Ever since the Cleveland Cavaliers got off to a 15-0 start this season, Kenny Atkinson became the clear front-runner to win the NBA’s Coach of the Year award. Now that the Cavaliers are 52-10 and just became the first team to clinch their playoff berth on Wednesday, that seems like even more of a foregone conclusion.
Heading into Friday, Atkinson is a commanding -850 favorite to win Coach of the Year, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. Detroit Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff is his main competition at +700, as the Pistons are on pace to more than triple their win total from last season (14).
Lakers head coach JJ Redick is a distant third at +4000, followed by Taylor Jenkins of the Memphis Grizzlies (+6000) and Ime Udoka of the Houston Rockets (+7500).
Either Atkinson or Bickerstaff would be a more than deserving winner. Both have done an incredible job coaxing career years out of young players and guiding their teams to an unexpected level of success. However, Redick could turn this into a legitimate three-man race if the Lakers keep up their post-trade-deadline play for the final month of the regular season.
On the night that they pulled off the Luka Dončić-Anthony Davis blockbuster trade, the Lakers were 28-19. They’re now 40-21, which has them a half-game ahead of the Denver Nuggets for the second-best record in the West.
Over that stretch, they’ve picked up wins over the Nuggets, New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, Indiana Pacers and Los Angeles Clippers (three times!). They aren’t just feasting on cupcakes.
It’s hardly surprising that the preternaturally gifted Dončić and LeBron James quickly figured out how to coexist. James told Dončić not to “fit in, fit the f—k out” during his Lakers debut, and that was that.
Even though Dončić’s shooting efficiency has yet to come around in L.A., he’s now averaging 23.8 points, 8.1 rebounds and 8.1 assists in his first 10 games with the Lakers.
Playing alongside another elite playmaker has unleashed a reinvigorated version of James. Since he isn’t shouldering as much of the creation load, he’s increased his efficiency while taking on a larger share of defensive responsibilities. Just look at his pre- and post-Luka splits:
Before Luka’s debut: 24.5 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 9.0 APG, 2.2 3PG, 0.9 SPG, 0.5 BPG, 51.6% overall, 39.1% from three
Since Luka’s debut: 27.5 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 6.4 APG, 2.9 3PG, 1.1 SPG, 1.0 BPG, 52.8% overall, 39.0% from three
Getting massive all-around production from two all-time great players is great for the Lakers, but that isn’t Coach of the Year material. You know what is, though? Having the league’s best defense since the Davis/Dončić trade.
Davis is by far the Lakers’ leading rebounder and shot-blocker this year. Trading him for Dončić, who is by no means an elite defender, should have resulted in an offensive surge and a defensive decline. The Lakers’ only remaining centers are Jaxson Hayes and Alex Len. That is not best-in-the-league-defense material.
However, Redick has the Lakers locked in and flying around defensively. He’s pulling the right strings by relying on more small-ball looks with LeBron, Rui Hachimura or Dorian Finney-Smith at the 5. Having Jarred Vanderbilt back in the lineup has been a godsend as well.
Between Vanderbilt, Finney-Smith and Hachimura, the Lakers suddenly have a bunch of versatile, interchangeable forwards to slot alongside LeBron and Dončic.
It often takes time to integrate a high-usage, high-volume player such as Dončic on a new team. It’s rare for a team to hit the ground running after acquiring someone of that ilk midseason. The Lakers are proving to be the exception to that rule, which is a testament to Redick and the players. (Would Darvin Ham be having the same level of success?)
The Cavaliers acquired De’Andre Hunter at the trade deadline, but their core was otherwise in place all season. The same goes for the Detroit Pistons, who only had to work Dennis Schröder into the mix after acquiring him in a five-team trade (!) at the deadline.
The Lakers already had their version of that with the Finney-Smith trade in late December. Adding Dončic is an entirely different level when it comes to midseason pivots.
With the Cavs currently on pace to win 65-plus games, Atkinson deserves to be a commanding favorite for Coach of the Year at this point of the season. But if the Lakers continue tightening their grip on the West’s No. 2 seed after hovering near .500 as recently as mid-January, this late-season surge should at least earn Redick some perfunctory consideration.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats viaNBA.com,PBPStats,Cleaning the GlassorBasketball Reference. All salary information viaSalary Swishand salary-cap information viaRealGM.
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