How Joe Mazzulla’s Coach Of The Year Odds Compare To Ime Udoka’s
Some sportsbooks have yet to post Mazzulla's odds
Ime Udoka was a clear favorite to win NBA Coach of the Year for the 2022-23 season, but the market has shown a different view of Celtics interim coach Joe Mazzulla.
Boston will try to move on without their head coach, who was suspended for the year due to violation of team polices. The team will start training camp Tuesday as Mazzulla will look to take the Celtics back to the NBA Finals.
Before his suspension, Udoka was a +850 favorite to win Coach of the Year. Sportsbooks have a handful of head coaches as a favorite or co-favorite after the suspension. Below are Mazzulla's odds across major sportsbooks -- FanDuel has not listed odds for Coach of the Year, and FoxBet does not list the interim coach.
DraftKings: +1200
BetMGM: +1200
PointsBet: +1400
Bet365: +1400
These odds tell the public bookmakers are respecting the talent of the Celtics roster. Despite injuries to Robert Williams III and Danilo Gallinari, Boston still have Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, along with Malcom Brodgon and Marcus Smart.
But Mazzulla will be taking on head coaching duties for the first time in his NBA career. There are too many unknowns that cannot realistically be accounted for. Mazzulla's odds hover with Memphis Grizzlies' Taylor Jenkins, Minnesota Timberwolves' Chris Finch and Los Angeles Clippers' Tyronn Lue. PointsBet has Miami Heat's Erik Spoelstra with better odds, and Mazzulla's odds are tied with Denver Nuggets' Michael Malone and New Orleans' Pelicans' Willie Green.
What these odds also tell the public is the race for the Coach of the Year award is a wide open one. Action was always going to change, even if Udoka was going to coach the season, but bookmakers see multiple candidates as viable ones, which makes finding value slightly more difficult than it was before.
