The NBA season believe it or not is right around the corner. A total of ten teams will have new coaches on the sideline for the start of the 2016-17 NBA season. Some of these new coaches will have what it takes but some won’t. The big piece though is some will stand out from the rest of the group. Here are five early candidates for Coach of the Year.
Tom Thibodeau: Minnesota Timberwolves
This candidate might come as a surprise to some people. Tom should feel comfortable heading into the situation with the Timberwolves. This team has some very good young pieces like Karl-Anthony Towns to Andrew Wiggins to Kris Dunn. What Tom needs to do is to mold them and shape them into one of the powerhouse teams in the Western Conference. The Wolves will benefit from his love of defense and should have them as a real contender in the West in a few years. It’s quite possible that Minnesota makes the biggest year-to-year jump this season and could possible squeeze into the playoffs this season.
Tyronn Lue: Cleveland Cavaliers
Lue brought his 11 years experience as a backup to the head coaching job after taking over for David Blatt. Before Lue took over the Cavs they were nowhere close to being in the proper frame of mind to make a run at the championship. Lue’s presence that has championship experience allowed everybody to breathe a sigh of relief and go back to just being themselves on the court. If the Cavs make another big run this coming season look for Lue to take home this award.
Steve Kerr: Golden State Warriors
Yes, it helps when you sign one of the best players in the NBA during the offseason. Golden State will also be tested very early because they don’t have much depth on their team. Harrison Barnes, Andrew Bogut, Festus Ezeli, Marreese Speights, Leandro Barbosa are all gone. Coach Kerr will also be doing it without top assistant Luke Walton. Kerr is as driven as anybody in the Warriors locker room to get back the NBA Finals and will have one of the best teams again by the time the playoffs start.
Gregg Popovich: San Antonio Spurs
He will always be a candidate as long as he is coaching in this league. Tim Duncan has finally retired and Pop’s biggest tasks will be trying to get defense out of Pau Gasol and David Lee while continuing to give Kawhi Leonard more offensive responsibility. If Pop can get another 60-win season with the Spurs he will be a heavy contender for his record-breaking fourth Coach of the Year award.
Brad Stevens: Boston Celtics
The Celtics are projected to be very good and have a great roster with newcomer Al Horford. If the Celtics push the Cavaliers for the first seed, play very good defense like last year and surpass their expectations and Stevens could get his first Coach of the Year award in his young NBA career. The Celtics really don’t have a lot of top name players on their roster which is rare for a team that’s as good as they are. We do know though they’re going to play disciplined and with good chemistry.