Coming into this season, the Oklahoma City Thunder were expected to take a step forward after they made the play-in tournament last season with a very young team.
But few could’ve predicted just how well they would do this year.
They currently have the second-best record in the Western Conference and are just half a game behind the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets, and thus they have a very real shot at getting the top seed in the Western Conference.
As a result, Mark Daigneault, their head coach, has the highest betting odds to win this season’s Coach of the Year award, per Bovada via NBACentral.
Mark Daigneault is the favorite to win coach of the year, per @BovadaOfficial
•Mark Daigneault: -450
•Jamahl Mosley: +600
•Joe Mazzulla: +1200
•Chris Finch: +1500
•JB Bickerstaff: +15000
•Tom Thibodeau: +15000
•Erik Spoelstra: +20000
•Michael Malone: +20000
•Rick… pic.twitter.com/UAq9JYA4en— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 25, 2024
At age 39, Daigneault is one of the league’s youngest head coaches, but he has done a remarkable job of getting the young Thunder to rumble their way into the NBA’s elite.
He started his coaching career nine seasons ago as the head coach of the Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder’s G League team, and he became a Thunder assistant under Billy Donovan during the 2019-20 season.
This is Daigneault’s fourth season at the helm of Oklahoma City.
While Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has had another excellent season and has become an MVP candidate, the big improvement for the team has come on the defensive end, where it has gone from 13th last season to fifth this year in defensive rating.
Forward Jalen Williams has taken a step forward, while big man Chet Holmgren is on his way to becoming a star.
Even if the Thunder fizzle out early in this spring’s playoffs, their future is clearly bright, and Daigneault’s leadership is one reason why.
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