Next NBA Coach To Be Fired Odds: Who Will Follow Steve Nash?

Adam Thompson | 4 mins

Steve Nash was the first NBA head coach this season to be served his walking papers. He won’t be the last.
Nash and the Brooklyn Nets mutually agreed to part ways following a 2-5 start to this season. His two-plus seasons in Brooklyn were marked by underachievement and off-court dramas. It’s not a shock he’s gone.
But who’s next? Teams not meeting expectations may get proactive, as the Nets just did, before the season goes off the rails.
Bookies.com oddsmaker Adam Thompson has updated his NBA futures odds on which NBA coach will be the next one fired.
Next NBA Coach To Be Fired Odds
These odds have been created by the Bookies.com team and are not representative of odds that may be available on legal betting apps.
Doc Rivers has a long NBA coaching resume, including a league championship in 2008 with the Celtics. But he’s also had several big postseason disappointments as the leader of title-contending rosters. His two seasons in Philadelphia have both ended in the second round and he never got the Clippers past that round in seven years, despite stellar regular seasons.
High expectations may push Philly to make a move sooner than later.
Expectations aren’t nearly as high in Houston, where Stephen Silas begins Year 3 of his tenure. The first two seasons, however, the Rockets failed to win more than 20 games in either, and they are 1-7 to begin 2022-23, tied with Orlando for the worst record in the league.
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In Detroit, Dwane Casey has had four full seasons but after a 41-41 first season in 2018-19, the Pistons have finished 20-46, 20-52 and 23-59. Is enough, enough? Detroit hired him from Toronto, where he had ample success with one Eastern Conference Finals berth, but time may be running out in the Motor City. The team has lost six of eight to open this season.
Tom Thibodeau, it’s been said, has a tough style of coaching that doesn’t mesh well with the latest generation of players. In five seasons as head coach of the Bulls, the best year was the first one; in three seasons in Minnesota, Year 2 was a huge improvement but Year 3 took such a dip that he was fired 40 games in. He’s now into Year 3 with the Knicks; the team’s record took a 15-game dive between his first and second years, and a 3-3 start may put him on the hot seat.
Portland’s Chauncey Billups is only in his second year but the first one was a major disappointment (27-55). The leash in L.A. might be even shorter for Darvin Ham, who leads a Lakers squad that has been the talk of the town with its poor play (1-5 so far). For a team full of veterans and an NBA title as the goal, Ham accepted a tricky situation for his first-ever head gig.
The Field is led by Nate McMillan of the Hawks and Billy Donovan of the Bulls, highly regarded coaches whose teams went backward last year. Both front offices added key pieces to the roster to give their teams a shot. If it doesn’t get better soon, a change at the top might be the first move.
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