2022-23 NBA Coach of the Year Midseason Odds

The NBA's Coach of the Year betting market is chock full of contenders and a first-time coach is the favorite.

The competition for NBA Coach of the Year is stiff with a few first-time head coaches up for the honor along with candidates who have won it before.

Celtics coach Joe Mazulla is the favorite at the All-Star break for his part in piloting Boston to the best record in the NBA to date. Though he began the season with the interim tag, he has since been named the team’s official head coach and has +175 odds to win Coach of the Year.

Kings coach Mike Brown, in his first year at the helm in Sacramento, is next with +200 odds. Denver coach Michael Malone is not far behind at +300 and then there’s last year’s runner up, Taylor Jenkins of the Grizzlies, who has +500 odds.

2022-23 NBA Coach of the Year Odds

Joe Mazzulla +175

Mike Brown +200

Michael Malone +300

Taylor Jenkins +500

Jacque Vaughn +800

Doc Rivers +1100

Mike Budenholzer +1400

Willie Green +1400

JB Bickerstaff +1400

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The winner of the award has typically coached their team to the best or second-best record in the league in recent years, which was the case for Suns coach Monty Williams last season. Most of the top contenders this year either fit that description or are successfully in the midst of a dramatic turnaround.

The Celtics certainly fit the best-team-in-the-league mold, with an NBA-best 42–17 record, which puts them on pace for a 57-win season, according to FiveThirtyEight. Mazulla took the reins before the 2022/2023 season from Ime Udoka, who was suspended for a violation of team policies after he coached Boston to the Finals in his first season with the team.

That run was largely predicated on the team’s league-best defense last year, which hasn’t fallen off much with Mazulla on the sideline. The Celtics are No. 4 in defensive rating, No. 3 in offensive rating and first in net rating. Boston also has the best road record in the NBA at 18–10.

Brown has the Kings in the upper echelon of the West at 32–25, good for third place in the conference and eighth-best in the league. Sacramento has already passed its 2022 win total of 30 and is two victories away from going over on its preseason win total of 33.5.

The Kings’ offensive rating leapt to No. 2 this year from No. 24, which is the primary reason the franchise is seemingly on the cusp of breaking its 16-year playoff drought, the longest in NBA history.

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Malone’s Nuggets are just one game behind the Celtics in the standings at 41–18, which is also good for a five-game lead on second place in the West. Denver finished second in the West in 2018-19 with a 54-28 mark, its best record during Malone’s tenure.

FiveThirtyEight’s win total projection has the Nuggets down for a 56–26 mark, which would be the fourth-best in franchise history and their most wins in more than a decade. Defense remains an issue for Denver, though it ranks first in offensive rating after a sixth-place finish in that metric last year.

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The Grizzlies may very well finish second in the conference for the second season in a row—they are currently 35–22—but Jenkins’s squad hasn’t done much to build on last year’s success. A 2–8 stretch that began in late January hampered their chances of drawing even with first-place Denver. Memphis’ offense has slipped from No. 4 to No. 15, but its defense has taken a step forward from No. 6 to No. 3.

Further down the list, Jacque Vaughn’s hopes were largely dashed at the deadline when the Nets traded Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Still, he has Brooklyn in fifth place in the East after Steve Nash was fired seven games into the season and he took over a complicated situation. Vaughn has the fifth-best odds at +800 and has a 32–19 record to his name.

76ers coach Doc Rivers and Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer, both previous Coach of the Year winners, both have a shot to finish with the best record in the league. Rivers’ Philadelphia team is third in the East at 38–19 and he has +1100 odds while Budenholzer’s Milwaukee squad is second at 41–17 and he’s available at +1400.

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