To say Maurice Cheeks knows the game of basketball and what it takes to win would be a huge understatement. A former All-Star and NBA champion as a player as well as well-respected assistant and head coach, Cheeks has been a part of the NBA in one form or another for more than 30 years.
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He knows basketball, how to be successful and how to handle the various personalities you meet in the league.
Cheeks was an assistant coach for the Oklahoma City Thunder from 2009-13, where he worked closely with former Thunder head coach Scott Brooks and formed a great relationship with point guard Russell Westbrook. He left to take over the Detroit Pistons and lasted eight months before being let go due to the chaos that is the Pistons’ front office.
Out of basketball since then, now Marc Stein of ESPN is reporting that the Thunder are very interested in bringing Cheeks back to the organization as an assistant to new coach Billy Donovan.
Hearing Maurice Cheeks has emerged as increasingly serious target for OKC as Thunder seek to put another former HC on Billy Donovan's staff
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 9, 2015
He would be going a staff that already includes former New Orleans Pelicans head coach Monty Williams and possibly James Borrego, depending on what happens with the Orlando Magic. The idea is to try and surround Donovan with as much NBA coaching experience as possible as he transitions to the NBA game.
If the Thunder and their general manager, Sam Presti, are smart, there is no way they will let Cheeks get away.
The Thunder are in “win-now” mode, possibly more so than at any other time in the team’s history. As Kevin Durant goes into the final season of his current deal and free agency looms, Oklahoma City knows that if they want to win an NBA championship, it’s now or never.
To do that, they need coaches who know how to win and, more importantly, how to coach players to win. Cheeks has proven he knows how to do that, somehow leading an inexperienced Philadelphia 76ers squad to their first playoff apperance of the post-Allen Iverson era. Cheeks knows how to get the most out of his players and then how to get even more.
With players like Durant and Westbrook, that’s a skill you can’t put a price on.
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It’s not just the players though, as he can teach Donovan a great deal as well.
Donovan will be moving to the NBA after almost 20 years coaching the University of Florida and he will not have much time to figure out the ropes. Oklahoma City wants a championship and is fully expecting Donovan to give them one. Cheeks knows a thing or two about expectations and the pressure that comes with them.
He will be able to take Donovan under his wing so to speak and help him deal with the unrealistic expectations that come with being a head coach in the NBA.
Oklahoma City should do whatever it takes to get Cheeks to sign on the dotted line. What he will bring to the franchise is invaluable and his return will no doubt be a welcome sight for Thunder fans.
It’s time for the Thunder to bring Maurice Cheeks home.
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