- Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff is the new Coach of the Year betting favorite at +300 via PointsBet USA.
- Bickerstaff has led the Cavs to the 5th best record in the East at 19-13.
- The Cavs opened the season with a 23-7 ATS record, the best 30-game ATS stat in the NBA since 2005.
To say that J.B. Bickerstaff is doing a good job with the Cleveland Cavaliers is an understatement.
The Cavs are off to one of their best starts in recent memory and the team is playing with a lot of swag and winning games.
At this point of the season, the Cavaliers’ increase in win percentage points of .288 is the largest by any team this year. Cleveland is playing with the third-best defensive efficiency in the league, behind only the Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns – the top two teams in the NBA this campaign.
Because of his team’s early success, Bickerstaff has caught the eye of the best NBA sportsbooks and has been rewarded by the Cavaliers organization.
Bickerstaff Coach of the Year Favorite
Bickerstaff is Coach of the Year favorite at @PointsBetUSA (+300). https://t.co/mLY2lWenPB
— Jay Croucher (@croucherJD) December 25, 2021
The NBA’s Coach of the Year race began with Steve Nash and Steve Kerr on top of the preseason betting boards with the Nets and Warriors among the early favorites to win the 2022 NBA title. The Nets and Warriors still are, and in fact, they are 1 and 2 in the current title odds boards but Cleveland Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff has overtaken the Steves on top of the Coach of the Year betting boards.
Bickerstaff is now the -300 betting favorite to win the award at online sportsbook PointsBet with Kerr chasing him at +350. Phoenix’s Monty Williams is third at +400 while Chicago’s Billy Donovan, another architect of a surprise team this season, is fourth at +800. Meanwhile, Utah’s Quin Snyder is 5th at +900 while Nash had dropped all the way down to sixth at +1400.
At the DK Sportsbook, Bickerstaff, Kerr, and Williams share the top spot at +400. Meanwhile, Kerr and Williams are co-favorites at BetMGM, Unibet, and Borgata Online with Bickerstaff trailing them at +550. Bet 365 USA also has Kerr and Williams on top at +275 with Bickerstaff behind them at +450.
Cavs Extend Bickerstaff
With the team in contention for its first playoff appearance in four years, the Cavaliers signed coach J.B. Bickerstaff to a multiyear contract extension.
The Cavs, at 19-13, have won won 10 of their last 13 games.
More: https://t.co/P4nZ2leKpT
— The Athletic NBA (@TheAthleticNBA) December 25, 2021
But while the Coach of the Year award is still a race that is to be won, Bickerstaff is already a winner in his own right. According to a report first published at ESPN, the Cavaliers have extended Bickerstaff’s contract until the 2026-27 season with the team currently having an impressive transformation.
Cleveland won just a total of 19 games during the 2019-20 season and only 22 last season. But with Bickerstaff and GM Koby Altman working together to mold the Cavs roster around a young core led by Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, Jarrett Allen, and rookie Evan Mobley, the team is playing with a different level of aura this year.
With Bickerstaff installing confidence in themselves, the Cavs are off to a 19-13 start, good for 5th place in the Eastern Conference despite losing Collin Sexton to a season-ending injury. Before the team was ravaged by COVID-19 in recent games, Cleveland won six straight games from December 8 to 18 by an average winning margin of 21.5 points. The Cavs also covered the betting spread in 14 straight games at one point and had the best ATS start in the last 15 years.
