Will Weaver emerges as serious candidate for Thunder head coaching job

The Thunder are the only NBA team without a head coach… But that will certainly change soon.

With news of the NBPA’s tentatively approving the league’s proposal to begin the 2020-21 season on Dec. 22, the league’s teams will convene for training camps on Dec. 1.

Hopefully, Sam Presti will have hired a head coach by then.

Perhaps the Sydney Kings’ Will Weaver will be his man.

Late Thursday night, after the news of the NBPA’s tentative approval was broken, Olgun Uluc of ESPN Australia reported that Weaver — the current head coach of Australia’s National Basketball League’s Kings — was in Oklahoma City in mandatory quarantine prior to an in-person interview for the team’s head coaching job.

It’s difficult to imagine that the Thunder would have Weaver travel to the United States from Australia and quarantine unless it had serious interest in hiring him for the job. Weaver, who served under Brett Brown in Philadelphia and Kenny Atkinson in Brooklyn, has emerged as a popular name among the ranks of up-and-coming NBA head coaches. He was believed to have been in the running for the Pelicans job before it went to Stan Van Gundy.

From Uluc:

Sydney Kings head coach Will Weaver is currently in quarantine in Oklahoma City as he continues to emerge as a candidate for the Thunder’s vacant head-coaching position, sources have told ESPN…

The Sydney Kings confirmed on Friday that Weaver was granted permission to travel to the United States to pursue NBA opportunities.

To this point, the Thunder organization has taken its time naming a successor for Billy Donovan. It is now the only team in the NBA that doesn’t have a head coach.

Now that the 2020-21 season is going to begin next month, though, it is imperative that the team do so quickly.

Don’t be surprised if Will Weaver ends up being tapped.