Billy Donovan spoke extensively on Kevin Durant’s whirlwind free agency for the first time during an appearance on The Vertical Podcast With Woj. Durant spurned Oklahoma City, the organization for which he had played for his first nine years in the NBA, and signed with rival Golden State.
Donovan, the second-year Thunder coach, said he never felt totally convinced Durant was headed back to the Thunder, but he thought their meeting went “very, very well.” Interestingly, Donovan said something that counters the narrative that Durant shocked the Thunder: he said Durant was transparent during his free agency.
“I think Kevin on the front end was very, very honest,” Donovan said. “When the season ended, he was going to go through this process, and he was going to take a meeting with us obviously first and then he was going to have some other teams he was going to meet with.”
Surely some people will read into Donovan using the phrase “on the front end,” but Donovan did not seem surprised that Durant chose Golden State.
Donovan’s team finished second to the Warriors in both the Western Conference Playoffs and the Hunt for Durant.
“I thought the meeting that we had went very well,” the former Florida Gators coach said. “I think we talked about basketball. We talked about our team. We talked about direction, talked about obviously his leadership, his role – all those kind of things. And I think, leaving the meeting, it was very, very, I thought, positive. I thought it was very, very clear. I think there was direction on both sides.”
As Pro Basketball Talk pointed out, Donovan was a college coach for 26 years, so he is perhaps more accustomed to decommitments and losing recruits than other coaches—though we have no evidence Durant committed to the Thunder.
He also spoke on the Thunder’s current roster, and how Russell Westbrook will adjust to now being the Main Guy, with both Durant and Serge Ibaka on other teams. Donovan spoke on how Westbrook handled a similar opportunity with the injury-depleted Thunder two years ago, when Westbrook came this close to practically single-handedly getting his squad into the West's No. 8 seed.
“Russell, he tried to put the team on his back and say, ‘OK, I’ve got to get us to the playoffs,’” Donovan said. “I think because we’re starting out without those players available, we’ve got some time to evolve and develop, I think, a style of play and a system, and certainly he’s going to be the catalyst and the key to it.”
Donovan handled this interview with class. Though the Thunder are depleted, with Donovan and General Manager Sam Presti running the show, don’t be surprised if they’re still a contender.
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