5 leading candidates to win NBA Coach of the Year feat. Rick Carlisle (Week 23)

The 2023-24 NBA regular season will come to an end in two weeks and so will the race for the Coach of the Year award. Since the beginning of the season, the race for the award has seen big changes. While some names have come and gone, there are others whose names have never left the conversation.

Last year, Mike Brown won the COTY award. Let's look at the top five NBA coaches in the race for the award after Week 23.

5 leading candidates to win NBA Coach of the Year

5. Rick Carlisle - Indiana Pacers

Rick Carlisle is one of the coaches who has done the most with the lowest resources at his disposal. Carlisle spent more than a decade coaching the Dallas Mavericks before joining the Indiana Pacers in 2021.

This season, the Pacers are ranked sixth in the Eastern Conference with a 42-33 record. Except for Tyrese Haliburton, Carlisle has no other All-Star caliber players at his disposal. Last season, the Pacers were ranked 11th in the East and missed the playoffs. They won only 42.7% of their games. This season, Carlisle has coached his team to 56.0% wins.

Moreover, the Pacers are also ranked second in the offensive ratings this season.

4. Joe Mazzulla

Last year, the Boston Celtics ended their season ranked second in the Eastern Conference, and this season, they are ranked No. 1. However, that doesn’t speak to the true picture of the Celtics this year.

The Celtics are ahead of the second-seed Milwaukee Bucks by 11 wins, almost the same difference between the No. 1 and the 10th seed in the West.

Under Mazzulla, the Celtics are the top team in offense and ranked No. 3 in the defensive ratings. They are, by far, the most balanced team in the league. One of the reasons that Mazzulla is ranked at No. 4 is because of how good the Celtics’ roster is.

This season, the team has won 78.4% of their games compared to 69.5% in the last season. Mazzulla’s influence on the Celtics is clear, and he does deserve to have his name in the NBA's COTY race.

3. Jamahl Mosley

The Orlando Magic's rise this season is one of the best things that has happened to the league lately. Jamahl Mosley took over the Magic’s coaching job in 2021 but didn’t have success in his first two seasons. However, this season, the Magic have gone from being one of the worst teams in the league to a clear-cut playoff contender.

The Magic are currently ranked fifth in the Eastern Conference with a 43-31 record. They have already qualified for the postseason. Moreover, Mosley has also been instrumental in making Paolo Benchero an All-Star-level player.

2. Chris Finch

Give Chris Finch some credit for making the Minnesota Timberwolves the best defensive team in the NBA. The difference between the Timberwolves and the second-position Magic is bigger than any difference between two consecutively ranked teams.

The winning percentage of the Timberwolves in the last three seasons has been, perhaps, the biggest indicator of Finch’s achievement. In 2021-22, the Timberwolves won 56.1% of their games, in the 2022-23 NBA season, they won 51.2% of their games. However, this season, they have won 68.9% of their games.

1. Mark Daigneault

Mark Daigneault had the biggest hand in making the OKC Thunder one of the best teams in the NBA this season. Last season, the Thunder were ranked 10th in the West and missed the playoffs for the third time in the last three years. However, this season, Daigneault and the Thunder’s story is different.

Their winning percentage difference in the last three seasons is the biggest reason that Mark Daigneault should be the Coach of The Year. In the 2021-22 season, the Thunder won 29.3% of their games, and in the 2022-23 NBA season, they won 48.8% of their games.

However, this season Mark Daigneault has helped his team win 70.3% of their games. They are also one of the top teams in the league in both offensive and defensive ratings.