It’s been ten years since the Oklahoma City Thunder last had an NBA Coach of the Year.
Scott Brooks took home the honor following the 2009-10 season after guiding the Thunder to a 50-32 overall record and their first appearance in the postseason since 2004-05. The 50 victories that year were an improvement by 27 wins from the previous season when OKC went just 23-59.
After trading away both Russell Westbrook and Paul George during the offseason, the Thunder were projected to win just 31.5 games coming into 2019-20, a figure they blew past at the beginning of February.
With 18 games left on the schedule prior to the league-wide suspension, Oklahoma City was sitting at 40-24, in fifth place in the Western Conference, with a chance to finish with a better record than last year’s team.
It’s because of the Thunder’s unexpected success that Nick Crain of Forbes believes that if the season ended today, head coach Billy Donovan should be in the running for Coach of the Year.
So far, the 2019-20 Thunder under Billy Donovan has a better win percentage than that 50-win team under Brooks and have the 9th best win percentage in NBA. Donovan has done an exceptional job staggering the three outstanding point guards on the Oklahoma City roster, ensuring there is always at least one quality ball handler and scorer on the floor at all times. He has gotten the most out of every player on the roster, getting great production from every individual member of the team.
One of the players that has exemplified sacrificing for the greater good of the team has been Dennis Schroder.
Schroder is good enough to start elsewhere in the league, but has accepted his role as the sixth man off the bench this season in Oklahoma City. In Donovan’s three-guard rotation, Schroder has thrived: averaging over 19 points per game and career-highs in field goal and 3-point percentage.
Many believe that Schroder will be in the conversation for Sixth Man of the Year, with writers from Sports Illustrated already casting their votes for the Thunder guard if the season ended today.