Thunder Head Coach Mark Daigneault Earning Coach of the Year Buzz

Following a white-hot stretch of play, Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault is beginning to earn some 2022-23 Coach of the Year buzz.

Oklahoma City surpassed their preseason win total of 23.5 games a month ago, and has since moved to 36-36 with the Play-In game in their grasp and an outright Playoffs berth within reach.

Now 8-2 in their last 10 games, the recent stretch has caused plenty of buzz in various awards, including COTY.

The Athletic’s John Hollinger wrote today that if Oklahoma City can reach the mark of 41 wins, “how could Daigneault not win Coach of the Year?”

Daigneault has some steep competition for the award. Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown is currently the odds on favorite to take home the award. And after likely leading the Kings to their first playoff berth since the 2005-06 season, he has great claim to it.

Other odds leaders include Celtics coach Joe Mazzula at +600, Nuggets coach +800 and Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer at +1000.

Per Vegas Insider, Daigneault is currently tied for the tenth-best odds at +10000. But in the NBA hemisphere, we’ve certainly seen crazier things happen.

Oklahoma City has just 10 games remaining on their schedule and currently sit in the eight-seed in the Western Conference. A Play-In berth would be a necessity to any Daigneault COTY campaign, but a Playoffs berth would go much further.

One thing is certain: Daigneault isn't paying attention to any of it. For now, he's looking to tonight's 9:30 p.m. matchup versus the Clippers to extend OKC's win-streak.

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