test the NBA he would have done it before now. Though this would be a good opportunity for him, I just can not see him leaving.
Yeah. Why give up a dynasty where you are basically worshiped by the students? Plus, the court is freaking named after him. Also, college head coaching careers are more solid than NBA careers, where if you make the playoffs but lose, you are out.
I would be wary going after someone with no NBA talent for success at the college level. It is not the same game and is definitely not the same job. There have been more memorable big name failures than successes going from college to the pros. Not saying it couldn't work, but it is risky.
Larry Brown is a good coach, but isn't there an age factor? In addition he has a long history of not staying in one place. He doesn't play well with upper management. I am not convinced that any of the coaches mentioned can do any better than what Brooks has done.
