Utah Jazz's Will Hardy Dealt Brutal Coach of the Year Odds

It's no secret that the consensus surrounding the Utah Jazz is pretty low ahead of next NBA season.

This Jazz roster is young, has shipped off multiple tenured veterans over the course of the summer, and seems primed to lose a good amount of games once next season gets rolling in October, as they sit in a challenging Western Conference.

And with that in mind, that feeling tends to bleed negatively into the chances for Jazz head coach Will Hardy to take home this year's Coach of the Year award. Without many hopes of putting together a winning team in the West, it'll be tough for Hardy to land many looks his way at the end of the year, and would likely need a borderline perfect scenario to unfold to land some hardware.

But you'd be surprised at just how unlikely sportsbooks envision Hardy to land those Coach of the Year honors at the end of this coming season.

DraftKings Sportsbook released odds for this year's Coach of the Year winner for the 2025-26 NBA season, where at the top of the list sits Orlando Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley, and Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka with +550 odds as the leading favorites.

But as for Will Hardy? You'd have to scroll all the way down the list of candidates to find the Jazz coach, who sits at the bottom tied for the steepest odds to win this year's Coach of the Year award at +10000.

The only two other coaches to tie Hardy were the coaches of two teams in a similar position to the Jazz: Jordan Ott of the Phoenix Suns and Brian Keefe of the Washington Wizards. It's easy to see why, but it's a pretty big reality check for what could be on the horizon for Utah this season.

Apr 6, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy on the sideline against the Atlanta Hawks in the second quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

It's far from saying that Hardy is a poor coach, or anywhere close to being on the hot seat any time soon. The Jazz have already extended Hardy into the 2031 season and have made it clear that he'll be at the helm of this young group for the foreseeable future. He's not going anywhere, but Hardy's odds show just how far away Utah may be from putting together that aspired high-end roster.

For the 2025-26 season, the Jazz will be young, inexperienced, and catering to development more than ever in Will Hardy's tenure. That's good news for the long-term status of the rebuild, but not for putting wins on the board for now. Utah does seemingly intend to be more competitive this year compared to last year, but how far those intentions really take the Jazz remains to be seen.

The Jazz could always shock the world, as nothing's impossible in the NBA, yet all signs seem to point towards next season looking relatively similar to their most recent campaign in terms of where they sit in the standings.

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