Odds For NBA Coach Firings

Odds for an interesting special bet were released by Bovada last week. It is the odds for Who will be the first head coach fired in the 2014-2015 season. Check out all the coaches on the list and the odds below:

Kevin McHale (HOU) 7/4

Flip Saunders (MIN) 2/1

Monty Williams (NO) 4/1

Jason Kidd (MIL) 7/1

Scott Brooks (OKC) 8/1

Byron Scott (LAL) 10/1

Randy Wittman (WAS) 10/1

Dave Joerger (MEM) 10/1

Without a doubt the biggest surprise is seeing Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Scott Brooks on the list. The Thunder have made playoffs runs for the last three years under Brooks, but it just goes to show that the Thunder are measuring their success by the amount of rings worn on their players fingers and right now that number is none.

Brooks has not had the easiest job in the world. He has been dealing with injuries like that of Russell Westbrook in 2014, Serge Ibaka in 2014 and Kevin Durant will miss the beginning of this season. However, Oklahoma City wants a coach that can get past injuries.

Not to mention that the Thunder’s MVP, Durant has got to be getting tired of not having a championship. With his contract ending in 2016 he may look for a team that can give him that title and Brooks-less Thunder may be his best option.

If by mid-season the Thunder do not look like a championship team Brooks very well could be fired.  Will he be the first fired, though? It is doubtful. Not with the type of pressure that is on Kevin McHale.

McHale helms a Houston Rockets team with two of the most wanted players in the NBA in Dwight Howard and James Harden, but a piece was clearly missing as McHale’s team got eliminated from the playoffs by a very young Portland Trailblazers team that they should have blew out of the water. In other words, it is a surprise that McHale was not fired at the end of last season.

McHale is also in the last year of his contract, which means it would cost nothing for the Rockets to let him go and deflect a lot of negative attention if the team struggles early on, hence why McHale sits atop the odds.