On Tuesday, our Community Shootaround discussion focused on NBA head coaches who might be on the hot seat this spring. For today’s discussion, it seems fair to turn our attention to the coaches on the other end of the spectrum who are in the running for 2019’s Coach of the Year award.
Generally, the coaches who receive the most consideration fall into at least one of three categories: They lead their team to one of the NBA’s best records, their team significantly outperforms expectations, or they manage to overcome a slew of injuries and other obstacles to keep their team in the hunt.
Based on the first two of those criteria, Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer should receive strong consideration. While most pundits predicted a bump in the standings for Milwaukee this season, not many saw this coming — the Bucks’ 46-14 record is the NBA’s best, and the club has a top-five offensive rating to go along with its league-best defensive rating. On the surface, the Bucks’ roster – beyond superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo – didn’t look as deep as Boston’s or Toronto’s, and the starting five didn’t look as dangerous as Philadelphia’s, but Budenholzer has the team in the driver’s seat in the East.
Over in the West, Michael Malone‘s Nuggets have pulled off a feat similar to Milwaukee’s. Denver is just one game back of Golden State for the conference’s top seed, despite not having a particularly star-studded group behind Nikola Jokic. The Nuggets weren’t necessarily viewed as a lock to make the playoffs entering the year, so Malone’s work should be lauded.
Nate McMillan meets all three of the criteria listed above — the Pacers have a top-five record in the NBA (40-21), they’ve exceeded expectations so far, and they’ve done it without star guard Victor Oladipo for much of the season. Oladipo, who is out for the rest of 2018/19, appeared in just 36 games for Indiana. While most NBA fans and observers leave the Pacers out of the “big four” teams in the East, McMillan’s squad remains ahead of the Celtics and Sixers in the standings.
Other candidates worthy of consideration include Kenny Atkinson (Nets), Doc Rivers (Clippers), and especially Dave Joerger (Kings). Their teams were all once viewed as probable lottery participants, but they’re now very much in the playoff mix. Steve Clifford is on the verge of entering that discussion as well, with the Magic making a postseason push this month.
Nick Nurse deserves a mention as well. The Raptors were expected to be a contender coming into the season, but things weren’t expected to come together quite this quickly. Nurse has Toronto on nearly a 60-win pace, and has done so while dealing with Kawhi Leonard‘s “load management” and injuries to several important rotation players.
What do you think? Who do you believe is the frontrunner for 2019’s Coach of the Year award? Are there are any underrated candidates you believe deserve serious consideration for the honor?
Jump into the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!
1. Mike Malone
2. Atkinson
3. Budenholzer
4. Joeger
5. Nurse
Nurse and Malone are my picks.
1. Budenholzer – no one had the Bucks doing this well
2. Malone – impressive rise of the Nuggets
3. McMillan – still the 3 seed in a top heavy East
4. Atkinson – great turnaround this year
5. Nurse – decent job handling what’s thrown at him
Wow. Really?
Make the case for Malone. Coach Bud has completely transformed a middling team into a #1 seed. They are #1 DRtg and #2 ORrg. If he doesn’t win in a landslide I’ll be shocked.
Top 3 Bud, Malone and Atkinson. McMillan and Joerger round out top 5. Nurse has done well but most agree Raptors were considered a top 3 team in the East and they’re 2nd. Oh and don’t forget bout Pop. No Leonard, No Parker and Manu, Murray goes down and West is stacked and he still got them in the playoff picture.
Budenholzer in a runaway.
I think Budenholzer wins. The Pacers are saying we might not have the most talent in the east, but we can compete with anyone. That’s because of McMillan. He’s showing people last season was no fluke.
Bud 1
Joeger 2
Malone 3
Atkinson 4
…
Brad Stevens 28
I feel like it’s Budenholzer or Malone this year.
Atkinson who has done more with less than anyone could have predicted.
Milwaukee’s offense has great flow and unity. They can beat you with their system, like the Warriors, Nuggets & Pacers. Pacers can get to the second round if they hold on to that #3 seed, but I presume that would happen after the voting is over.
Bud
looks like coach Bud just got crop dusted…
Jim Boylen