Why Alvin Gentry Belongs at the Top of Oklahoma City Thunder's Coaching List
Alvin Gentry's next NBA head-coaching call is coming. Soon.
And Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti has to be on the other end of it.
The OKC exec didn't dismiss former coach Scott Brooks for any crimes committed in this injury-riddled campaign. Rather, Presti felt that Brooks had taken this team as far as he possibly could.
"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," Presti said in a team statement.
And this team needs to evolve, progress and sustain before Kevin Durant reaches unrestricted free agency in the cap-exploding summer of 2016. The reigning MVP had a close relationship with his coach, but the Thunder clearly think their strongest negotiating ploy with KD would be helping this group get over the championship hump.
"Presti felt the Thunder might be stalling out in their developing, outgrowing Brooks' rah-rah message and in need of a more intricate, specialized plan," wrote ESPN.com's Royce Young.
If OKC wants innovation and evolution, Gentry should be a no-brainer choice.
The mind behind the Golden State Warriors' offensive wrecking ball—and a horde of elite point-producing forces before it—Gentry can bring the ingenuity that Brooks' fat-free-vanilla schemes severely lacked.
While serving as Steve Kerr's lead assistant this season, Gentry fueled Golden State's rise from 12th to second in offensive efficiency. Last season, while filling the same role for Doc Rivers, Gentry powered the Los Angeles Clippers' attack from fourth to first.
Incredibly, neither feat would rank as the offensive high point of Gentry's coaching career. That honor would go to his work as head coach of the 2009-10 Phoenix Suns, a group that produced the fourth-highest efficiency rating in NBA history.
He might not have the strongest resume as a head coach—he owns a 335-370 career record over his stints with the Suns, the Clippers, the Detroit Pistons and the Miami Heat—but when he's had players, he's helped them produce at astronomical rates.
It's been a while since a healthy Thunder team weathered any offensive struggles. But their domination at that end had little, if anything, to do with Brooks.
His schemes were too rigid and therefore too predictable. Durant and Russell Westbrook did most of the heavy lifting, running pick-and-rolls, attacking out of isolations or getting Serge Ibaka involved in some pick-and-pop action. The other players occasionally screened for the stars, but otherwise, they watched the action unfold like any other spectator.
When Durant and Ibaka went down this season, Westbrook unleashed a tour de force that fell a tiebreaker short of clinching a playoff berth. It was a remarkable to watch but also uncomfortably familiar.
Just because a guy is skilled enough to challenge two defenders—or three or four—it doesn't mean he should routinely have to wage those lopsided wars.
OKC needs more movement at the offensive end, a better flow that makes everyone a scoring threat.
"As the Thunder gathers for training camp next season, it'll feature its most gifted assembly of offensive talent ever," wrote Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman. "Now it's about getting that talent to play a more structured, fluid style, which has long been an issue."
Basically, this team's itch is the same one that led both the Clippers and the Warriors to Gentry.
When Rivers handed the offensive keys to Gentry, the plan was to "generate more motion and less standing around," as Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times wrote. When Gentry got to Oakland, the direction hadn't changed.
"We want to be able to have a flow in our offense," Gentry said, per Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle. "We want to play with rhythm, we feel like allowing the guys to do what they do best puts us in more of a rhythm than it would be (with) us trying to call every play."
There's freedom in what the Warriors do.
The fluorescent green lights for the Splash Brothers illuminate as soon as Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson cross half court. If Draymond Green or Andrew Bogut want to push the pace off a defensive rebound, they can take it up the floor themselves. They play at a frenzied pace, but it's typically a controlled aggression.
Think Durant and Westbrook would mind a few extra transition chances a night?
Anyone could get that pair to produce, but Gentry's free-flowing system could make life easier. He coaches to each player's strengths.
In other words, he'd still allow Westbrook and Durant to attack whenever they see fit.
But Gentry also would find clean shots for Ibaka, Anthony Morrow and Kyle Singler; let D.J. Augustin attack off the dribble; keep Steven Adams and Mitch McGary involved as pick-and-roll screeners; get Andre Roberson in constant motion; and—if he comes back after restricted free agency—take advantage of Enes Kanter's interior skills.
Gentry might even prove there's still hope for Dion Waiters, Jeremy Lamb and Perry Jones III. Gentry's coaching mind is that sharp, which is why OKC has to bring him aboard.
The Thunder can't afford to whiff on this hire for a couple reasons.
For one, they just fired a coach who won 67.8 percent of his games over the past six seasons. Brooks might have been a popular punching bag, but he was the most successful one you likely will ever see.
But it's Durant's impending foray into free agency and Westbrook's free agency the following year that add roughly eight million pounds of pressure to this decision. By keeping Brooks around as long as they did, the Thunder have left themselves zero margin for error.
They have two of the league's premier players on their roster right now. They won't have that luxury forever, but the right coach might help keep this superstar duo intact for the foreseeable future—if this team avoids a snag through this transition.
The complete lack of a safety net makes it somewhat surprising to see some of the names being tossed about. College coaches Kevin Ollie (Connecticut Huskies) and Billy Donovan (Florida Gators) are both reportedly high on OKC's wish list, league sources told Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski. ESPN.com's Marc Stein added San Antonio Spurs assistant Ettore Messina's name to that list.
But Ollie has reportedly removed himself from the discussion, according to CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein. Messina, formerly a Euroleague coaching star, is still completing his first NBA season. And Donovan's big-league coaching experience included only his awkward dalliance with the Orlando Magic in 2007.
Would OKC's established players respond to an unproven coach? That is a massive gamble in a year the Thunder cannot afford to take risks.
They wouldn't have to with Gentry.
"He's a guy who is well-known and well-liked around the league, respected by players, even guys who haven't played for him," ESPN.com's Amin Elhassan wrote. "To me, if we're talking about getting an established guy who can take [OKC] to the next level, it's Alvin Gentry."
He's too good to be an assistant coach. And everyone knows it.
"I hate to say it but there's a high chance we lose him in the offseason because he's just too talented of a coach to not be head coaching," Warriors center Bogut said, per CBS Sports' James Herbert.
Rivers also thinks Gentry will move on, saying, "I don't think Golden State's going to have him very long," via Bay Area News Group's Diamond Leung.
Gentry not only gives the Thunder a shot at keeping this core together, he also is savvy enough to make this perennial contender even better. But any team with a coaching vacancy also is aware of his transformative talents.
OKC has to plan for an all-out pursuit—plenty are sure to come Gentry's way whenever Golden State's season comes to a close.
Unless otherwise noted, statistics used courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.
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