Kenny Atkinson has a familiar face as competition for NBA Coach of the Year

Atkinson is the betting favorite for Coach of the Year, but J.B Bickerstaff is right behind him.

Sporting a sterling record of 55-10, the Cleveland Cavaliers are not only playoff-bound but destined for much more. The numerous All-Stars on the court have plenty to do with that, but the Cavs are engineered by a coaching staff that has pulled all the right levers at precisely the right time. Head coach Kenny Atkinson is the maestro leading the NBA’s hottest orchestra and is rightfully the betting favorite for the NBA’s Coach of the Year.

But he does have some competition, and it’s a familiar face for Cavs fans: Detroit Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff.

Both coaches have cases for winning the award but for different reasons. Atkinson turned what was a good team last year into an unstoppable force that is on a historic pace offensively. The Cavs have two 15-game winning streaks this season, lead the league in three-point percentage and points per game, and have seen meaningful growth from their core players.

Bickerstaff came into a dreadful situation in Detroit, an eerily similar one to the Cavs team he took over from John Beilein. With growth from All-Star Cade Cunningham and a massive culture shift on the defensive side, Bickerstaff has turned the Pistons from a 14-win disaster one season ago to firmly in the playoff race. Not just the Play-In tournament, the playoffs outright.

It’s a good story in Detroit, one that the national media is still not grasping. But the Cavs are on a collision course for, at the very least, being one of the best regular-season teams ever and are well-equipped to make their deepest playoff run since LeBron James donned the wine and gold in 2018.

The argument against Atkinson is that the Cavs were already a good team, advancing to the second round of the playoffs last season despite being very injured. But that Cavs team was also very flawed, lacking bench depth, an adaptable offensive scheme, mental toughness on the big stage, and an inability to get the most out of Evan Mobley. Atkinson has come in and solved all of those deficiencies from last year, and then some.

Atkinson’s offensive game plan has transformed the Cavs from slow and methodical to high-octane and fast. The Cavs are 10th in pace this season, up from 24th last season, and have the league’s best offensive rating, up from 16th one year ago. The Cavs are relying more on movement, something Atkinson learned during his time as an assistant under Steve Kerr’s Golden State Warriors. That has led to more catch-and-shoot opportunities, screens, sharp cuts to create passing lanes, and a copious amount of three-point attempts. That philosophy has led to the Cavs leading the league in three-point shooting, up from 15th last season.

As it stands right now, this Cavs team has the second-best offensive rating in league history - behind last year’s champion Boston Celtics. They also are averaging the second-most points per game (122.7) in league history - behind last year’s Eastern Conference finalist Indiana Pacers (123.3). This is no anomaly, but instead a perfect harmonization of what this Cavaliers team had hoped it could become.

The Cavs’ bench has been an unsung hero this season, and Atkinson has squeezed every bit of basketball out of each of the reserves. Ty Jerome, who is in the running for an award of his own, Dean Wade, Isaac Okoro, and Max Strus have all stepped up regardless of the role they are asked to play. Sam Merrill, despite a down season, has not had his confidence shaken.

“We trust our bench,” Atkinson said before Tuesday’s game. “Playing them, trusting them, giving them minutes — that’s the biggest boost you can give them. … I think we played 10 the whole year, sometimes 11. You do that consistently, they get better as the season goes on, and they build confidence.”

That confidence has aided in the Cavs’ third key issue from last season: mental toughness. The Cavs have become the comeback kids, finding ways to get stops, hit shots, and play with enough energy to beat down their opponent. Cavs teams of the last few seasons seemed to wilt under pressure, unable to muster the drive or will to mount a comeback or choking away a close game with sloppy turnovers and no offensive strategy to exploit mismatches. That has not been an issue this season and doesn’t appear to be a problem heading into the home stretch before the playoffs.

Then there is the case of Mobley, who has become a two-way star that is not only able to play otherworldly defense but also put the ball on the floor and make things happen on offense. Atkinson presented his plan during the interview process on how to evolve Mobley’s game, and it has been on full display since the first game of the season.

“There’s a real intention to get him the ball, get him the ball in space, get him the ball in mismatches and it doesn’t happen if the other guys around him aren’t willing to do it,” Atkinson told cleveland.com earlier in the season. “We’ve talked about it, and we’ve had those conversations with the guys, as a team. They know how important he is. They know that they all need to, and we all need to, elevate him.”

Dribble-drives, touches at the elbow, getting the ball on the move, face-ups in the post, and - most critically - three-point shot attempts. Mobley has more than doubled his three-point attempts year-over-year from 10.7 to 23.3, immediately transforming the Cavs’ offense from cumbersome to multi-tooled. All this while also being the running favorite for Defensive Player of the Year is especially impressive.

It’s a fair argument to make that Bickerstaff has had to overcome more in his transformation of Detroit, which lost 28 games in a row last season. The Pistons added several new players in the offseason to help build out the rotation, which has paid dividends. Having competent players on the roster, independent of what

But the Cavs have, largely, the exact same roster as last season, minus Ty Jerome (who was hurt) and De’Andre Hunter (who was acquired at the trade deadline). Atkinson has taken what Bickerstaff had available to him last year, and the year before, and has figured out how to get the absolute most out of it. That is the definition of elite coaching.

Bickerstaff has certainly surpassed expectations in Motown, but the Atkinson has the Cavs humming to heights that were only bold idealizations. Now, it's a reality, and one that should crown Atkinson as the NBA’s Coach of the Year.