When discussing all the awards during the NBA season, MVP and Rookie of the Year always steal the spotlight. However, players can only be as good as the leadership they have guiding them, which is why the Coach of the Year award is the most underrated accolade. So far this season, there are several coaches who stand out regarding this honor, specifically Oklahoma City Thunder coach Mark Daigneault, Cleveland Cavaliers coach JB Bickerstaff, and Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch.
Although they are not the best team in the Eastern Conference, the Cavs have been one of the hottest teams in the league and find themselves in sole possession of the second-best record in the conference at the All-Star break. Over in the Western Conference, Finch has the Timberwolves ahead of everyone else with a 39-16 record. For the Thunder, nobody expected them to go from a fringe play-in tournament team to one that can make noise in the playoffs. Daigneault deserves a lot of credit for leading the youngest team in the league to one of the best records.
Perhaps the most thankless job anyone can have, being a coach in the NBA comes with zero job security. This season has been a perfect example of that, with Jacque Vaughn and Adrian Griffin being fired in the middle of the year by the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks, respectively.
When grading head coaches, success is measured by wins when it matters most. Daigneault, Bickerstaff, and Finch all have their teams in a position to not only make the postseason but possibly contend for a championship. Nobody expected the Thunder, Cavs, or Timberwolves to be in a title position, yet here we are coming out of the All-Star break, seeing these organizations own three of the top four records in the entire league.
In the midst of the NBA All-Star break, ClutchPoints conducted a poll featuring media members from around the country, some of whom are official voters the league uses to determine the winner of their end-of-season awards. Some cover the league at large, while others cover individual teams. Nonetheless, each media member was asked a variety of questions pertaining to the major awards and the 2024 NBA Finals.
ClutchPoints Full NBA Midseason Media Poll
Most Valuable Player | Rookie of the Year | Most Improved Player|
Coach of the Year | Sixth Man of the Year | Defensive Player of the Year
In terms of who the media believes will win this season's Coach of the Year award, there has seemed to be an obvious choice for quite some time. While anything can happen over the final several weeks of the regular season, this year's honor is most likely going to a coach in the Western Conference.
Below are the results from the voting that took place during the All-Star break for the 2023-24 NBA Coach of the Year Award.
ClutchPoints 2023-24 NBA Coach of the Year Media Poll results
1. Mark Daigneault (Oklahoma City Thunder) – 56.7%
2. JB Bickerstaff (Cleveland Cavaliers) – 13.3%
T-3. Chris Finch (Minnesota Timberwolves) – 10%
T-3. Tom Thibodeau (New York Knicks) – 10%
Others receiving votes: Tyronn Lue (Los Angeles Clippers), Joe Mazzulla (Boston Celtics)
Mark Daigneault the clear favorite for Coach of the Year
There is no denying that the Thunder have been the most impressive team in the NBA this season. Aside from the fact that they are 37-17 coming out of the All-Star break after finishing with no more than 40 wins each of the last three seasons, Oklahoma City is finding all of this success as a youthful organization.
Ever since Paul George was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers in 2019, the Thunder have been retooling and searching for the right pieces to what they hope to be a championship puzzle. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was one of the assets they got in return from the Clippers for George, and Daigneault has helped turn the young guard into an absolute star. Quite honestly, it would not be shocking to see Gilgeous-Alexander named this season's MVP when all is said and done.
Daigneault, who made a name for himself and earned the head coaching role with the Thunder through his time in the G League, has always been known to be a coach who can relate to his players. After all, he is only 38 years old himself and still growing as a coach.
What makes Daigneault so special is that he has kept things simple for the Thunder. On defense, this team rotates with ease, and they are fourth in defensive rating. On offense, the Thunder play through Gilgeous-Alexander and are constantly moving on the perimeter, looking for certain matchups to exploit, especially in pick-and-roll sets with Chet Holmgren. Coming out of the All-Star break, they rank fourth in offensive rating.
Oklahoma City has improved each and every season that Daigneault has been on the sidelines. Now, they have put themselves in a position to contend for the top spot in the Western Conference. As crazy as it may sound, the Thunder are well-equipped to go on a deep postseason run as long as they remain healthy.
After finishing behind Mike Brown in the Coach of the Year voting last season, there really is not much to debate right now in terms of why Daigneault shouldn't be the Coach of the Year this season. In the media poll, the Thunder head coach received just under 60 percent of the vote, well ahead of Bickerstaff and Finch.
JB Bickerstaff, Chris Finch in consideration
The Coach of the Year award is always a race that comes down to where teams end up in the standings. While there are some excellent coaches in this league, they do not always receive the right level of recognition simply due to the way their team was built or expectations not being met. If you need an example of this, look no further than Gregg Popovich with the San Antonio Spurs.
Coach Pop is the best head coach the NBA has ever seen, but the Spurs have not won more than 34 games since the 2018-19 season. This absolutely doesn't mean Popovich is a bad coach. Unfortunately, the Coach of the Year award only recognizes those coaches who have successful franchises.
In regards to JB Bickerstaff and Chris Finch, they have done marvelous jobs leading the Cavaliers and Timberwolves, respectively. The Cavs, who did have high playoff expectations this season after claiming the 4-seed in the Eastern Conference just one year ago, are once again on pace to have a 50-win season. The main reason why Bickerstaff should be in the running for Coach of the Year is because he was feeling some heat early on.
About two months into the season, Bickerstaff and the Cavs were 13-12 overall, sinking in the standings. Since this point, Cleveland has gone 23-5, and they did so without both Evan Mobley and Darius Garland for a chunk of time due to injuries. This can't be overlooked, as the adversity Cleveland went through and overcame is a direct response to Bickerstaff's leadership.
For Finch and the Timberwolves, this was a team that entered the 2023-24 season looking to prove that they could be real threats in the Western Conference. After reaching the first round of the playoffs with at least 42 wins each of the last two seasons, Minnesota is currently on pace to win at least 58 games for the first time since the 2003-04 season. That year, they lost in the Western Conference Finals, their only appearance in the conference finals.
Finch has never had a losing season as the head coach of the Timberwolves, and now he has his team on a collision course with the best record in the West. A lot of Minnesota's success has come on the defensive side of the court, as they currently reside first in defensive rating.
Tom Thibodeau, Tyronn Lue, and Joe Mazzulla were the three other coaches to receive recognition in the media vote at the All-Star break.
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