NBA Award Predictions Roundtable: Coach of the Year

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Apr 5, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni reacts after a call during the third quarter against the Denver Nuggets at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /

The NBA has had some excellent coaches this year who have either taken their team from nowhere to playoffs, or from irrelevancy to being very relevant in the league. But, only one coach can take home the award. Who’s it going to be?

The NBA has a lot of teams that have looked great this season and much of the success can be attributed to some great coaching. The playoff layout looks significantly different from last year and many teams have made major improvements while others have taken a hard fall.

To be the NBA Coach of the Year, it takes more than just having a good season. The best coach in the league is not just the head of an excellent team, he is also someone who makes teams better by being there. Unlike a player who can get injured or lose playing time, a coach does not just miss games. This makes it difficult to see how a team would do without them, but it is an important award though.

There are a lot of great candidates this year with some teams that have made great strides. The Houston Rockets went from barely scraping it into the playoffs to a real contender. The Boston Celtics continued to make moves and are now the 1-seed in the East. The Miami Heat did incredible things with their less-than-stellar roster. And the Utah Jazz did the same thing.

Others who could easily receive votes include the always impressive San Antonio Spurs, the crazy successful Golden State Warriors, or even the very impressive Milwaukee Bucks and former Maverick Jason Kidd.

With that being said, here are the staff picks from The Smoking Cuban for this year’s Coach of the Year. Remember that these picks were made before the NBA Playoffs began.

Next: Mike D'Antoni