The NBA regular season is winding down and awards talk is ramping up. The Oklahoma City Thunder has just 14 regular season games remaining, though they've secured postseason play with a spot in the play-in locked. Still, playoffs as a top-three seed is the most likely outcome for the Thunder this season.
As things stand now, the Thunder is 48-20 on the season and narrowly holds the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. Typically, the head coach of one of the top three seeds in either conference wins the Coach of the Year award. Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault might just find himself in that crowd this season.
Daigneault potentially winning the award would come as no surprise. Two seasons ago, the team won 24 games before winning 40 games a season ago -- a 16-win jump -- which saw Daigneault finish second in COTY voting last year.
Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown was the winner of the award after taking the Kings from a non-playoff team to a No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, similar to the leap the Thunder is taking this season.
With his strong resume to win the award, Daigneault holds -450 betting odds to win Coach of the Year, which leaves him as a heavy favorite, according to ESPN BET. The next coach behind Daigneault is Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla with +500 odds. The Celtics hold a 55-14 record, 11 games ahead of the second-place Milwaukee Bucks. Despite their large lead in the Eastern Conference, oddsmakers believe Daigneault has the better case to win the award over Mazzulla.
Daigneault isn't the only member of the Thunder in the running for a major award, though. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is going to be in the MVP race and Chet Holmgren will be in the Rookie of the Year race. There's an off chance Jalen Williams sneaks into one of Clutch Player of the Year or Most Improved Player races.
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