The Oklahoma City Thunder are reportedly "seriously" considering hiring Connecticut Huskies coach Kevin Ollie to replace Scott Brooks. Brooks may be on the hot seat, but his players love him. The fact he has the support of the Thunder locker room begs the question, would firing him help or hurt Oklahoma City's chances of re-signing Kevin Durant as a free agent in 2016?
UPDATE:
Oklahoma City has fired coach Scott Brooks, league source tells Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) April 22, 2015
Brooks is on the hot seat again. Following Oklahoma City narrowly missing the playoffs, Yahoo Sports reported the front office would evaluate Brooks before deciding whether to bring him back for next season. A new report, though, took it one step further. According to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv, Oklahoma City already has a candidate its "seriously" considering as a replacement for Brooks.
"Kevin Ollie, who led the UConn Huskies to their fourth NCAA championship in 2014, is being 'seriously considered' for the Oklahoma City head coaching job, a source close to the situation told SNY.tv," Zagoria wrote Monday.
A report Thursday from Yahoo Sports also named Ollie a potential coaching candidate for the Thunder.
It's impossible to blame Brooks for the myriad injuries, including one that sidelined Durant for most of the season, that were responsible for derailing the Thunders' season. The team's main issue with him appears to be he has yet to take Oklahoma City back to the NBA finals. That drought is compounded by Durant's upcoming free agency in 2016, which gives Presti one more season to prove the Thunder are headed in the right direction and can win Durant a championship.
Given how the locker room loves Brooks, however, the question is whether replacing him will help or hurt the team's chances of keeping Durant. Personal allegiances aside, it's also a risky move to hire a new coach with zero NBA coaching experience when the Thunder essentially have one final season to convince Durant to re-sign.
While firing Brooks could certainly backfire for the Thunder, Zagoria reported hiring Ollie, whom Durant was teammates with during the 2009-10 season, may actually help the team keep Durant in the long run.
"Ollie teamed with Thunder stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City and remains close with GM Sam Presti," Zagoria wrote. "Ollie is considered to be one of the keys to convincing Durant to remain in Oklahoma City after he enters free agency in 2016, the source said."
