OKC Thunder: Where Billy Donovan ranks on pundits Coach of Year ballots

OKC Thunder bench boss Billy Donovan is garnering praise from the National media. Find out where they rank him in Coach of the Year voting.

With the NBA deciding to make the cut off for awards March 11th it may have affected where OKC Thunder bench boss, Billy Donovan finishes on the Coach of the Year ballot.

In truth it’s highly unlikely the frontrunner, Nick Nurse of the Toronto Raptors can be usurped. Working in his favor is the Raptors registering the same number of wins a year after a player considered among the top five (Kawhi Leonard) left the team.

In addition, the Raptors are the only playoff seed who ranks in the top five for man-games lost due to injury. Plus it’s the core players who were out while he had to coach ‘the others’ to gain wins. Every starter except OG Anunoby missed between 11 and 28 games as well as the next three players on the bench.

For perspective, the Warriors, Wizards, Blazers, and Pistons are the other teams in the same range.  Add in the Raptors rank second in the East, third overall, and have the second-best defense (they were fifth with Leonard!). Those high points are hard to argue.

Donovan is definitely in the mix although the OKC Thunder don’t rank in the top five in any of the three main categories and the timing of the suspension really killed his shot. Consider if that Utah Jazz game gets played and the Thunder win to move into fourth.

If that happens perhaps the choice between Nurse and Donovan is closer. As it is no one has as many checkmarks to line up against Nurse’s dynamics.

That doesn’t mean it’s a done deal as Mike Budenholtzer warrants consideration based on his Bucks overall best record.

Donovan gains merit for the OKC Thunder overachieving. Likewise, Erik Spoelstra and Taylor Jenkins will get nods for getting their teams to overachieve.

Where National writers place Donovan on CoY ballot

In terms of national writers who either ranked Donovan in their top three to five or gave him  honorable mention, here’s the list:

The OKC Thunder might want to send The Ringers Kevin O’Connor a thank you gift for how much shine he gave the squad. No Billy didn’t take his top slot but as per above placing second to Nurse in this season was no minor feat given how many coaches could make the top three this year.

Considering K’OC calls Nurse the best coach in basketball (not just for this year!) this was an impressive hat tip.

"It’s still not exactly what Donovan envisioned when he got hired—at Florida, he ran a motion offense with constant ball and player movement. But what he’s done has worked to keep the Thunder in the postseason. He gets bonus points for developing some of the younger guys on the squad by giving them minutes."

ESPN polled 20 writers and while Nurse won in a landslide (15 votes), Marc Spears gave Billy Donovan the nod.  Mike Budenholzer and Frank Vogel each got two votes.

Zach Lowe ranked Donovan third on his list behind Nurse and Budenholzer.

"The Thunder underwent a dramatic stylistic shift, and yet it still doesn’t feel as if we know what Donovan stands for as a coach. But maybe that’s the answer: adaptability and consistency. There is value in grasping the preferences of your roster — especially of your stars — and allowing them to do what they do best."

The paid-for subscription  Athletic’s Sam Amick was in line with everyone for Nurse and selected Billy Donovan third on his list.

John Hollinger, also of the Athletic, shockingly didn’t even give Donovan an honorable mention, although he did share some OKC Thunder awards love elsewhere.

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To be fair, it’s hard to catch every single game or keep up enough to know all the intricacies of every team. Sometimes it’s as simple as missing a play like that long football pass by Steven Adams to Dennis Schroder that allowed OKC to send the Wolves game to overtime.

See that, and recognize how quickly the Big Kiwi was thinking that through in the moment and precisely how accurate that pass had to be. Miss it and perhaps you never know how special that entire play was.

Voting is a personal choice and with 30 teams, debates are a given. The other factor is while there are categories like Rookie of the Year that is cemented there are also a number of categories this season with many more choices than typical.

Ultimately, Donovan won’t win but here’s hoping he garners a top three nod just so his efforts this season are recognized. Especially after some of us (raises hand) began to believe he couldn’t adapt after quick exits in three successive seasons.

He’s been everything that was expected when he first arrived. Perhaps it’s as simple as the type of individual he prefers to work with as a star. Or perhaps he prefers more of a team-centered concept. Whatever the answer – he ‘s having one heck of a year and this narrator can’t wait to see more starting this Saturday.