Coach of the Year NBA Odds: Tight Race Ahead of Halfway Point

By now, most teams are nearing the halfway point of the 2021-22 NBA season. We’ve seen a lot of memorable moments so far this season, especially when it comes to the award races. While that holds true for the player awards, the same can be said for the NBA Coach of the Year trophy.

Every year, the league’s coaches compete to see who’s the best out of the 30 of them. Sometimes it goes to the coach whose team absolutely dominate the league, while other times it can go to a coach whose team has seen a lot of improvement.

Either way, there are a number of candidates who are worthy to win the award this year. Fortunately, BetOnline has released odds on it to help fans make better sense of the situation.

Here’s a look at the top Coach of the Year odds as of Friday, January 7.

NBA Coach of the Year Odds: JB Bickerstaff (+325)

At +325 odds, Cleveland Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff has the best odds to be named NBA COTY. After going 22-50 under him last year, nobody really expected the Cavaliers to have a good season. Instead, the team is buying into everything that Bickerstaff has said, which has led to Cleveland going 21-17 to start the year — good for sixth in the Eastern Conference.

#Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff was a nominee for Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for December.

— Evan Dammarell (@AmNotEvan) January 4, 2022

Most importantly, Bickerstaff has his whole team stepping up their game. Darius Garland has had a breakout season under him, averaging 19.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 7.4 assists. Rookie power forward Evan Mobley has even been looking like a legitimate NBA player as well. That’s not even to mention that Ricky Rubio was playing some of the best basketball of his career before he got injured. In other words, as long as Bickerstaff keeps getting the most out of his team and the Cavaliers don’t fall off, he should continue being a Coach of the Year candidate.

COTY Odds: Steve Kerr (+425)

It’s no secret that Steve Kerr has been one of the best coaches in the NBA ever since taking over the Golden State Warriors in 2014. While injuries to star players have prevented Golden State from having recent success, that could all change this year as the Warriors have begun the season with a 29-9 record — all without Klay Thompson and James Wiseman.

With that being said, it’s no wonder that the Kerr has the second-best odds to be named NBA Coach of the Year. Considering that he’s won it before, he’d become just the 11th coach in league history to win it multiple times. With the Warriors likely getting Thompson back in the coming days, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Kerr’s odds go up in the near future.

COTY Odds: Billy Donovan (+475)

While Billy Donovan’s first season with the Chicago Bulls was underwhelming (31-41), it’s been the complete opposite this season. The Bulls are currently sitting atop the Eastern Conference with a 25-10 record. The result? BetOnline has given Donovan the third-best odds (+475) to be named 2021-22 NBA Coach of the Year.

Donovan has DeMar DeRozan playing some of the best basketball of his life at the moment. The 32-year-old is averaging 26.9 PTS/5.0 REB/4.5 AST and has some people thinking that he should be in the MVP conversation. Zach LaVine isn’t too far behind him, averaging 26.3 PTS/5.1 REB/4.2 AST. With Chicago’s role players contributing as well, there’s no doubt that Donovan belongs in Coach of the Year discussions. However, only time will tell if he can win the award for the first time in his career.