The Oklahoma City Thunder franchise has undergone a lot of change in the four years since Kevin Durant signed with the Golden State Warriors. Victor Oladipo was brought in and traded away, Paul George was brought in and traded away, and Russell Westbrook re-signed a huge contract before being traded away for Chris Paul. Now, Billy Donovan has walked away from the Thunder, ushering in a new era for OKC.

On the Locked On Thunder Podcast, host Rylan Stiles explains why Billy Donovan’s exit from OKC marks a full rebuild for a franchise that was one Lu Dort shot away from winning a Game 7 in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

Rylan Stiles: I’ve always said the ball is in Donovan's court. Does Donovan want to be here for a rebuild? Because it's pretty clear that Sam Presti likes Billy Donovan, it's pretty clear this organization values Billy Donovan. And all along we've known the success in the postseason, or lack thereof, is not relevant when you're talking about who the next coach will be. It's about how can they develop young talent? Because for three, you know, for two, three, four years here, that's all that matters in Oklahoma City is developing young talent. And like myself, Sam Presti did think that Billy Donovan could do that. And Billy Donovan was looking at this situation like, ‘Well, why would I want to lose?' Why would I want to go through a tank?' Part of that's because he's already been in OKC since 2016, and coaches don't last that long.

I've said all along, he's not the coach when this team is playing competitive basketball again, he is not the coach when this team is in the postseason again. So he has two options. Number one is staying in the NBA. You've seen already that Philadelphia is interested in him. You've seen already that Chicago is interested in him, and maybe even New Orleans can get involved and be interested in Billy Donovan. So he has some interest at the NBA level. And if the NBA doesn't work out, he has a Hall of Fame coaching career at college. So why would he sign up to lose in Oklahoma City, and not only sign up to lose, but basically sign up to be booted out once this team is finally done losing, because that's what's probably going to happen to this coach, whoever they hire.