Who is the NBA Coach of the Year for 2020-21?

With the NBA regular season beginning to reach its final sprint, teams are looking to solidify positions. Those who are guaranteed a top-four spot in their conference might start to experiment a little. Others might look to push forward with one final run at the season to see if they can land a higher seeding. 

However, the NBA Coach of the Year awards will be coming out soon – who are the current favorites with the betting markets to come out the other side with a victorious experience? 

The Jazz have been the major surprise of the season and look pretty set to land the top spot in the West. Given the talent in Los Angeles and Denver, pre-season odds had the Jazz wrestling for a position at the top four to five seeds. At the moment, though, some see them as a lock to go all the way to the NBA Finals. A huge part of that stems from the work of Snyder and co. – he would be a widely deserved winner. 

The Suns came into the season hoping rather than expecting progress. With the current team never having played playoff basketball, the hope was the arrival of legendary veteran Chris Paul might push Devin Booker and co. to the playoffs. 

Now, they are more or less guaranteed a play-off spot and should actually have some hope of hitting the top spot or at least solidifying on second. Williams is finally seeing the rewards for a career of hard work and progression. 

For some, Tom is the definite COTY. When you look at the work he has done at New York, turning a joke franchise into a genuine play-off contender – even home advantage spots are still possible. This has been an incredible body of work, turning the team into a defensive juggernaut whilst ensuring he gets the best out of stars like Julius Randle.  An interesting candidate for COTY for sure. 

Doc Rivers, Philadelphia 76ers (+1100) 

While turning a team with talent like Tobias Harris, Ben Simmons, and Joel Embiid around might not sound like a major achievement, others would beg to differ. The body of work carried out by Doc Rivers in Philly has been incredible. His pair-up with Daryl Morey could be a long-term thing and has Philly looking as likely as the Brooklyn Nets to finish top of the Eastern Conference. 

Steve Nash, Brooklyn Nets (+1400) 

As a rookie coach, Nash has had to use his diplomatic streak to help mold a dressing room full of star talent. With five or six of the best players in the entire East, including the best ‘big three’ in modern NBA history, Nash deserves credit for building consistency from a team of high-ego stars. Given Kyrie Irving, James Harden and Kevin Durant have barely shared the court together, too, Nash has had to navigate an injury-hit campaign without his clutch trio; that alone deserves some respect.