Carlesimo to remain Sonics' coach

It took just one word from Sam Presti to end weeks of speculation about the future of P.J. Carlesimo.

When asked Thursday morning if the coach would return next season, the Sonics general manager replied: "Absolutely."

Two weeks earlier during a season-ending news conference, Presti was vague, dodging three questions about Carlesimo's tenure. The noncommittal response led to unsubstantiated reports that Presti was considering firing Carlesimo after a franchise-worst 20-62 season.

The rumor mill churned more fervently this week when Dallas released Avery Johnson. In the next few weeks, coaching victims could include Phoenix's Mike D'Antoni, Detroit's Flip Saunders, Toronto's Sam Mitchell and Atlanta's Mike Woodson, which could give teams the pick of three of the past four coach-of-the-year winners.

Presti declined interview requests the past few days before meeting with the media Thursday during an event in which Kevin Durant won the rookie-of-the-year award.

The Sonics GM briefly danced around the issue of Carlesimo returning before saying emphatically that he will not make a coaching change.

"Anytime you go through that type of year, you sit down, you have to review and you look at different things," Presti said. "We've done that and we're both committed to continue to build the best basketball operation that we can and we're going to move forward."

Carlesimo, who has a 203-284 record in six-plus seasons as an NBA head coach, said he never asked for a vote of confidence from management or ownership.

"It's not a question of assurances," he said. "You know, you [only] get told if you are not coaching. Sam and I have had great conversations. I'm happy here. I love it here."

Last July, the Sonics hired Carlesimo as their 15th coach, his first NBA head-coaching job since Golden State fired him in December 1999. Presti, an assistant GM in San Antonio when Carlesimo was a Spurs assistant, chose him over former Seattle assistant Dwane Casey.

Carlesimo's biggest shortcoming was failing to improve the Sonics' defense. Carlesimo is touted as a defensive-minded coach, but the Sonics allowed 4.3 more points per game this season than they did last season under offensive-minded coach Bob Hill.

Still, Durant is happy his coach is returning. He said speculation that Carlesimo's fiery demeanor has turned off players is not true.

"P.J. is an enthusiastic guy," Durant said. "Those are the type of coaches I've been around all my life. So it was easy for me to transition to a guy like that. My college coach was like that, and my AAU coach was like that. He's a great guy to play under. He brings that fire every day at practice and to the games. And that's the type of coach you need.

"I'm glad he's around, and I'm glad he's going to be around for a while. That's the guy that's going to help us move forward."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.