The 2024-25 NBA common season is three-fourths of the best way full, and, surprisingly, many of the awards races are both wrapped up or lackluster.
Oklahoma Metropolis’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander seems to have a slight lead over Denver’s Nikola Jokic within the MVP race with no different contender in sight. The Defensive Participant of the Yr award may have an asterisk as a result of San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama is ineligible.
In the meantime, San Antonio’s Stephon Citadel will win Rookie of the Yr in a bland draft class. 2021 No. 1 general decide Cade Cunningham of Detroit is working away with the Most Improved Participant award. And Boston’s Payton Pritchard goes to win an uninspiring Sixth Man of the Yr award. (Let’s hope this doesn’t encourage Invoice Simmons so as to add a bonus episode of “Celtic Metropolis.”)
However wait! The Coach of the Yr award — usually an afterthought within the awards race — is basically enjoyable this season with the next wonderful candidates. (Information are by means of Tuesday’s video games.)
The Fixer: Kenny Atkinson | Cleveland Cavaliers (55-10)
The Cavs had been fairly good the previous two seasons below J.B. Bickerstaff, however Atkinson took basically the identical group and made it nice. Traditionally nice.
Earlier Cleveland groups had been constructed across the similar core 4: guards Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland and energy ahead Evan Mobley and heart Jarrett Allen. They had been nice at protection however couldn’t determine find out how to stability touches for the 2 guards or find out how to house the ground with the 2 large males.
Atkinson fastened these points instantly, unleashing them into the league’s greatest offense this season and second-best offense in NBA historical past (122.7 factors per 100 possessions). And he’s managed to do this with out hampering the protection (sixth-best defensive ranking).
Cleveland has the seventh-best net rating per 100 possessions in NBA historical past. All this has the Cavs wanting like a transparent contender for the title and probably the favourite to win all of it.
The Castoff: J.B. Bickerstaff | Detroit Pistons (37-29)
One man’s trash is one other man’s treasure. Bickerstaff, the man who couldn’t get the Cavs over the hump, remains to be one of many league’s greatest coaches, and he has the Pistons battling admirably for the four-seed within the Jap Convention. This comes one season after the group misplaced an NBA-record 28 straight video games on its strategy to the league’s worst report (14-68). Now, they’re on tempo for a 30-plus win enchancment over final season. What a turnaround!
The Podcaster: JJ Redick | Los Angeles Lakers (40-23)
Redick, a revelation for the Lakers, is within the working for one of the best first-time head coach with no prior teaching expertise in NBA historical past (Golden State’s Steve Kerr being the opposite who stands out).
In his first season on the helm of the league’s most talked about and scrutinized group, he’s a steadying determine amid a season of chaos. That features shedding his house within the California fires after which having his roster completely and unexpectedly upended with the Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis commerce.
Regardless of the fixed lineup flux, he has the Lake Present enjoying its greatest basketball throughout the second half of the season — the group is 21-9 for the reason that begin of the brand new 12 months regardless of coping with accidents to Davis, Doncic and LeBron James. If the Lakers end with a top-three seed within the Western Convention, he’ll deserve quite a lot of Coach of the Yr votes.
The reigning Coach of the Yr: Mark Daigneault | Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder (53-12)
Enjoyable truth: No coach in NBA historical past has received this award two years in a row. Effectively, that ought to most likely change as a result of Daigneault deserves the award once more this season. In 2024-25, he has the Thunder doing much more absurd issues.
As an illustration, the Thunder have one of the best defensive ranking within the NBA (106.1 factors allowed per 100 possessions). However that’s not probably the most spectacular half — the gap between the Thunder and group with the second-best defensive ranking (3.3 factors) is as extensive because the hole between the second-best defensive group and the Thirteenth-best defensive group.
Oh, and bear in mind how the Cavs had the seventh-best internet ranking in NBA historical past? Effectively, the Thunder have the second best in NBA history (plus-12.6 factors per 100 possessions), with an opportunity at catching Michael Jordan’s 72-10 Bulls group (plus-13.4).
In the event you’re the coach of the group that’s inside shouting distance of one of the best internet ranking in NBA historical past, you deserve the Coach of the Yr award.
The decide: Daigneault
