NBA Coach of the Year Betting: Two valuable plays

Many people in the basketball community thought this would be a “gap” year for the Celtics.

And the lottery wasn’t out of the question. We knew a rehabbing Jayson Tatum would miss all or most of the season and a good part of the nucleus would be gone with the departures of Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and Luke Kornet.

The oddsmakers thought Boston would hover around the .500 mark with their season
over/under total set at 40.5 wins. ESPN’s Basketball Power Index had them at 40.1 victories.

But here we sit in early January with Joe Mazzulla’s squad as the number three seed in the East at 22-12, and just a half game behind the New York Knicks for the Atlantic Division lead.

Meanwhile, in the West, the Phoenix Suns have been the biggest surprise and overachievers. After a disastrous 36-46 season last year, the Suns dealt Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets and bought out the contract of Bradley Beal.

The Suns also decided to go in a different direction with their head coach, as they fired Mike Budenholzer and hired former Cleveland Cavaliers assistant Jordan Ott.

The oddsmakers were very pessimistic about their prospects, putting their over/under win total at 30.5.

But after Sunday’s win over the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, the Suns are 21-14. If they continue at their current pace, they’ll have a shot at a 50-win season.

There are a number of qualified candidates for the NBA Coach of the Year Award, but I think Mazzulla and Ott are the top two choices. However, the oddsmakers see it differently, with J.B. Bickerstaff of the Detroit Pistons as the betting favorite, followed by Mitch Johnson of the San Antonio Spurs.

Fanduel has Bickerstaff listed at +185, while Johnson is +340. At DraftKings, Mazzulla is +800 and Ott is +700. Those are the two value plays for me.

Andy Roth has covered the NBA for various outlets since 1979. Follow him @arhooptalk.