NBA Coach of The Year Check-In
By: Wayne
The coach of the year award in the NBA is the most reliant on team success of any accolade. Since 2010, every winner has coached a team that finished in the top 3 of their conference. Seven have finished first in their conference. Historically, winning 50+ games is the standard for this award. Of course, the more wins a coach has the better candidate they will be. Special consideration will be given to teams who have made a seismic jump in their record this year, especially if the coach is in his first year with the team. With all that said, let’s get right into it.
#1: Brad Stevens — Historically, the coach of the year award in the NBA has gone to the coach of one of the top few teams in the league. The Celtics are 11–4 so far this season and look like much more of a Finals contender than I expected going into the season. Stevens has been able to turn the losses of Al Horford, Kyrie Irving, Aaron Baynes, and Marcus Morris into a positive for the team. And it’s easy to see why. Those guys tended to be ball stoppers, Kyrie in particular, of course, and Stevens Ball is predicated on constant movement and teamwork. Guys like Gordon Hayward and Kemba Walker are much better fits for this system, and Stevens’ coaching talent is shining now that he is coaching the guys he wants on his team. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have taken major steps forward, thanks to inspiration and mentorship from Stevens, and the Celtics have vastly outperformed expectations this year. The team has the 4th best defensive rating in the NBA, thanks to their switchability, length, and athleticism. With the 76ers and Bucks both struggling to some extent, and certainly looking worse than last year, Boston seems to have a chance to grab the one seed in the East and make a Finals run. If they finish with the most wins in the Eastern Conference, despite their offseason losses and the injuries they have already faced, Stevens has to be considered the frontrunner for coach of the year.
#2: Nick Nurse — Toronto Raptors fans entered a state of panic after Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green departed this offseason. Yeah, they just won their first Finals, but it was unclear if the team would even be in playoff contention after losing 2 starters, including the Finals MVP. It didn’t feel like the Raps got their fair due in terms of being celebrated as the defending champs. Kawhi is the first Finals MVP to ever leave for another team immediately after winning the championship. This offseason quickly saw basketball media turn its collective focus towards the West Coast and away from the champions up north. But the Raptors took that as more fuel for their chippy, hard-working group and have gotten out to their best start in franchise history. Pascal Siakam looks ready to take the next leap in becoming a superstar, true number one option on his team. And Nick Nurse has this team playing great basketball as they attempt to secure a top-4 seed in the East. The Raps are currently tied with the Celts and Heat for the 2 seed in the East. Toronto is in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive rating, typically the hallmark of a real contender, and the team is 4th in the NBA in net rating. They should continue their great early season pace with plenty of depth on the roster, and a top-4 finish will make Nurse a surefire finalist for this award.
#3: Erik Spoelstra — The Heat looked prime to get back into serious playoff contention after their sign-and-trade for all-star wing Jimmy Butler this offseason. I thought they could challenge for maybe the 6 or 7 seed in the East, but I never expected them to be this good this quickly. Despite Butler missing a handful of the team’s games, Spo has found reliable depth all over the roster to help the team win games. Kendrick Nunn and Tyler Herro have been revelations as rookies and seem primed to be finalists for the Rookie of the Year award. Justice Winslow, Bam Adebayo, and Duncan Robinson are all young guns who Spo has coached up a level this year. Goran Dragic has embraced a 6th man role and seems reinvigorated on offense. The Heat Spo’s game planning and scheming has always been well-appreciated, as he was a former video coordinator for the Heat. He knows a thing or two about the tape. But he has found himself as a talent developer recently, and he now seems to be one of the better leaders of young talent in the NBA. This Heat team continues to outperform expectations and Spo is a huge reason why. The sky is the limit for this group as new teammates build chemistry and Butler logs more games with his new team.
#4: Monty Williams — Ask NBA fans over the past few years which team they would least like to be a fan of, and you’ll invariably hear responses of the Hornets, Wizards, Knicks, and Suns. The Suns haven’t made the playoffs since 2010. The team won 19 games last year, and despite boasting young studs in Devin Booker and DeAndre Ayton, the team couldn’t string together good performances. Phoenix seems to be rising this season. Williams has installed a team culture and identity that hasn’t been seen since Mike D’Antoni used to roam the sidelines calling out plays for his 7-seconds-or-less offense. The crazy part of the Suns’ success is that nothing this offseason led me to believe they would see a major improvement. Losing TJ Warren for nothing, signing Ricky Rubio to what I thought was an inflated contract, trading down in the draft for Cam Johnson and Dario Saric instead of drafting Jarrett Culver, and signing confusing role players like Frank Kaminsky and Aaron Baynes had me questioning the direction of this team. But the Suns are 8–8 despite DeAndre Ayton’s suspension and injuries to Ricky Rubio and Aaron Baynes (who has quietly become one of the best 3 point shooting big men in the NBA). The Suns are 13th in net rating, 10th in pace, and 10th in effective field goal percentage. This has all been with the most difficult schedule in the NBA (per ESPN). Phoenix looks ready to make a jump into the playoffs, and if Monty Williams is able to help the team get there for the first time in a decade, he’ll be a strong candidate for coach of the year.
#5: Doc Rivers — I was in favor of Doc winning coach of the year last season, taking a plucky group of veterans to 48 wins and a playoff berth. The team’s closing projected win total was 37.5, so they vastly outperformed expectations. Nobody was sleeping on the Clippers this year after they landed Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in the offseason. But consider this — Leonard and George have only played in a combined 18 games this year, and the Clippers are still 12–5. This is with the 5th most difficult schedule in the NBA (per ESPN). You might be inclined to say that the star power on the Clippers should make Doc ineligible for this award, but it seems highly unlikely George and Leonard play more than 60–65 games each. If the Clippers are still able to secure a top-3 spot in the Western Conference, Doc should garner some serious consideration. The Clippers grit and hustle from last season has carried over to this year, and Doc has helped guys like Rodney McGruder and Moe Harkless fit right in. The team has sorely missed the shooting of Landry Shamet, but Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell continue to be one of the most lethal pick-and-roll combos in the NBA. The Clippers are deep and talented and have one of the best-formed identities in all of basketball. Leonard and George have been integrated seamlessly, credit to Doc’s patience and player-oriented coaching style. The Clippers have a shot to finish the one seed in the West even without their stars playing every game, and Doc would be the catalyst for that type of season.
Honorable mentions: Frank Vogel (Lakers), Mike Malone (Nuggets), Mike Budenholzer (Bucks), Rick Carlisle (Mavericks), Quin Snyder (Jazz), Mike D’Antoni (Rockets), Nate McMillan (Pacers)
