OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - APRIL 21:Head Coach Billy Donovan of the Oklahoma City Thunder looks on against ... [+]
After two franchise altering trades sent both Russell Westbrook and Paul George away from Oklahoma City, the Thunder will have a very different team heading into the 2019-20 season. In fact, the coaching staff sitting alongside Billy Donovan on the bench every night will look just as different.
Three key pieces on last seasons' coaching staff have taken jobs elsewhere, leaving voids to fill. As expected, most of these voids were filled internally, promoting coaches already within the organization who understand the culture and expectation of the front office.
Outgoing:
Mark Bryant
Bryant had been an assistant coach with the organization since 2007 when the team was still in Seattle as the SuperSonics. He now joins Phoenix Suns new Head Coach Monty Williams' staff.
Darko Rajakovic
Rajakovic had been with the Oklahoma City Thunder organization since 2012 where he was a the head coach of the Thunder's developmental league team, the Tulsa 66ers. He was then promoted to assistant coach of the Thunder in 2014 where he remained until also joining the Phoenix Suns earlier this summer.
Bob Beyer
Beyer joined the Oklahoma City Thunder coaching staff as an assistant last summer after several years with the Detroit Pistons. After just one season, he is now headed to the Sacramento Kings to serve as an assistant coach.
It did not take long for Oklahoma City to fill these assistant coaching voids, as reported by ESPN's Royce Young.
Let's take a look at who will be on the sidelines during Thunder games this upcoming season.
Incoming:
Mark Daigneault
Daigneault began his coaching career in 2003 as the University of Connecticut men’s basketball student manager. He then would become an assistant at Holy Cross for three years. His next move was to the University of Florida, where Billy Donovan brought on as a graduate assistant as well as assistant to the head coach.
Daigneault ultimately spent four years working under Donovan at the University of Florida before making the professional coaching jump when Donovan was hired as head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder. He has now spent the past five seasons as the head coach of the Oklahoma City Blue as well as the head coach of the Thunder's summer league team since 2016.
Daigneault already has some experience on the Thunder bench alongside Donovan as he filled in for assistant coach Maurice Cheeks last season while he was recovering from hip surgery.
David Akinyooye
Akinyooye was an NCAA Divison II college basketball player at Adelphi University before playing one season in the NBA's D-League. After just one season at the professional level, he decided to begin his coaching career with the New York Knicks as a workout associate for the 2012-13 season.
The very next year, Akinyooye joined the San Antonio Spurs in their 2013-14 NBA championship season as a player development quality assurance assistant. He would then take his talents overseas and coach for one season in Lyon, France.
Akinyooye came back to the United States after that and took a job as an assistant coach for the Oklahoma City Blue. After spending the majority of his coaching career focused on film and player development, he would get a chance to finally spread his wings coaching the Blue.
Akinyooye is one of five new assistant coaches for the Oklahoma City Thunder heading into the 2019-20 season and has experience alongside Mark Daigneault.
Dave Bliss
Bliss is a coach who already has experience within the Thunder organization. After getting experience as a volunteer assistant at the University of Georgia, he took a job at transitioning to Virginia Commonwealth University as a graduate assistant under Shaka Smart.
Bliss took a job as a video analyst and player development coach for the Thunder in 2010 and would assume that role for five years. He would then spend there seasons with the New York Knicks as a player development coach. He returned to Thunder last season as a senior player development coach before being promoted to an assistant coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder this summer.
Bliss coached the Thunder summer league team last month headlined by Hamidou Diallo and Darius Bazley.
Brian Keefe
Keefe began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of South Florida in 2000. He then spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Bryant University. Next, he got his first NBA job with the San Antonio Spurs as a video coordinator. Keefe is the second new assistant coach hire this summer with experience under Gregg Popovich with championship experience.
Keefe joined the Seattle SuperSonics in their final season back in 2007 as the performance lead, playing a crucial role in the development of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden. In 2010, he was promoted internally as defensive coordinator of the Thunder. Several years later, Keefe joined the New York Knicks as an assistant coach once again focusing on defense and player development. He was a major part of the early development of Kristaps Porzingis.
In 2016, he joined the Los Angeles Lakers as an assistant coach followed by defensive coordinator. Keefe will now once again join the Oklahoma City Thunder as an assistant coach and will focus on keeping the strong defensive mindset the team has had in years past.
Mike Wilks
Wilks had a seven year NBA career playing for several teams including the Seattle SuperSonics and Oklahoma City Thunder. In his NBA career, he averaged 2.5 points, 1.2 assists and 1.0 rebounds per game in limited minutes.
In 2012, he joined the Thunder as a team scout. After seven years of scouting, primarily as senior pro evaluation scout, Wilks has now been promoted as assistant coach for the team.
In an NBA Press Release, Head Coach Billy Donovan spoke on his excitement for the new coaching staff. “Each of our coaches on this year’s staff has a unique perspective on Thunder basketball that we believe will be a great benefit to our players,” said Donovan. “We are thrilled to welcome Brian Keefe back to the program, and seeing Dave, Mark, David and Mike all rise through our ranks to these positions on our staff is a testament to their hard work and dedication. With Mo, Vin and Billy Schmidt also back for next season, I couldn’t be more excited to get to work with this group.”
As maybe the most interesting team headed into the 2019-20 season, the Oklahoma City Thunder look completely different from top to bottom. With an entirely new coaching staff and roster, only time will tell what type of team the Thunder will be.
Overall, all of the new hires have experience with player development, which is ultimately one of the most important things for what could be a young, rebuilding team. All five hires are coaches who have prior coaching experience within the organization and know they will be held to the highest of expectations.
