Mike Budenholzer is still the overwhelming favorite to win NBA Coach of the Year honors
Doc Rivers’ odds are now down to just 3-to-1
Does it make any sense to bet on anyone other than Coach Bud?
Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer is the odds-on favorite to win 2019 NBA Coach of the Year honors and deservingly so. His odds were at -2000 on April 9th just before the end of the regular season. They are now set at -400.
2019 NBA Coach of the Year Odds
| Coach | Odds |
|---|---|
| Mike Budenholzer | -400 |
| Doc Rivers | +300 |
| Michael Malone | +800 |
*Odds taken 05/21/19
Doc Rivers comes in second with 3-to-1 odds after leading the Clippers to a wildly surprising 48-34 season, good for the eighth seed in the Western Conference. After trading away Tobias Harris, Rivers’ squad didn’t lose a step. In fact, they started playing even better after the trade deadline.
A 16-game leap is quite remarkable. The Bucks did it with one big superstar and some lesser role players and guys that aren’t big names.
Bet Coach Bud
While you aren’t going to make a boatload with Budenholzer at -400, he’s undoubtedly the safe bet. The fact we are talking about the Bucks in the NBA Finals is quite the achievement for a team that hasn’t been on this stage of the playoffs since Ray Allen was donning the Milwaukee green and white.
It would be pretty shocking to see Budenholzer not win this award over Rivers and Michael Malone. The Nuggets were a 46-win team last year and many expected their young squad to get better this year, which they did by eight games. It wasn’t enough to put any stock into them, even at +800.
Pick: Mike Budenholzer (-400)