Earlier on Thursday, the Thunder officially announced former University of Florida men’s basketball coach Billy Donovan as Scott Brooks’ successor. Now, know the offer it took to lure him away from Florida, according to Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski:
Donovan was making $3.7 million per year at Florida, which also has no state income tax, so the Thunder needed to blow him away with a contract offer, and they did. Donovan’s $6 million annual salary is right in line with the recent wave of coaching hires in the NBA. Steve Kerr’s deal with the Warriors and Derek Fisher’s deal with the Knicks are each paying $5 million per year, and like Donovan, neither of them had any NBA coaching experience when they took those jobs. Donovan’s new contract is still a little short of the $7 million per year each that Doc Rivers makes with the Clippers and Stan Van Gundy makes with the Pistons. Their salaries are higher because they are also running basketball operations for their teams.
Billy Donovan’s five-year deal with Oklahoma City is worth approximately $30 million, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) April 30, 2015
Donovan was making $3.7 million per year at Florida, which also has no state income tax, so the Thunder needed to blow him away with a contract offer, and they did. Donovan’s $6 million annual salary is right in line with the recent wave of coaching hires in the NBA. Steve Kerr’s deal with the Warriors and Derek Fisher’s deal with the Knicks are each paying $5 million per year, and like Donovan, neither of them had any NBA coaching experience when they took those jobs. Donovan’s new contract is still a little short of the $7 million per year each that Doc Rivers makes with the Clippers and Stan Van Gundy makes with the Pistons. Their salaries are higher because they are also running basketball operations for their teams.