NBA Coach of the Year: 5 Early Frontrunners for the 2018-19 Season

Last year's Coach of the Year award was given to a coach who was already a month removed from being fired by his previous franchise. But he'd already been re-hired by a different team at that point, making it an easier pill to swallow for Dwane Casey. He did deserve the award for the most part, but now he has the unenviable task of leading the Detroit Pistons and their salary-capped roster to a playoff appearance.

This rules him out of contention in our early-season sweepstakes for the Coach of the Year award for the 2018-19 season. Ever since the award was instituted, moreover, no coach has won it in back-to-back seasons.

Among the coaches we looked at, Luke Walton is likely to be overshadowed in success by the looming figure of the 6'8", 260-pound monster who also happens to be a basketball savant and the best player in the world. Gregg Popovich should always be in the mix, but it seems the voters have had enough of him, as proved by last year's results when he was deservedly still in the race.

However, a number of coaches have wound up in pretty good circumstances, and are ahead of him in the running as of now. Let's take a look at the 5 coaches who are likeliest to win the award next June, as things stand today:

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#5 Brett Brown

Philadelphia 76ers v Houston Rockets

Brett Brown has come a long way from leading a team on the worst 4-year run in league history to now being interim GM and head coach for a 52-win team. Much of the progress the Sixers made last year can be attributed to having Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons fit and available for the majority of the year, although the Cameroonian has openly voiced his frustration at having to sit out the second legs of back-to-back games (as he did for the length of the 2017-18 season).

Both franchise cornerstones are likely to make big strides on both ends of the floor. If at all Ben Simmons is able to construct a semblance of a jump shot, defenses will have to guard him in a whole different fashion, complicating their task.

One of the things that will hit the Sixers hard is how they let Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova walk to other teams. Both of them were pivotal to the 16-game winning streak the Sixers put together at the end of last season, and could have been veteran contributors on the team if only they'd been offered deals giving them what they're worth.

But amidst news emerging that 2017 #1 pick Markelle Fultz was able to reconstruct his jumpshot over the summer, the Sixers may already have solved the problem of bench scoring in-house. Wilson Chandler was acquired from the Nuggets, and he should be a valuable 3-and-D addition.

Rookie Zhaire Smith could also have a big role to play for the Sixers this coming season, as his athleticism and ability to make plays will be a huge plus for their bench unit.

At this point, Brown is definitely a dark horse contender, but the Sixers have shown enough potential as a unit to be able to put together another season of progress.

#4 Mike Budenholzer

Atlanta Hawks v Detroit Pistons

Another man straight out of the San Antonio Spurs coaching stable, Mike Budenholzer has been one of the league's best player coaches ever since taking charge of the Atlanta Hawks in 2013. The 48-year-old has parted ways with his franchise of 5 seasons and taken over a group of really talented players with the Milwaukee Bucks organization over the course of this summer.

The reason why Jason Kidd was fired was because he could not put all the elite athletic talent he had on his team to the best use defensively. While the Bucks gave up corner 3s at an untenable rate and routinely failed to make the required defensive rotations in pick-and-roll scenarios, Coach Bud's spell at Atlanta has shown us that these are simple adjustments that he can make pretty quickly into training camp.

Giannis Antetokounmpo has come back every single year for the last 5 years as a markedly better player. He is an average jumpshot away from being regarded alongside the likes of Kevin Durant and LeBron James as the best player in the world, and he was reportedly quite happy with the appointment of Mike as Kidd's successor in the head coaching role.

Budenholzer led a team of fringe All-Stars and capable role players to a 60-win record in his second season with the Hawks. With Khris Middleton rising into that second scorer's role, a capable point guard rotation of Brogdon and Bledsoe, Tony Snell as a capable shooter in that bench role and having added Ersan Ilyasova and Brook Lopez to what was ostensibly the worst center rotation in the league, the Bucks have quietly been supplementing Giannis' supporting cast.

If the Bucks crack 55-60 wins, as they very well could in this version of the Eastern Conference, there is no reason why Budenholzer can't win a second Coach of the Year award in 6 seasons as a head coach. The team definitely has the potential to do so.

#3 Quin Snyder

Utah Jazz v Oklahoma City Thunder

If last season was any indication, the Utah Jazz are well and truly back to being dark horse contenders in the Western Conference for years to come, having locked up a pick-and-roll combo like few others in the league (Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert). Mitchell, who's one of the fastest learning rookies I've ever seen in this league, should continue to improve and has a legitimate shot at averaging 23-25 points per game, while Gobert's DPOY-level defense isn't going away anytime soon.

With Gobert back from injury in the second half of last season, the Jazz rose from the dead, essentially, to compile a 47-35 record - they were 19-28 and contemplating entering the tank race at one point.

With all that being said, the reason why the Jazz are such a dangerous young team to be on the lookout for out West is the fact that they have one of the most tactically astute coaches in the league. Snyder finished third in the Coach of the Year race last season, and if Utah keep to the pace they were at the end of last season, they will be able to crack 50 wins by the end of March.

Thabo Sefolosha, one of the league's premier wing defenders, will be back from a season-ending injury he suffered in January. Ricky Rubio, who's gotten better every single season in the NBA, should be able to become a better jumpshooter. Grayson Allen was a wise addition to their wing lineup and should be able to provide the same qualities as Rodney Hood did for much of his time last season. The Jazz have brought their core back, and chemistry should be even better this time around.

Take note, NBA fans. Do take note.

#2 Nick Nurse

Image courtesy of nba.com

Amidst unforeseen circumstances in Toronto, 2017-18 Coach of the Year Dwane Casey was fired after the Raptors got swept 4-0 by the Cavs. While Casey's methods had yielded consistent results in the regular season over 4 of his 7 seasons in charge, they had never had the kind of postseason success that would put them over the top as beyond mere playoff fodder.

This year, however, the Raptors have changed tack. Trading DeMar DeRozan away to the San Antonio Spurs for what could possibly be a one-year rental of Kawhi Leonard opens up a lot of avenues for Toronto. Leonard is the best two-way player in the game, bar none. If you want a stop on the defensive end, Kawhi is usually the answer. Ditto if you want a bucket on the other end.

Leonard has already warmed up to the idea of playing in new settings, having had a really engaging meeting with Raps' former assistant and current head coach Nick Nurse last week. Nurse was the guy primarily responsible for the Raptors' revamped offense, which helped them to the second-best record in the league at 59-23 last season with Dwane Casey being primarily a defensive specialist on coaching.

The Raptors have just gotten better after the trade, at least for this year. With all the hate and abuse that he's received over the past several months, do not rule out Kawhi coming back with a vengeance for the Raptors next year. There is a high probability that the Raptors match or exceed their win total from next season, and for that reason, Nick Nurse is up there among the top candidates for Coach of the Year at this point.

#1 Brad Stevens

Boston Celtics v Cleveland Cavaliers - Game Six

It is one thing to go unrecognized as Coach of the Year, but the fact that Brad Stevens did not receive votes from any of his peers as the best in the NBA is nothing short of travesty, misguided opinion and possibly, a prejudice from the incumbents against the newcomers. At several points last season, the Boston Celtics' season looked to be destined for a free fall.

And yet, using unconventional tactics game after game in a stretch at the end of the regular season campaign when the Cs didn't have Gordon Hayward, Kyrie and Al Horford (their 3 best players), they still managed to eke out Ws after Ws. Guerschlon Yabusele, Shane Larkin and Semi Ojeleye were significant contributors to this team of misfits waiting for their leaders to come back.

For what it's worth, Stevens was the Coach of the Year for 2017-18 in most onlookers' eyes, and it wasn't even close. Stevens, a college coach who led Butler University to 2 NCAA championship appearances despite not having top-50 recruits at any point, has transitioned his coaching success from the college scene to the NBA with remarkable success. Every player who's ever played under him has been able to perform up to their potential, and young players have improved ever so fast under him.

It is no coincidence, for instance, that Jaylen Brown made the huge second-year leap that he did. It is also no coincidence that the Celtics snagged the #1 seed in the East with Isaiah Thomas finishing 5th in MVP voting in 2016-17. The Celtics are a class organization, and Brad Stevens is the perfect on-court executor they've found in their vision of recreating their dynastic years from the olden days.

With Hayward, Kyrie and Horford together, possibly alongside Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum making big leaps this year as part of the starting lineup, the Celtics might just have their own All-Star lineup to answer Golden State's lineup with. With that being said, if the Celtics crack 60 wins, or *gasp* 65, there is absolutely no reason for the media to begrudge Brad Stevens of the 2018-19 Coach of the Year award that will rightfully be his.