Power ranking all NBA head coaches as the 2024-2025 season tips off

The profile of NBA coaches leading teams into the 2024-2025 campaign is extremely varied. Some are former NBA players, some are longtime assistants getting their chance at the big chair, and some are legends who will one day make the Basketball Hall of Fame.

We’ll rank all 30 NBA head coaches, going from worst or unproven to the gold standards. All statistics are sourced from Basketball Reference.

Everyone, including Redick himself, is aware that he has no prior coaching experience heading into his first season as Lakers head coach. Los Angeles general manager Rob Pelinka told ESPN, “Quickly in our conversations with J.J., it was very evident that he had a unique perspective and philosophy on basketball how it’s to be taught.” It’s anyone’s guess as to how Redick will command the team with LeBron James in the fold.

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Fernandez has paid his dues as an assistant, spending six seasons in that capacity with the Denver Nuggets and two as a lead assistant with the Sacramento Kings. The New York Post writes that Fernandez cut his teeth in player development, which he’ll need to a lot of with the Nets. It figures to be a long year in Brooklyn, but Fernandez’s teaching chops seem to be well-placed as first-time head coach.

Lee’s name has been bounced around in the head coaching cycle for a couple of years now. NBC Sports Boston called him one of the best assistants in the NBA. Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens told Andscape, “We all have been really impressed with Charles. Anybody that meets him and gets to know him already sees the engaging and outgoing personality.”

Now that we’ve run through the first-time head coaches, we’ll start the rest of the list with those who have coached in the league before. As great a player and leader as Billups was in his NBA career, he hasn’t been able to turn the tide for Portland. He’s 81-65 in his three seasons there, and there’s not much reason to think things will get better this year.

Keefe took over the Wizards in the middle of the 2023-2024 campaign, which is akin to being given the keys to a house that was already on fire. Keefe wasn’t able to pick up the team after a putrid start under Wes Unseld. He’ll hope that a fresh start and a chance to implement his vision will result in more competitive play from Washington this season.

Rajakovic had some interesting motivational methods in his first year with Toronto. He promised to throw the team an expense paid dinner if they won three consecutive games. He told ESPN, “I told them this team’s so humble, we could have pizza.” The only problem was, their first three game winning streak came in February, when Toronto was already near the bottom of the standings.

Everything about the Bulls in the past couple of seasons has been average, including Donovan. He has a career 156-162 record with Chicago, with each campaign finishing near .500. They’re not going to be one of the worst teams, but also have little hope to make a significant jump in the standings this year. Donovan will have another challenge on his hands trying to spark this so-so team.

The Jazz have clearly taken a patient approach to rebuilding their roster after jettisoning most of their veteran talent before the 2022-2023 campaign. CBS Sports recently ranked Hardy as a top 10 coach, which seems awfully aggressive given his 68-96 career record. However, he is well regarded in NBA circles, which gives him the chance to vault up this list down the line.

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Atkinson always receives (and deserves) credit for taking a tanking Nets team to the playoffs in 2018-2019. He’s been viewed as a top-notch assistant for over a decade, but he’ll need to show he can maximize the potential of a talented Cleveland team before he can rise in the head coaching ranks. In his introductory press conference, he already promised to optimize things between Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland.

It’s pretty difficult to determine where Green should slot in on a list like this. New Orleans’ Zion Williamson is the franchise cornerstone, but he’s missed so many games (and so many important ones) that Green seems like he always has to operate with less than his full arsenal. The New York Times called on Green to mature as a coach in December 2023.

The Pistons had a rough time finding someone to replace Monty Williams after having one of the worst seasons in NBA history a year ago. Considering the mess of a situation they find themselves in, they did well to convince Bickerstaff to join the franchise. He did a great job rebuilding the Cavaliers in recent years, and will need to help Detroit show signs of life moving forward.

The New York Times called Snyder the right hire for Atlanta when he was brought in during the middle of the 2022-2023 season. He still might be, but 2024-2025 will be an important season for him. Atlanta decided to trade Dejounte Murray away, which may solve the “two small guards” problem. The Hawks’ defense is expected to improve now with this reconfiguration of the roster.

The arrow is pointing straight up for Mosley and the Magic. He’s won 22, 34, and 47 games respectively in each of his three seasons with the team, which has an ascending young roster. They took Cleveland to the brink in the first round of the playoffs last year, losing a hard-fought seven game series. By taking another step, Mosley might find himself as a top 10 coach as soon as next year.

The Grizzlies were absolutely paralyzed by injuries last year, as Ja Morant and Desmond Bane were unavailable for a large chunk of the season. Assuming health, the key for Memphis and Jenkins this year will be improved maturity. In his second year with the team, Marcus Smart is a veteran who should help immensely in that regard.

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Brown has had a pretty solid NBA coaching career, going 441-286 in 11 seasons. Sacramento figures to be in the mix for a playoff spot again in the Western Conference. ESPN wrote about Brown’s continued ascension as a coach in January 2023, and he has stabilized their franchise. Like many others, he’ll be tasked with getting a talented team over the hump come next spring.

It feels like Udoka has been in NBA fans’ lives for a long time, but he’s only been a head coach for two seasons in the NBA. However, in those two years, he took the Celtics to the NBA Finals in 2022, and dramatically improved the Rockets a year ago. The Ringer noted Udoka’s no-nonsense attitude as a main reason why his teams have performed well.

There’s a chance that this ranking is too low for Daigneault, who led the upstart Thunder to the top seed in the Western Conference a season ago. Oklahoma City’s accomplishments a year ago were made even more impressive considering their core is amongst the youngest in the league. Daigneault has the chance to put a resume together that might make him one of the game’s best in short order.

Budenholzer was an excellent hire for the Suns. He’s generally had his teams in the championship mix, and many felt he got a raw deal with the Milwaukee Bucks. Phoenix knows what Budenholzer can do all too well, as they were defeated by his Bucks in the 2021 NBA Finals. He told ESPN, “We have great players. And with great players come great expectations. I think we embrace that.”

Speaking of shaky moves Milwaukee made, they decided to part ways with Adrian Griffin after a strong start to the 2023-2024 campaign. They brought Rivers in with the idea that they would be getting a proven commodity to lead them back to the promised land. Instead, they were bounced in the first round of the playoffs. Rivers is the eighth winning-est coach in NBA history.

Many thought it couldn’t be done, but Finch figured out how to play two “twin towers” in the same starting lineup in Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns. Minnesota made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals last season, and are on the short list of teams to win it all this year. Zone Coverage’s website lauded his creativity and adaptability, which he'll need to fit Julius Randle into the mix this season.

Not many picked the Pacers to make a run to the Eastern Conference Finals a year ago, but Carlisle implemented and embraced a style that his team wrapped their arms around. Sporting News profiled how Carlisle built what they believed to be one of the best offenses in NBA history, simply by trusting Tyrese Haliburton to make the right decision more often than not.

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Just as Carlisle has established himself with a sterling offensive identity, Thibodeau has been one of the premier defensive coaches in the NBA for nearly two decades. The Knicks play a unique style that is hard for other teams to prepare for. While some are not fans of his rotations, Thibodeau has been critical in bringing the Knicks back to respectability.

Athlon Sports believes that Lue is one of the league’s best coaches. They believe he’s one of the best in-game adjusters in the NBA, and is tremendous at building strong player relationships. The latter certainly seems to be true, but he might have his hands full with the Clippers this year. A lot is riding on the health and production of the mercurial Kawhi Leonard, who has had trouble staying on the floor.

Nurse hasn’t been afraid to get creative during his time as an NBA head coach, and this has allowed him to gain an edge over his peers on many nights. While it didn’t work for the entire series, Nurse threw larger, rangy forwards on Knicks star point guard Jalen Brunson in the playoffs last year, which slowed him down. Nurse is looking for one more key revolutionary idea to get Philadelphia over the hump.

Recent history has seen Kidd make the Western Conference Finals and NBA Finals in two of the last three seasons. Perhaps just as impressive was his ability to get Kyrie Irving to remain focused for an entire season, which had not happened in quite some time. The NBA’s website noted that Kidd helped revive the Mavericks twice, once as a player, and now as a head coach.

There was talk about running Mazzulla out of town after his first season as Celtics head coach, but the fan base is thrilled that they gave him another shot. Boston won the NBA title last season, and Mazzulla showed immense growth as a leader. Mazzulla told Boston’s city website that he was thankful that his players embraced his philosophy.

Popovich’s accomplishments speak for themselves as a five-time NBA champion. The Spurs haven’t made the playoffs in six seasons, and some might think Popovich should have stepped away. At age 75, he’s stuck with the only franchise he’s ever known, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he’s able to find a combination of players to fit around Victor Wembanyama this season.

NBA veteran DeAndre Jordan told Yahoo Sports about Malone, “He’s a competitor at heart. We can see the fight and tenacity he has. He wants to win just as much as we do, and I think when you have a guy like that at the helm it’s very important, and it’s contagious to the players.” Malone’s determination and perseverance have helped Denver become one of the NBA’s best in the last couple of years.

CBS Sports ranked Spoelstra as the top coach in the NBA in a September 2024 piece, and it’s hard to argue too much with that. They wrote, “If Spoelstra has a weakness, it’s not readily apparent.” It’s obvious how great Spoelstra is, considering how undrafted and unheralded players continue to rise through the ranks with Miami.

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The San Francisco Chronicle wrote a piece in May 2024 wondering if Kerr was the greatest coach of all time. That’s a debate for another day, but his ability to have the pulse of his team captured so well for so long is what brings him to the top of our list. The four-time NBA champion (as a head coach) just helped the United States bring home the gold medal in the Paris Olympics.