Per ESPN, the Thunder have picked up their option on the last year of head coach Billy Donovan’s contract. Needless to say, it’s a vote of confidence on the way the former Gators mentor has steered their campaigns since he arrived on the scene in 2015. There were plenty of rough moments, but more highs than lows, and not simply because he had at his disposal a roster deep in talent. Once he got the hang of the tendencies of his charges, he went about instituting a system designed to maximize their specific skill sets, to significant success.
True, Donovan’s cause depends in large measure on the willingness of top player Russell Westbrook to toe the line. In previous seasons, the latter has been both the Thunder’s greatest asset and biggest weakness, intensely bent on winning but prone to flights of individual fancy that went either way. So far through the 2018-19 campaign, however, he has managed to rein in the negative proclivities of his brightest star, taking pains to underscore that supernovas reach unparalleled peaks, but die out fast — not quite the ideal for a franchise bent on moving to the top and then staying there.
Certainly, the numbers show the strides Donovan has made year on year. Apart from so far steering the Thunder to within a game of first place in the highly competitive West, he has managed to get his charges subscribing to collective objectives. Westbrook is still Westbrook, a triple-double machine who starts the offense but, unlike before, doesn’t necessarily end it. If anything, it can be argued that the closer role has been taken over by Paul George, currently second in ESPN’s telling “RPM wins” metric.
And so the Thunder went about cementing their relationship with Donovan. They could have waited until the end of the season to do so. Instead, they got rid of any worries he might have had about his future and thereby allowed him to keep his focus on the team’s goals. And because he’s signed on until 2020, he has effectively chucked the lame-duck status that could have undermined his leadership. As it stands, Westbrook, George, and the rest have bought in, ensuring for him commitment from above and below. It’s now up to him to reward the trust with results.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.
