The NBA coaching scene appears to be in great shape these days. Veteran coaches like Doc Rivers, Rick Carlisle, and Mike Brown, who all stepped into head coaching roles around 20 years ago, still lead their teams. Rivers is with the Bucks, Carlisle is with the Pacers, and Brown is with the Knicks.
At the same time, there’s a new generation of coaches making their mark, like Jordi Fernandez of the Nets and Will Hardy from the Jazz, who have both done commendable work with teams struggling in the draft lottery.
This season, two teams from each conference have shown remarkable improvements compared to last year. The Spurs, sitting third in the West behind the Thunder and Nuggets, and the Pistons, who stand at the top of the East, just 2.5 games back from the second-place Knicks.
Interestingly, the head coaches for these teams, JB Bickerstaff of the Pistons and Mitch Johnson of the Spurs, rank second and third respectively in odds for Coach of the Year, trailing only Thunder coach Mark Daigneault.
Evaluating what truly defines a great coach goes beyond just win-loss records. Frequently, Coach of the Year awards acknowledge those whose teams surpass expectations, and the Pistons certainly fit that description.
Remarkably, the Pistons turned things around, jumping from only 14 wins in the previous season to a surprising 44 last year. This season, they’ve been given a win prediction of 46.5 and have already posted a strong 21-5 record by Christmas.
Despite losing key scorers like Malik Beasley, Dennis Schroder, and Tim Hardaway Jr. in free agency, the Pistons have somehow improved their offensive play. Cade Cunningham has played a role in this, but Bickerstaff’s gritty coaching style has significantly impacted the team’s performance, leading to the second-best defense in the entire league.
If the Thunder manage to win 74 games, Daigneault will likely become the favorite for Coach of the Year. But if they don’t quite reach that, and the Pistons keep up their current momentum, it could be challenging to overlook Bickerstaff’s achievement.
Meanwhile, the Spurs are benefiting from Coach Johnson’s leadership, who took the reins as interim head coach last season after Gregg Popovich. The Spurs began this season with a projected 40-some wins and have started off well, largely thanks to standout performances from Victor Wembanyama.
Even after Wembanyama sustained an injury, the Spurs managed to keep afloat, holding a record of 8 wins and 4 losses when he was healthy and an even more impressive 9 wins and 3 losses while he was sidelined.
Currently, the Spurs are on track for 59 wins, although that pace is likely to taper off as the season carries on. Still, the possibility of them finishing among the top four seeds in the West is notable, especially for a team initially viewed as a potential play-in participant.
Johnson’s odds for winning the Coach of the Year could hinge on Wembanyama’s health, but given his contributions so far, those 10/1 odds certainly seem worth considering.
