The 2017-18 NBA Coach of the Year award recipient, Dwayne Casey, finds himself on a new team this year after being fired from the Toronto Raptors despite an elite season court side. It is rare across all sports for anyone to be let go immediately after winning an award for a job well done, though both Casey and the Raptors should benefit from the split.
Toronto
has finally undergone a major shakeup, upgrading its’ superstar for an MVP
candidate and dropping the coach that could never seem to advance his team past
the juggernaut that is playoffs Lebron James. Casey, on the other hand, starts
anew at the helm of the Detroit Pistons, who are in desperate need of a
strategic makeover from coach Stan van Gundy’s system.
Casey
can bring the consistent improvement that was a hallmark of his Toronto success
to Detroit. If he can extract a playoff appearance from a team that has
superstar talent with Andre Drummond and Blake Griffin, expect him to top many
COY lists.
Milwaukee’s
Mike Budenholzer is another accomplished coach who is entering the first year
of his relocation to America’s Midwest. The Bucks newly minted strategist left
an Atlanta Hawks team that had little talent and joined forces with surefire
MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo.
A
disciple of NBA coaching legend Gregg Popovich, Budenholzer made a name for
himself in Atlanta by installing a system with versatile defenders and shooters
at every position, following the trend set by Golden State.
They
didn’t have the top end talent or youth to sustain the success Budenholzer had
early in his Atlanta tenure. Now with a true superstar in Giannis and excellent
pieces in Khris Middleton and Eric Bledsoe, Milwaukee should climb the Eastern
Conference standings and Budenholzer will return to the conversation of best
coach in the league.
Boston’s
Brad Stevens has accumulated an excellent resume since taking over a rebuilding
team six years ago. Five trips to the playoffs, two trips to the Eastern
Conference Finals, attracting quality free agents, and steady win improvement
every season, Stevens has been in the running for COY for the past few seasons.
Assuming Boston keeps pace and does not underperform expectations, expect
Stevens to return to his rightful place as a lynchpin in the best coach in the
league conversation.
Out
in the Western conference, Golden State’s Steve Kerr is an obvious candidate
for COY. His team is the smart choice for best team in the standings, will have
the most all-stars, will play quality defense and outscore opponents by a high
margin if their past success is any indicator on the upcoming season.
Kerr’s
real challenge this season will be juggling egos and playing time between five
players that are some of the league’s best at each of their positions, three of
them have played the longest seasons the past four years.
Houston has had enormous
success under Head Coach Mike D’Antoni. His system that prioritizes 3-point
shooting over everything else has made them a force to reckon with and his team
pushed the Kevin Durant-Warriors further than anybody else has accomplished.
With
huge amounts of talent on his roster, like Kerr, D’Antoni’s real challenge this
season will be keeping everybody fresh for the playoffs as well as integrating
newly acquired Carmelo Anthony and his antiquated game into his hyper modern
offense.
To
round out the early front runners for COY, Utah’s Quinn Snyder should garner
the same level of respect as the aforementioned tacticians. Since he’s taken
over for Utah, Snyder’s defense has been consistently elite, smothering
everybody last year, coming in as the second ranked unit behind Boston.
Also,
Snyder’s egalitarian offense has served them well, garnering back to back
appearances in the playoffs and facilitating the breakout of Donovan Mitchell.
If they continue the trend for steady improvement, Snyder will be impossible to
ignore.
COY,
like most awards, is as much about the story as it is accomplishments.
Predictions for the highest vote getters are Mike Budenholzer, who should win
the award if his system turns Milwaukee into the force they should be, with
Stevens and Snyder hot on his heels in a tight race for votes.