OKC Thunder HC Mark Daigneault Now Leads Odds for Coach of the Year Award
The Oklahoma City Thunder continue to show more and more why they should continue to be more seriously considered playoff threats. The trio of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren provides an offensive approach that is incredibly tough for opposing teams to guard.
Still, with the system established by Mark Daigneault, something that he's been working on since joining the team in 2020 as the head coach, there are plenty of impact players beyond the trio of stars.
Standing at 21-9 on the season and No. 2 in the Western Conference, the Thunder is rapidly becoming a team people are looking at much more intently for when playoff time comes around. Not only is the team taking care of bad teams -- as they should, which helps the win total -- but they're having statement wins against other teams towards the top of the league.
With this, Mark Daigneault is getting more respect for Coach of the Year. According to ESPN BET, he now leads the odds to win the award, sitting at +150 odds. This comes just a season after Daigneault finished No. 2 in the voting for Coach of the Year.
Last season, Daigneault led the Thunder to a 16-win jump, finishing the season 40-42. This time around, he's got the team off to its best start before the new year since 2016.
In his career as a head coach, which began in the 2020-21 season after he took over from Billy Donovan, Daigneault has a 107-159 career record. With the trajectory of the past two seasons, it's hard to imagine Daigneault doesn't flip his career win percentage to a winning record.
With one of the youngest teams in the league, it's hard to imagine the Thunder falls off as a team, and a top-three finish in the conference would likely have Daigneault winning Coach of the Year.
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