Oklahoma City Thunder are reportedly considering their coaching options as they decide on whether or not to keep Scott Brooks on for next season.
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Brooks has been plagued by questions over whether or not he has what it takes to take the Thunder to a title, and after their latest disappointment it appears as though the knives are out for him yet again.
Despite Kevin Durant being sidelined for a significant part of the regular season, Russell Westbrook kept OKC’s playoff hopes alive with a sensational run of form over the last few months.
However, the Thunder fell short as they were kept at bay by the New Orleans Pelicans who sealed the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with the head-to-head tiebreaker on the final night of the regular season.
In turn, that has led to questions being asked of Brooks’ ability to take this team the distance, while there is also the fact that Durant will be a free agent in 2016 and will want to be realistically competing for a championship after he re-signs.
“The Oklahoma City Thunder are expected to spend time evaluating the partnership with coach Scott Brooks before committing to bring him back for the final year on his contract,” league sources told Yahoo Sports.
“Brooks is well liked within the organization and has forged close relationships with management and players in his seven years as head coach. Several league sources close to Brooks have doubts about his job security.”
Essentially, this doesn’t come down to Brooks’ failure this year as any coach would have struggled to stay competitive with two of their best three players out sidelined with injury at key times of the campaign.
It is more focused on whether or not Brooks has the coaching ability to take this team to the next level, and that means building on what they achieved so far and going one step further and winning a championship.
While he has been criticised for his simplistic offensive calls and over-reliance on Durant and Westbrook in the past, this Thunder roster has certainly become a lot deeper this year and he will argue that he has the pieces in place to give it his best shot yet next year.
Nevertheless, time and patience is running out as if Oklahoma City fail again next year, it may lead to Durant questioning his future regardless of what he has been telling the media in recent weeks.
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