Thunder's Mark Daigneault the Overwhelming Favorite For Coach of the Year
Oklahoma City has put together an incredible season, with rising coach Mark Daigneault leading the charge.
Mark Daigneault led the Thunder to a play-in appearance and 40 wins a season ago. He’s always been able to get the most out of his roster, and the mentality he’s instilled in his team is showing up more and more.
With more nationally televised games and a team atop the Western Conference, he’s in the spotlight quite often. Now, the NBA community is seeing how good of a coach he truly is. He came into the season as one of the favorites to win the NBA’s Coach of the Year Award, and considering the Thunder’s potential rise, it felt like a good bet.
Now, with just a month and some change left in the season, it’s proving to be on the money. He’s the odds on favorite by a wide margin and is a few games away from locking it up entirely.
According to OddsChecker, Daigneault is up to a -450 favorite. He has a considerable lead amongst his peers and it’s beginning to feel like a runaway.
Behind Daigneault in second place is Jamahl Mosley at +1000, and Joe Mazzulla in third place at +1200. Chris Finch rounds out the top four at +2000. Outside of Daigneault, both Mosley and Mazzulla have been impressive. Mos lets Magic appear to be far ahead of schedule and currently possess the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference. Mazzulla would likely win the award most years, as he’s in charge of a historically good team. The Celtics were preseason title favorites and have lived up to the expectations with the best record in the NBA.
The fact that the team was stacked and already had a sky high ceiling is likely the reason Daigneault is able to pass him up. Oklahoma City was projected to win 45 games and the team is sitting at 49-20 currently. For the second season in a row, the Thunder has blown away preseason expectations and overachieved as a team.
Daigneault’s offensive system has been a thing of beauty and the defense compliments it well. He’s referred to the team’s style a handful of times this season when asked about the lack of interior presence. He knows how he wants to play and sticks to his game plan.
Ending the regular season with a Coach of the Year Award would be fitting for Daigneault, who has led the Thunder to a terrific overall season.
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