Scott Brooks' Firing Puts Pressure on OKC Thunder to Deliver in 2015-16 Season
After seeing three years' worth of NBA title pushes burn to the ground, the Oklahoma City Thunder have fired head coach Scott Brooks, a move so drastic it puts even more pressure on an already high-stakes 2015-16 season.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports first brought word of Brooks' exit on Tuesday, emphasizing that Oklahoma City made its decision with the bigger picture in mind:
General manager Sam Presti echoed those sentiments in a team statement that shed light on the Thunder's thinking:
"Therefore, it is very important to state that this decision is not a reflection of this past season, but rather an assessment of what we feel is necessary at this point in time in order to continually evolve, progress and sustain. We determined that, in order to stimulate progress and put ourselves in the best position next season and as we looked to the future, a transition of this kind was necessary for the program.
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Firing Brooks isn't necessarily a desperate move, but it is a big gamble. With Kevin Durant set to explore free agency in 2016, the Thunder will embark on the most important campaign in franchise history next season.
If Durant leaves, the Thunder's future—their quest to "evolve and sustain"—will go up in smoke. The only way for them to turn his free agency into a non-issue is by winning. A championship will make Durant's decision easy. Another year of coming up short will feed the fire of uncertainty.
Now, on the heels of a failed playoff bid, knowing how important next season is, you would think the Thunder consulted Durant on the dismissal of a head coach he has publicly supported in the past.
Yet according to USA Today's Sam Amick, that's exactly what they didn't do:
Independently making this decision may not seem like a huge deal. The Thunder are already under the gun next season, and it's not like Brooks guided them to a playoff berth this time around. He hasn't steered them toward a championship, either.
Context is important, though.
Brooks has never been touted as a superior tactician, but his resume remains impressive. He's maintained control of a locker room that has endured player departures (James Harden) and, most recently, myriad injuries. That the Thunder remained in the postseason hunt at all this season is something of a miracle.
Various injuries limited Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka and Durant to just 27 games of action together, per NBA.com, through which Oklahoma City was a good-enough 18-9. Prominent absences of that kind are not easy to weather. They're even more difficult to withstand when they become an annual thing.
The Thunder's championship hopes were derailed in 2013 when Westbrook went down in their opening series against the Houston Rockets, and they lost Ibaka during their 2014 postseason push, only to have him play hurt in their Western Conference Finals letdown against the San Antonio Spurs.
Toss in this season's roller coaster, and those are far from ideal circumstances. Pretty much everything that's happened since Oklahoma City's 2012 NBA Finals appearance has actually been beyond Brooks' control, as Frank Isola of the New York Daily News points out:
The Thunder, then, aren't moving on from a coach who failed miserably. By their own admission, they're rolling the dice on their future, on the chance that a fresh face and different approach will take them places they haven't yet gone.
When you've already been as many places as the Thunder have—postseasons, conference finals appearances, an NBA Finals—the journey elsewhere is a difficult one. So, as CBS Sports' Matt Moore underscores, they better know what they're doing:
To that point, potential Brooks successors are already making their way into the ring.
If we're to believe ESPN.com's Royce Young and Wojnarowski, the Thunder's search for a new coach will lead them to the collegiate ranks:
"Despite public statement, UConn's Kevin Ollie has significant interest in OKC coaching job, sources tell Yahoo. He's a top choice for Presti
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) April 22, 2015"
Make no mistake: Who the Thunder choose to supplant Brooks is important. But this isn't so much about the names as the end result.
Rocking the boat in this situation takes gall. At full strength, OKC is a championship contender, a tried-and-true powerhouse.
Anything less—or even similar—next season constitutes a failure. The Thunder are not parting ways with Brooks to do the same old thing; they're banking on what happens next to be better.
On some level, it's difficult to imagine anything better. But it's not impossible. A successful version of this change has been seen before.
It's being done right now, as Bleacher Report's Fred Katz reminds us:
None of this means the Thunder won't come to regret this decision, or that they'll match the Golden State Warriors' response to a coaching change, or that they'll succeed at all. But these are the stakes against which Brooks' dismissal must be measured.
Remember, OKC is a calculating organization. The Jeff Green and James Harden trades were no accidents. They didn't dip into the luxury tax for the first time ever this past season by chance. They know they're capped out ahead of 2015-16, according to Basketball Insiders, and are thus incapable of adding substantial talent through free agency.
Likewise, they are well-aware of Durant's impending foray onto the open market and the impact next season will have on his decision—the significance of which cannot be overstated.
A booming salary cap will leave plenty of teams positioned to make a play for Durant's services in 2016, and the Thunder are facing a season of unknowns, from player health to the coach. If anything goes wrong, if Oklahoma City comes up short yet again, he'll have a ton of options.
Durant can say whatever he wants, as can the Thunder. They can continue to wax optimistic and profess hope and loyalty to one another, just as they've always done. But winning a championship matters, and they haven't won together.
Regardless of how the Thunder got here—by their own hand (personnel decisions) or sheer bad luck (injuries)—this is the collective failure they're up against.
Next season is now about transcending that failure by any means necessary. And the Thunder have deemed Brooks' departure necessary, taking ownership of their situation, somehow packing even more pressure into a crucial 2015-16 season.
What happens now—for better, worse or much worse—is on them.
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