There was a big piece of news going around the NBA this week when the Sacramento Kings decided to part ways with head coach Luke Walton. It isn’t surprising to see a coach being fired when a team is playing poorly. After all, sometimes a change behind the bench is exactly what a team needs to reverse its fortunes.
With that being said, there’s a chance that Walton won’t be the only NBA coach to lose his job this year. Bovada has released odds on which bench boss will be fired next to help make sense of everything. As it stands, Detroit Pistons head coach Dwane Casey is leading the way at +225 odds.
A former NBA Coach of the Year, Casey first got his job with the Pistons in 2018 after leading the Toronto Raptors to three straight 50-plus-win seasons. The hope was that he could have the same impact in Detroit, however, that wasn’t the case at all.
After going 41-41 in his first season with the Pistons, Casey’s team finished with exactly 20 wins in the subsequent two campaigns. Fast forward to the current season and Detroit is 4-14, sitting second-last in the Eastern Conference. If things continue at this pace, the Pistons are projected to finish with 18 wins.
Overall, Casey is 85-153 in 238 games over the last four seasons. With bright young players like Cade Cunningham, Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart on the roster, Detroit needs to create a winning culture and that could come at the expense of Casey.
Odds for Next NBA Head Coach to Be Fired
Odds via Bovada as of Friday, November 26
- Dwane Casey (+225)
- Frank Vogel (+250)
- Stephen Silas (+450)
- Willie Green (+650)
- Mark Daigneault (+1000)
- Nick Nurse (+1100)
- Taylor Jenkins (+1200)
- Ime Udoka (+2000)
- Jamahl Mosley (+2000)
- Nate McMillan (+2200)
The complete odds list is available at Bovada.lv.
Vogel on the Hot Seat in L.A.
One NBA coach who is definitely on the hot seat this season is the Los Angeles Lakers’ Frank Vogel. On paper, a team with LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis should be one of the top teams in the Western Conference, let alone the entire league. However, the Lakers are just 10-10 through the first quarter of the season, sitting ninth in the West.
After the Lakers’ disappointing showing last season, Vogel was given some leeway because of James and Davis missing most of the second half of the season with injuries. Both have been healthy for most of the current campaign, meaning it’s tough to justify keeping the coach around unless the team performs better.
Beyond the team’s record, Vogel has been making questionable coaching decisions all season long. There’s the above example of him playing bench players against the Milwaukee Bucks over his starters despite the game being close in the fourth quarter. It shouldn’t be at the point where a close-to-40 LeBron needs to do all the heavy lifting. Vogel’s current coaching style certainly won’t lead to an NBA Championship and unless he fixes things, his job could be on the line.
Stephen Silas NBA Coaching Odds
It shouldn’t be a surprise seeing Stephen Silas’ (+450) name as one of the top candidates to be the next NBA coach to lose his job. The Houston Rockets head coach is off to a historically bad start in 2021-22, with his team going 2-16 in the first 18 games of the season. To put that into perspective, that puts them on pace for nine wins this season — tied for the second-fewest in league history.
The latest rumor is that the Rockets ownership is contemplating Silas’ future ever since Walton was fired. The truth is that even though Houston doesn’t have the best roster, they have more than enough talent to win more than just two games on the year. That type of result seems to be indicative of Silas’ coaching style and keeping him around for much longer may be detrimental to the younger players’ development.
With just a .211 winning percentage in his first 90 games with the Rockets, it may be time for the team to cut their losses.
