The pursuit to land Florida Gator’s Billy Donovan have intensified, with the Gators head coach and OKC having entered contract negotiations per a league source.
Oklahoma City Thunder General Manager Sam Presti has made it clear that this coaching vacancy is Donovan’s to lose, now the question is does Donovan want the job and leave Gainesville.
Presti is currently in Florida working on a contract framework with Coach Donovan, who currently is making 4 million dollars a year to coach the Gators, and his NBA contract annually could command as high as 6 million.
Now aside from money, the huge concern for Donovan is the contract negotiations of the Thunder duo of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, who will be free agents in the summer of 2016.
Again, Presti has picked as Donovan as his guy, and is not consulting Durant nor Westbrook on approval of his selection.
Donovan is a proven winner winning back to back National Championships with current NBA stars and former Gators Joakim Noah, Al Horford, and Corey Brewer in 2006 and 2007, and reaching the Final Four 4 times (2000, 2006, 2007, 2014). It’s been reported that Durant has been reaching out to former Gators to get a better feel on Donovan as a man and as a coach.
If last year’s acquisitions of Enes Kanter, Dion Waiters, and D.J. Augustin all remain on the Thunder roster with a healthy Durant, Westbrook and Serge Ibaka who missed the last month of the regular season, Oklahoma City will be a favorite for the 2015-2016 season.
The Thunder recently fired Scott Brooks, who only reached the NBA Finals one time during his tenure. The current roster is anxious and hungry to return to the NBA Finals and win it all.
Time will tell on Donovan’s decision to become the Thunder coach, pushing Presti to get this deal done immediately.