Nba Coach Of The Year 2020 Odds
The National Basketball Association's Coach of the Year is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1962–63 NBA season.The winner receives the Red Auerbach Trophy, which is named in honor of the head coach who led the Boston Celtics to nine NBA championships from 1956 to 1966. The winner is selected at the end of the regular season by a panel of sportswriters. 8 hours ago A pair of big movers up the odds board and a pair sliding downward is the big story in the Defensive Player of the Year futures market. Let’s dive into the updated odds. Odds courtesy of Fanduel Sportsbook. Sign up for FanDuel Sportsbook today and get your first bet risk-free for up to $1,000! Get the most recent odds for all 2020 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year contenders, and see how the odds have changed throughout the 2020 NFL season. NBA NHL MLB NCAAF NCAAB Upcoming Match-ups.
With about one quarter of the NBA season left, it’s time to start looking at end season awards with plenty of places where you can cash in.
The 2020 Coach of the Year award has some nice value to it, as oddsmakers aren’t ready to commit to a heavy favorite.
PointsBet has some intriguing odds for this year’s Coach of the Year award, with Nick Nurse (+125) at the very top. Is Nurse worth the bet though?
Nick Nurse Has A Case For Coach of the Year
Nurse is a great bet for the award at this point in the season. The Raptors lost one of the best players in Kawhai Leonard and possibly one of the best spot-up shooters Danny Green. Who replaced these two? Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Cameron Payne, and Stanley Johnson.
At the 55-game mark this year the Raptors are 40-15. Last year at this mark, they had only won 39 games. Oddsmakers set their win total at 46.5 before the season started and SB Nation had them going 49-33. They are also coming off of a 15-game winning streak.
With the emergence of Paskal Siakam and Fred Van Fleet along with the addition of Marc Gasol, the Raptors should finish the year strong. What Nurse has done with this club given the circumstances is nothing short of spectacular.
Spolestra Coach of the Year Dark Horse
After signing Jimmy Butler, of course Miami is a better team from last year. However, Miami did lose Hasaan Whiteside and legend Dwayne Wade. Erik Spoelstra should get some love at +600.
With Bam Adebayo averaging 16 points and 10 rebounds per game, Heat fans aren’t missing Whiteside terribly. Also, Kendrick Nunn and Tyler Herro provide great young talent.
The Heat are an astounding 22-3 at home this year. You may say he has the pieces to get it done, hurting his chances to win the award. Spoelstra is working with a lot less talent though, and has them competing at a high level every night. If Miami makes a run to close out the season, Spoelstra can very well pass Nurse in the odds and win the award.
As the 2019/2020 regular season winds down, the genuine NBA Coach of the Year candidates have emerged in plain sight. There’s still some time for a few teams to sneak their way into the playoffs, but for the most part, we know what to expect.
However, this year’s race to be named as the top coach in the league isn’t just about the usual suspects.
Names like Doc Rivers and Mike D’Antoni aren’t being considered, while notables like Greg Popovich and Steve Kerr are nowhere on the radar.
According to one of the best NBA betting sites, this coveted award is down to eight individuals. Here’s who you should be looking at for your 2020 NBA Coach of the Year betting.
Mike Budenholzer leads the way, and it’s really tough to argue against him. The Bucks are on their way to potentially winning 70 games and have consistently been the best team in the NBA since the season began.
Coach Bud won this award last season for the second time in his career, and it’s possible that could hinder his chances of being recognized for a third time. Either way, it’s evident he is more than deserving.
With that being said, I think a case can be made for why every man on that list could win the 2020 NBA Coach of the Year award.
Let’s start with the frontrunner.
Mike Budenholzer – Milwaukee Bucks
Mike Budenholzer was honored as the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for the second time of the season in February on the heels of a 10-1 record and an incredible 15.2-point differential. In fact, Milwaukee is on pace to break the record for the largest single-season point differential in NBA history (Los Angeles Lakers 1971-’72) if they can just keep doing what they’re doing.
It’s nothing against Coach Bud, but the only reason he’s not my pick to win the NBA Coach of the Year award is because this type of dominance was actually to be expected. Milwaukee won 60 regular-season games last year (best record in the NBA) and has watched the reigning MVP play at an even higher level.
This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t applaud Budenholzer for the work that he’s doing, but let’s take a step back and appreciate the totality of this roster. Heck, throw me in as the head coach, and this squad probably still wins more than 60 games!
Nobody thought the Raptors would be sitting at 43-18 and atop the Atlantic Division standings the season after Kawhi Leonard left them. Well, nobody outside of Nick Nurse and the Toronto organization, that is.
Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised when you look at what the 52-year-old head honcho from the Midwest achieved on his way to earning a gig in the NBA.
Nurse had no choice but to learn how to adapt on the spot during his time in the G-League, so mixing and matching different parts on a nightly basis is nothing new. There’s no panic if Pascal Siakam and/or Marc Gasol are missing a game. It’s the “next man up” mentality anytime Fred VanVleet or Kyle Lowry is sidelined.
The fact that the Raptors currently own the #2 seed in the East and are arguably the biggest threat to the Bucks in the East needs to be commended.
Billy Donovan – Oklahoma City Thunder
Remember the theory that shipping Russell Westbrook out of town meant the Thunder were on their way to a rebuild? The problem is no one sent that memo to Billy Donovan, and he’s instead positioned this team to win 50 or so games and surge into the postseason.
To understand how tremendous of a job the longtime head coach at the University of Florida is doing this year in OKC, look no further than his team’s record against the spread (ATS). The Thunder have covered the spread a Western Conference-leading 62.3% of the time, demonstrating first-hand that this group is performing well above expectation.
No Oklahoma City player averages more than 19.2 points per game, but Donovan has four individuals who pour in at least 17.5 points on a nightly basis.
Centered around the idea that the Thunder were no more than an afterthought back in October, Coach Donovan should be right in the thick of the NBA Coach of the Year conversation.
Erik Spoelstra has been coaching the Heat since the 2008 season and is yet to claim an NBA Coach of the Year award. Nevertheless, the work he has been putting in this year could lead to his first Red Auerbach Trophy.
Miami won 39 games a season ago and finished three games back of the Magic in the Southeast Division. They even shared an identical record with the Charlotte Hornets.
What a difference a year makes.
Miami is cruising to a division title and should end the year with around 51-54 victories. Of course, the addition of Jimmy Butler and the progress of Bam Adebayo are big reasons why, but Spoelstra discovered undrafted second-year players like Kendrick Nunn and Duncan Robinson when nobody else would give them a chance.
The Heat are 26-4 at home and will have a sincere chance of advancing to the conference finals. I sure didn’t think that was possible at the start of the season. Did you?
Frank Vogel – Los Angeles Lakers
One might think it’s easy to coach a team that’s led by a couple of superstars, but managing the personalities and attitudes of everyone involved is a tall order. You wouldn’t think that’s the case judging by how well the Lakers have played, but that’s because Frank Vogel has done a masterful job integrating all of the parts.
LA is coasting to the top slot in the West as they bring a 47-13 record into their highly anticipated Friday night matchup with the Bucks. The Purple and Gold lead the NBA in field goal percentage (48.7%) and rank 5th in the NBA in terms of how many points they allow.
I’m not giving all the credit to their 46-year-old coach, but I’m certainly extolling him for what his squad has been able to accomplish. After compiling a disastrous 54-110 record in two seasons with Orlando, it was unclear if/when Vogel would get another opportunity to prove his worth.
Jeanie Buss rolled the dice last May, and it looks like the move is paying off.
Having a healthy Kristaps Porzingis playing alongside Luka Doncic always meant the bar would be set high in Dallas, but some think the Mavericks are poised to make some noise in the postseason.
Here’s a team that won 33 or fewer games in each of the last three seasons and was a laughingstock in the West. Fast forward to today, and the Mavs could end up surpassing 50 victories and still have an opportunity to catch the Rockets and win the Southwest.
In fact, Noah Davis recently showcased Dallas as one of the great NBA division bets to target before the season ends.
Carlisle has allowed Doncic to guide this team as he has recognized how truly special of a talent the Slovenian baller is. Rick has plugged in unheralded guys such as Dorian Finney-Smith and Maxi Kleber and has instilled confidence to the point that the two are now able to flourish.
When I’m looking for an NBA Coach of the Year candidate, I’m searching for a guy whose team vividly showed signs of improvement from one year to the next. That’s exactly what Rick Carlisle has done in the “Big D” in 2020.
Michael Malone – Denver Nuggets
Many people are lauding the Nuggets for currently owning the second-best record in the Western Conference, so it’s natural to assume Michael Malone is going to receive some credit. Considering I’ve stated that Denver would be a top-two team in the West since before the season began, this is just business as usual.
What impresses me about the way Coach Malone goes about his craft is that he’s not afraid to trust his role players and will stick with the hot hand if he senses it’ll be beneficial. The Nuggets habitually utilize a stable nine-man rotation and have no qualms extending minutes even beyond that.
Michael Porter Jr. is still coming into his own, and starters Jamal Murray and Paul Millsap have both missed a chunk of time. Nikola Jokic hasn’t taken any noticeable strides forward, and the Nuggets didn’t add perennial all-stars over the summer like the Lakers, Clippers, Jazz, and Rockets all did.
And yet, the Nuggets still have a cushion in the Northwest Division and could be staring at a #2 seed.
That’s a job well done.
If Memphis hangs on and slips into the playoffs, Taylor Jenkins should absolutely be thrown into the NBA Coach of the Year discussion. Most NBA analysts couldn’t pick Jenkins out of a lineup, but don’t let that confuse you into thinking this dude isn’t the real deal.
Taylor is a former assistant of Mike Budenholzer in Atlanta and in Milwaukee who fully understands what it takes to be successful at the highest level. Things might have been looking grim when Memphis was 13-22 back on January 3rd, but that’s when the Grizz started beating up on some really good teams.
Ja Morant and company are now in control of their own destiny as we play out the final 20 games in the regular season.
With pieces like Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. in place — along with young studs like Brandon Clarke and Dillon Brooks — the Grizzlies are a team that is most definitely on the rise. Without the leadership of Taylor Jenkins, I’m not so sure they would have made the jump so quickly.
NBA Coach of the Year Prediction
I knew Milwaukee would be the class of the Eastern Conference, and let’s not forget that Miami and OKC added Jimmy Butler and Chris Paul to their rosters, respectively.
All Toronto did was watch arguably the best player in the NBA bolt out of town and not get anything in return, plus they didn’t acquire any substantial pieces during the summer or at the trade deadline.
Nba Coach Of The Year 2020 Odds College Bowl
I think we can all agree that Nick Nurse needs to be praised and is the best choice to win the 2020 NBA Coach of the Year award.