As an organization, the NBA is obviously going through some unprecedented times, and Thunder general manager Sam Presti thought it important to make the sacrifice with his franchise and join the team in Orlando.
On Wednesday, from inside of the NBA’s bubble, Presti met with reporters and discussed a bevy of topics, including the future of head coach Billy Donovan. Donovan is in the final year of his current contract and when asked about Donovan in the recent past, Presti vowed to wait until the season ended to discuss his future.
Although he remained on brand on Wednesday, he may have tipped his hand in pushing for Donovan for NBA Coach of the Year.
This season — Donovan’s fifth with the franchise — is arguably his finest work. He helped lead the team to a 3-1 series lead over the Warriors back in 2016 and although the franchise haven’t gotten out of the first round since then, his deck hasn’t exactly been stacked.
Relative to the expectations coming into the season, one could fairly argue that the Thunder are among the league’s highest overachievers. That isn’t lost on Presti.
There’s no telling how far the Thunder will go once the NBA Playoffs begin, but if what they’ve done to this point this season is any indication of where they may end up, they certainly shouldn’t be counted out.