THUNDER NAMES COACH
Daigneault `right person' to lead Thunder
OKC assistant Mark Daigneault will be the Thunder's new head coach | Carlson: What does this hiring signal about the team? | Tramel: Hire is unsurprisingly surprising
Thunder general manager Sam Presti described Mark Daigneault as t he “right person at the right time.” As the team enters a new rebuilding phase, a first-time head coach will help lead the way.
On Wednesday, the
Thunder promoted Daigneault, 35, from assistant to head coach. The coaching search, which lasted more than two months, ended with an inhouse hire who knows the organization well.
“I want to thank Sam for always seeing me for what I can be rather than what Iam,”Daign ea ult said at his introductory press conference.
Daigneault (pronounced DAYG-nalt) was 29 when he was hired in 2014 as head coach of the G League Oklahoma City Blue. He had spent the previous four years as an assistant coach at Florida under Billy Donovan, the coach Daigneault now replaces.
Daigneault joined Donovan's Thunder staff last season as an assistant coach.
“He has the rare combination of youth and experience,” Presti said, noting the 250 G League games Daigneault has coached.
The Blue went 143107 un de rD aign ea ult and advanced to the playoffs four times in five years. He was named G League Coach of the Month three times.
While in the G League, Daigneault said there was an open- door policy between the Blue and the Thunder. Daign ea ult credited the Thunder for raising him as a professional coach.
Daigneault is the first person to be aG League head coach and NBA head coach in the same organization.
“Have I thought of the significance? I mean, certainly a lot is going through my mind,” Daigneault said, “but the thing that is really, really cool is when Sam announced t his to the staff this morning, the enthusiasm of all the people that I get to work with, that's the significance of it.”
Daigneault gave a special shout-out to his former Blue players.
“Their commitment and grind is just inspiring to me,” Daigneault said, “and today is a day that I want to give them the shirt off my back.”
Daigneault said he's already reached out to all of his Thunder players, including Chris Paul. Daigneault said Paul was congratulatory in their brief conversation. Paul, the same age as Daigneault, is a likely trade candidate who could soon be on the move.
Thunder forward Darius Bazley and guard Luguentz Do rt shared the news of Daigneault's hire on Twitter with smiling emojis.
Terms of Daigneault's contract were not released, per team policy.
Daign ea ult, from Leominster, Massachusetts — 50 miles northwest of Boston — attended the University of Connecticut from 2003-07. He did not play college basketball, but was a student manager for the Huskies under hall of fame coach Jim C al houn.Daign ea ult then spent three years as an assistant at Holy Cross before joining Donovan' s Florida staff.
“We can't underestimate the level of experience that he gained at an early age,” Presti said.
“Those experiences I think will compound over time as he gets into this role, but he also has pre-existing relationships that will help people support him. I think he will also elevate the group and the building in ways that are going to be necessary as all NBA franchises enter into a new world.”
That new world is quickly approaching.
The NBA's trade moratorium is expected to be lifted at the beginning of next week, and the draft is scheduled for Wednesday. Free agency will open days after the draft.
That' s all to say the Thunder's roster could look different by the time training camp begins Dec. 1 and when the season starts Dec. 22.
Promoting from within might offer stability in an otherwise hectic period, but Presti said that didn't factor into the hire.
“I think it's helpful, but I don't think that it's an elixir in anyway ,” Pres tis aid .“I think anybody that knows us knows that we're not going to be driven by short- term restraint.”
Pres tis aid the Thunder “talked to a lot of different people” in the search.
“I just interviewed with Sam and his group for a long period of time, and not once did they talk about the quick turnaround time,”Daign ea ult said. “The whole conversation was centered around the vision for the organization.”
Daign ea ult becomes the fourth coach in Thunder history, following P.J. Carlesimo, Scott Brooks and Donovan.
“As we reposition our franchise for future sustainable success, we want to remain cutting edge, forward thinking, asking tough questions of ourselves and pushing ourselves forward,” Presti said.
“I can't think of someone better than Mark to be the person leading that charge from the coaching position and empowering all the different people he works with, which is one of the greatest strengths that he has.”