ODDS-ON FAVORITES TO WIN COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD

Greetings, basketball fans. Welcome back to our NBA coverage here at Latest Basketball News. As we approach the halfway mark of the 2023-24 NBA season, there will be discussions about which players will win various individual awards such as MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player, and so forth. 

What often gets lost in these discussions are the men/women who are tasked with bringing out the best in those players. Unfortunately, the coaches get very little credit when the team is successful, but they get a lion’s share of the blame when things do not go well. You need to look no further than the last offseason.

In 2021, Mike Budenholzer helped guide the Bucks to their first championship in five decades. But when the Bucks were eliminated by the No. 8 seed Miami Heat in last year’s playoffs, he was shown the door. 

The same can be said about Monty Williams. His Suns teams played against the Bucks in the 2021 NBA Finals. Despite grabbing the first two games of the series, Milwaukee went on to win the series in six games. Although he was just two years removed from that Finals appearance, the team opted to part ways with Williams even though they sacrificed a great deal of roster depth to acquire Kevin Durant before last year’s trading deadline. 

There are a few other examples that fall into this category, but I am more than sure that you get the point by now.  So, without further ado, let us look at the coaches who currently have the best odds to win the Coach of the Year award, according to FanDuel sportsbook.

Fifth-Best Coach of the Year Odds: Joe Mazzulla (+2200)

Following the departure of Ime Udoka, Mazzulla was given the reigns to take over one of the most storied franchises in the history of the NBA. The Celtics were a top-five team at both ends of the floor. Boston would eventually advance to the conference finals and face a familiar foe in the Miami Heat. Miami jumped out to a 3-0 series lead, but Boston forced a Game 7 back on their home court at TD Garden. The Heat eventually won the series finale, which led to some roster changes during the offseason. 

Despite having a slightly different roster, the Celtics are once again one of the top teams in the association. They are ranked fourth and fifth, respectively in offense and defense. Given that fact, it should not come as a surprise that they have the best record in the league at 26-6. The Bucks and Sixers will have something to say about which team comes out of the East. But based on what we have seen thus far, Boston looks like a complete team and this squad will be difficult to beat in a playoff series.  

Fourth-Best Coach of the Year Odds: Nick Nurse (+2000)

Nick Nurse helped guide the Toronto Raptors to the franchise’s only championship back in 2019. But just like the other two coaches that were mentioned earlier, he too found himself out of a job after the 2022-23 season. After the Sixers were eliminated by the Celtics in the conference semifinals despite being up 3-2, the front office tapped Nurse as the guy to help elevate the team to the next level.

While the thought of being picked to coach the team with the reigning MVP on its roster was appealing, the saga between James Harden and Daryl Morey certainly did not help make his transition to a new team an easy one by any means. Fortunately, the Sixers have moved on from Harden. Not only that, but Joel Embiid is once again playing at an MVP level. Tyrese Maxey has blossomed as the team’s second scoring option. 

Additionally, Philly is ranked fifth in scoring (121.0 PPG) and sixth in scoring defense (110.9 PPG). The Sixers are ranked fourth in offensive efficiency (121.6 points per 100 possessions) and they have the fifth-best defense in the league, giving up 111.5 points per 100 possessions. 

Furthermore, the Sixers have the second-highest point differential in the league at plus-10.1. Simply put, this team is clicking on all cylinders. If they can stay healthy, this team has more than an outside shot at finally getting past the second round of the playoffs. 

Third-Best NBA Coach of the Year Odds: Jamahl Mosley (+470)

The coach coming in at the No. 3 spot on the list is Jamahl Mosley. The Magic welcomed him to the fold as the 15th coach in the history of the franchise. However, the positive results were not immediate. During the 2021-22 campaign, Orlando finished 22-60, good enough for 15th place in the eastern conference.

While the next season would see improvement, it was not significant. During his second year at the helm, the Magic finished 13th in the conference with a 34-48 record. Even more important, the team had now missed the playoffs in three consecutive seasons.  

The 2023-24 season has been a different story altogether. First, the Magic have the fifth-best record in the conference at 19-13. Although the Magic are still a middle-of-the-pack team from an offensive standpoint, they are getting the job done defensively. Orlando is allowing just 110.7 points per contest, which is the fifth-best mark in the league. 

Not only that, they also have the second-best defensive rating (110.8 points per 100 possessions) in the league as well. Yep, there is plenty of basketball left to be played this season. But if the Magic can continue to play at this level during the second half of the season, they should be able to earn a playoff spot – something that was not a certainty when the season began. 

Second-Best Coach of the Year Odds: Chris Finch (+230)

The guy with the second-best odds to win the Coach of the Year award is Minnesota Timberwolves coach, Chris Finch. Minnesota hired Finch back in February 2021. The team eventually finished with a 23-49 record en route to missing the playoffs for the third straight season.

Over the next two seasons, the team won 46 and 42 games, respectively. Unfortunately, the only reward for the team’s incremental improvement was a pair of first-round losses in the postseason. Fast forward to the present and it is easy to see that the makeup of this team is very different.

Like the Magic, the Timberwolves are a mediocre offensive team at best. But at the other end of the court, this squad rises to the occasion. Minnesota is ranked first in scoring defense, giving up just 107.4 points per contest. Minnesota also has the best defensive rating in the league as well – allowing 108.4 points per 100 possessions.  

The narrative does not stop there, though. The Timberwolves are holding opponents to 44.3 percent shooting from the field – which happens to be the lowest percentage in the league. Minnesota boasts the fifth-lowest opponent conversion rate from beyond the arc (33.9 percent). 

Anthony Edwards is averaging career-highs in points (26.0), 3-point shooting (37.6 percent), and free-throw shooting (83.9 percent). Meanwhile, Rudy Gobert – a frontrunner for the Defensive Player of the Year award – leads the team in rebounding (12.0) and blocked shots (2.2). 

Call me crazy, but even though Minnesota’s roster is relatively young (average age of 26.2 years), I do not see this team being an easy first-round out as we have witnessed the last two seasons.  

Best NBA Coach of the Year Odds: Mark Daigneault (+140)

Finally, we have arrived at the No. 1 spot on the list.  The guy who is currently the odds-on favorite to win the Coach of the Year award is Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault.  The front office tapped him to be the team’s head coach following Billy Donovan’s exit to become the coach of the Chicago Bulls.

Before becoming the head coach, Daigneault coached the Thunder’s G-League affiliate team for five years. During those five years, he posted a .572 winning percentage and won three division titles while earning four postseason berths. 

His first two NBA seasons were difficult, considering OKC won just 22 and 24 games. In Year 3, while the Thunder failed to qualify for the playoffs for the third straight season, they did well enough to earn an appearance in the play-in tournament after posting a 40-42 record during the regular season. 

This season, the Thunder have improved in multiple areas.

• OKC had the 13th-best offensive rating last season, but this year the team has the sixth-best offensive rating (120 points per 100 possessions).
• In 2022-23, the Thunder were ranked 19th in scoring defense. This season they are ranked 11th in this category.
• OKC was ranked 14th in defensive rating last season. This season, the team has the sixth-best defensive rating in the association.

In addition to the above numbers, the Thunder have the third-highest shooting percentage in the league at 49.9 percent. The team’s 39.1 percent shooting from 3-point range is tops in the league, just a shade better than the Indiana Pacers, who are shooting 39 percent from beyond the arc.

OKC also has the third-best point differential at plus-8.5. Their 22-9 record is the second-best record in the Western Conference and the fourth-best record in the NBA. In other words, there are not too many things that this team does not do well. 

Yep, it is way too early to determine if this team is a legitimate title contender right now. But if they make it to the playoffs, the Thunder have the potential to be a matchup problem even for some of the perennial playoff contenders in the conference.