OKC Thunder: Dissecting Mark Daigneault's Uphill Battle for 2025-26 Coach of the Year

All recent NBA Coach of the Year recipients have steered their teams to exceed expectations.

The Oklahoma City Thunder has defined that criteria over, and over, and over again during its 17-season history.

The Thunder traded away All-NBA First Team forward Paul George and All-NBA Third Team guard Russell Westbrook in July 2019. Naturally, the new-look team, led by a resurgent Chris Paul, improved its winning percentage by 1.2% in the regular season and won two more playoff games.

While that season brought the Thunder unexpected success, the roster had a limited long-term ceiling. Oklahoma City replaced coach Billy Donovan, who did not want to stick around for a rebuild, with assistant Mark Daigneault on Nov. 11, 2020. General manager Sam Presti then made 10 trades in the next 16 days, handing the keys to third-year guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander while retaining sophomore wing Luguentz Dort.

Donovan won four first-place votes and finished No. 3 in 2019-20 Coach of the Year voting behind the Toronto Raptors' Nick Nurse (90 votes) and the Milwaukee Bucks' Mike Budenholzer (five votes). His protege experienced similar success after two seasons near the bottom of the league.

The 2022-23 Thunder won 40 games, a 16-win jump, and Daigneault finished No. 2 behind the Sacramento Kings' unanimous Mike Brown.

Daigneault took home the 2023-24 award with 89 first-place votes by leading the Thunder to 57 wins and the Western Conference's No. 1 seed.

Oklahoma City improved significantly again last season, racking up 68 wins and an NBA-record +1,055 point differential. Daigneault secured two first-place votes and came No. 4 behind the Cleveland Cavaliers' Kenny Atkinson (59 votes), the Detroit Pistons' J.B. Bickerstaff (31 votes) and the Houston Rockets' Ime Udoka (seven votes).

Since the NBA introduced Coach of the Year for the 1962-63 season, there have been 49 unique winners, 11 multiple-time winners and three three-time winners.

Daigneault would join the second group by finishing No. 1 this season. Here is how the 11 multiple-time winners' teams performed in their inaugural Coach of the Year victories:

There are outliers, including Hubie Brown's 1977-78 Atlanta Hawks going .500 and Don Nelson's 1982-83 Bucks regressing from the previous season, but the averages reflect what Coach of the Year has always represented. Winners must combine strong team success and/or significant improvement, with most recipients executing both.

This sample provides good news for Daigneault. The 2023-24 Thunder won 57 games, good for a 17-win improvement, and both numbers slightly exceed those 11 coaches' averages.

Here is how the 11 multiple-time winners' teams performed in their second Coach of the Year victories:

The team record and improvement averages remain almost identical with 11 different teams, but this sample reveals Daigneault's handicaps.

Just two coaches won their second award with the same team: Nelson and legendary San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who also won a third Coach of the Year for the 2013-14 Spurs. Nelson eventually secured a third selection with the 1991-92 Golden State Warriors, and Pat Riley was bestowed on the 1989-90 Los Angeles Lakers, 1992-93 New York Knicks and 1996-97 Miami Heat.

The NBA has never awarded consecutive Coach of the Years to the same person, essentially shutting out 2025-26 Atkinson. Just two winners, 1984-85 Nelson and 2013-14 Popovich, won the award two seasons after a previous selection. Again, Daigneault would join extremely exclusive company.

Gene Shue's 1981-82 Washington Bullets were a peculiar exception due to an underwhelming record and jump. Popovich's 2011-12 Spurs were the only other team in the sample that improved by fewer than nine wins, putting the current Thunder in a near-impossible position.

Daigneault gained another year of experience last season, culminating in 11 more wins, a record-setting point differential and an NBA championship. Oklahoma City achieved massive success despite missing big men Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein and guard Alex Caruso for 103 combined games, compared to the 2023-24 team staying remarkably healthy.

Daigneault was a more effective coach last season than in his awarded campaign, and he will likely be better this upcoming season than last. He is fighting an uphill Coach of the Year battle not because of his ability, but because he has already set an extremely high bar.