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NBA: Top 10 candidates for Coach of the Year Award in 2017-18

By Gerald Bourguet

Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images
Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images /
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8. Quin Snyder

With Gordon Hayward leaving the Utah Jazz this summer, no one is giving this 51-win team much of a chance to make the playoffs in 2017-18. What most of them don’t realize is the Jazz might have threatened to win 60 games if so many of their players hadn’t dealt with injury problems.

Yes, the Western Conference playoff field will be more of a bloodbath than it’s ever been, but if Quin Snyder is able to replace Gordon Hayward’s 21.9 points per game with stifling defense, a career year from Rodney Hood and a team built around Rudy Gobert as the new star, the Jazz should be in the hunt.

If Utah is able to defy the odds and climb near the 5- or 6-seed in the West, Snyder will be deserving of a few Coach of the Year votes. He’s one of the most underrated coaches in the league, but 2017-18 will represent his greatest challenge yet.