Power ranking the 10 NBA coaches under the most pressure this season

NBA coaches don’t usually have the longest leashes to get their teams into contention. Ownership constantly re-evaluates who they have in the big chair, thinking that an upgrade is right around the corner. With that said, we’ll take a look at the 10 coaches under the most pressure heading into the 2024-2025 NBA season. All statistics are sourced from Basketball Reference.

It’s hard to say that Donovan has been terrible in his five seasons with the Bulls, but this feels like a rubber meets the road campaign for him. Chicago has missed the playoffs in four of those five years, and things don’t seem to be getting appreciably better under his guidance.

Donovan’s career record in Chicago is 156-162, which puts the franchise in arguably the worst place in the NBA; not good enough to contend, and not bad enough to bottom out for tantalizing draft capital. The Chicago Sun-Times believed that he could have been fired before last season, so the clock certainly appears to be ticking.

Want to see more like this? Follow us here for daily sports news, profiles and analysis!

The Hawks thought they were leveling up significantly when they brought Snyder on to replace Nate McMillan in the middle of the 2022-2023 campaign. It hasn’t quite worked out that way, as the Hawks have remained one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA.

Atlanta decided to remake their team in the offseason, dealing guard Dejounte Murray to the New Orleans Pelicans. It signaled the end of an experiment that didn’t go too well for the Hawks, but it does give Snyder the flexibility to mix and match defensively on the wing. Snyder will likely opt to get more size on the perimeter.

Green has a winning record in his three seasons in New Orleans. That’s all well and good, but Sports Illustrated rightly believes that this could be a make-or-break year for him with the Pelicans. They note that a coach’s fourth season in New Orleans has often been a barometer of what’s to come.

Green has had to make do without the services of Zion Williamson way more than he would like, considering the star’s checkered injury history. This probably leaves Green as somewhat of an unknown even at this stage, but the Pelicans likely aren’t going to wait much longer to make a determination on his future.

Brown is a very respectable NBA coach, having proven his worth in multiple stops throughout his career. He seems to be taken with the environment in Sacramento, telling Sports Illustrated, “the people have been phenomenal… they’re about the friendliest people that I’ve been across in my entire coaching career. Love it here in Sacramento.”

The Kings have won 48 and 46 games respectively in Brown’s tenure with the Kings, which is nothing to sneeze at. However, with De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis in their prime, Kings fans are hoping for a little bit more in the near future. The Western Conference is going to be ultra competitive this year, so Brown will have to find a way to get the Kings above the play-in fray.

Want to see more like this? Follow us here for daily sports news, profiles and analysis!

Many around the NBA were stunned by the Milwaukee Bucks’ decision to part ways with Budenholzer after the 2022-2023 campaign. After all, he did lead them to a title two years before. Medium and others wondered aloud whether Milwaukee made a mistake by letting go of one of the NBA’s most accomplished coaches.

Budenholzer has landed on his feet, taking the head coach job with the Suns in the offseason. The narrative is similar for him in Phoenix; they’re a franchise with a roster that’s built to win now, and anything less than a deep playoff run or a championship will be viewed as a failure. Budenholzer told ESPN that he’s up for the challenge.

The Lakers made the bold move of hiring Redick without him having any prior NBA coaching experience. Los Angeles general manager Rob Pelinka was impressed with the way the former NBA veteran thought about the game, and decided this was enough to give him a shot. It’s going to be a very interesting year for the team.

It’s not exactly clear what a successful Redick season or tenure would look like. Los Angeles just parted ways with Darvin Ham after two years. In those two seasons, he led Los Angeles to the Western Conference Finals, and to another playoff appearance. Redick will likely be expected to achieve something close to that right away.

The Ringer wrote a detailed profile on Jenkins before his Grizzlies tenure began. It’s been a pretty positive one for the young head coach, who turned 40 in September. Last season went off the rails for Memphis pretty quickly, as serious injuries took out star players for most of the year. While the subpar campaign is forgivable, Jenkins will need to have a notable bounce back season in 2024-2025.

There won’t be many excuses for Jenkins, assuming Memphis is healthy. They parted ways with Dillon Brooks before last season, who sometimes put the Grizzlies in unfavorable positions with his instigative ways. The Grizzlies should be more disciplined, but it’ll be up to Jenkins to get them to refocus after a lost season.

Portland’s logic in hiring Billups was sound when they brought him on as head coach before the 2021-2022 campaign. The front office wanted a young head coach to grow with an increasingly young team. However, that vision hasn’t exactly come to fruition, as the Blazers haven’t won more than 33 games in his time as head coach.

With an 81-165 career record in Portland, Billups has to engineer a dramatic turnaround this season. It feels somewhat unlikely given the amount of unproven and raw talent the Blazers have, but Billups has to hang his hat on something if he wants to remain in the big chair past this season.

Nurse has an NBA title to his name, which probably doesn’t put him at risk of being let go at season’s end. However, the 76ers are right at the top of the list when it comes to teams looking to take advantage of a current window of contention, and it’s not inconceivable that Nurse could be a scapegoat if Philadelphia’s season ends in disappointing fashion.

ClutchPoints believes that the 76ers are likely under the most pressure in the league to win in 2024-2025. They were able to remake the roster as they saw fit with a bundle of cap space, and it’ll be up to Nurse to maximize the potential of the Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George triumvirate.

The Bucks made an ultra aggressive move during the middle of the 2023-2024 NBA season. They fired Adrian Griffin, who had gotten off to a 30-13 start, to bring Rivers in, who finished 17-19. Milwaukee hoped that the pedigree Rivers brought to the team would bring them success when it mattered most, but the team felt way short of expectations.

Want to see more like this? Follow us here for daily sports news, profiles and analysis!

To be fair, injuries mounted for Milwaukee at the wrong time. Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo’s availability in the playoffs was impacted greatly by leg injuries. However, excuses aren’t going to fly in Milwaukee this season, as the front office has pushed all their chips into the middle of the table.