Budenholzer is the obvious NBA Coach of the Year. He has three years left after this and I'd support signing him to an extension immediately after this season no matter what happens in the playoffs.
However, I don't think we can overstate how bad a coach Jason Kidd was. He had 80% of the same starting lineup last year. Obviously, Lopez is better than John Henson, but enough to account for about 20 games in the standings? With Giannis and Middleton playing 4 LESS minutes a game.
Let's give Kidd a bit of a pass for his offensive sets (I'm being generous going that since their offense is 4 points better per 100 possessions than last year).
It's the defensive changes that are glaring. Lopez adds a paint presence, but Giannis and Bledsoe are both candidates for NBA all-defensive team and Brogdon and Middleton are also well above average. Kidd's team managed to rank 19th in defense last year with those 4 guys playing? Tony Snell is also a plus defender and he was playing a lot of minutes last year also. They have the best defensive rating in the league this year and give up 104 points per 100 possessions instead of 110.
Jason Kidd did the least with the most of any coach in the NBA last year. And the Lakers are actually talking about hiring him?
