Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan's graduate assistant at Florida, Matt McCall, thinks Donovan will have more ball movement next season sans Russell Westbrook.
Donovan’s Thunder teams have finished last in the league in passes per game even though Westbrook averaged double-digit assists the last four seasons under Donovan.
“It’s not a knock on Russell Westbrook — the guy’s an MVP, a triple-double machine,” McCall said, via Brett Dawson of The Athletic. “But I think Coach (Donovan) is gonna be able to get more of that (ball movement) with this team going forward. I think he’s gonna be able to get back to that.”
Chris Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will be running the Thunder's offense next season. They both are less ball-dominant players than Russell Westbrook, though neither guy is as explosive or a lethal scorer like Russ.
For the first time with the Thunder, Billy Donovan won't have Kevin Durant, Paul George or Westbrook, a superstar who can take over the game in the fourth quarter. For OKC to win games next season, it will need all the players on the team to play at a high level every single night, and ball movement will be the key to that.
Paul has always been a willing passer. He reportedly clashed with James Harden on the Houston Rockets last season because of a lack of ball movement on offense.
All signs point toward Paul and Donovan meshing well on the Thunder next season.
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