This summer’s NBA coaching carousel was largely driven by losing teams seeking a new voice: None of the six teams that made a coaching change won a 2026 playoff series, while four finished more than 10 games out of the play-in tournament races.
Expect a much different dynamic during the 2026-27 campaign. After a busy offseason that saw a laundry list of All-Star players change scenery, the pressure will be ramped up on coaches of teams expected to contend for a title.
With that in mind, let’s rank the five coaches facing the most intense scrutiny during the upcoming season, starting at No. 5 with a reigning Eastern Conference finalist.
5. Kenny Atkinson, Cleveland Cavaliers
Atkinson has had more success than almost all his coaching colleagues since he was hired by the Cavaliers in 2024. The former Golden State Warriors assistant followed up a sparkling 64-win season for Cleveland in 2024-25 with a 2026 East finals appearance, the franchise’s first without LeBron James since 1992.
Unfortunately, Atkinson’s Cavaliers have specialized in crash landings. During the 2025 playoffs, the top-seeded Cavs were blown off the court in the second round by the upstart Indiana Pacers, and Cleveland was largely uncompetitive against the Knicks while being swept out of the 2026 East finals.
How many consecutive agonizing endings can one coach survive? That’s the dilemma for Atkinson, who gets the benefit of coaching an expensive and talent-rich roster that boasts strong continuity.
Cavs owner Dan Gilbert showed his continued commitment to winning this summer with generous deals for Donovan Mitchell, James Harden and newcomer Peyton Watson. Meanwhile, Cleveland retained its big man pairing of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, who will combine to earn $78 million this season despite lineup fit questions and inconsistent playoff performances.
The pieces remain in place for Cleveland to remain among the East’s leading contenders. What can Atkinson do to make sure his team puts its best foot forward when it matters most?
4. David Adelman, Denver Nuggets
Warning to all coaches: Beware of the post-championship backslide.
Since winning the 2023 title, Nikola Jokic’s Nuggets have traveled a similar path to that of the Milwaukee Bucks after Giannis Antetokounmpo led them to the 2021 title. The Nuggets fired former coach Michael Malone in 2025 once their standard started to slip, just as the Bucks fired former coach Mike Budenholzer in 2023 after a pair of first-round exits.
Now, the attention turns to Adelman, who replaced Malone just days before the 2025 postseason. While Denver nearly reached the West finals in 2025, it lost more ground last season with a perfunctory first-round loss to the undermanned Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Milwaukee comparison casts an ominous shadow: Adrian Griffin, Budenholzer’s replacement, was a first-time head coach who didn’t last long before he was replaced by a more decorated alternative in Doc Rivers. Like Griffin, Adelman is a relatively inexperienced head coach tasked with contending for titles and shaping the remaining prime years of an MVP-level franchise player. And, like Griffin, Adelman’s ability to achieve those goals is complicated by his team’s flawed and incomplete roster.
While Denver breathed a major sign of relief Monday when Jokic announced his intention to re-sign with the Nuggets next summer, that doesn’t necessarily reduce the pressure on Adelman to reverse the franchise’s momentum.
Adelman can’t really ask more from Jokic, who averaged a 27-point triple-double last season and finished in the top two in MVP voting for the sixth straight season. The coach can hope for better health for forward Aaron Gordon and a bounce-back season from guard Christian Braun, and Adelman should hope that Denver lands on the opposite side of the playoff bracket from Minnesota.
Still, this is a tall coaching order. The Nuggets have lost Michael Porter Jr. and Watson over the past two offseasons, and this summer’s additions -- DeMar DeRozan and Marvin Bagley III -- don’t project as game changers. If Denver’s playoff progress stagnates despite Jokic’s continued brilliance, Adelman could find himself stuck absorbing the heat.
3. Mitch Johnson, San Antonio Spurs
In hindsight, Johnson got off way too easy for how poorly the Spurs performed at times in their NBA Finals loss to the New York Knicks.
Yes, San Antonio’s youth and inexperience were serious issues, and franchise center Victor Wembanyama wasn’t quite prepared to seize control of the series. But the 39-year-old Johnson’s own youth and inexperience were factors too. He refused to change his starting lineup or make major rotation changes as his team continually blew leads, and he completely lost control of the game flow during San Antonio’s unforgettable Game 4 loss.
The Spurs are the opposite of a rash organization: Johnson, who succeeded the legendary Gregg Popovich, is their second coach in nearly 30 years. With that said, the youth excuse no longer applies now that Wembanyama is arguably the NBA’s best player and after the Spurs won 62 games and eliminated the 2025 champion Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals on the road.
Johnson has arguably the NBA’s most enviable collection of talent, and San Antonio will return all its key players while adding veteran forward Tobias Harris. The Spurs must sort through how to handle their glut of guards -- De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper -- and refine Wembanyama’s offensive impact in late-game situations. While Johnson was entirely unwilling to bench Fox for poor play last season, that’s the type of decision that sometimes must be made to maximize a team’s potential.
The good news for Johnson is that Wembanyama’s presence virtually guarantees an elite team defense and a high playoff seed. What’s more, his players appear refocused after their sour Finals finish, and they enjoyed some quality bonding time together in France this summer.
But to whom much is given, much is expected. Johnson must find a way to write a better ending this time.
2. Ime Udoka, Houston Rockets
Jamahl Mosley had the most success of the six coaches who were let go this summer, leading the Orlando Magic to 46 wins and a seven-game first-round playoff series loss to the Detroit Pistons. Ultimately, the Magic concluded that Mosley had been given enough chances and it was Sean Sweeney’s turn to try to deliver the franchise’s first playoff series win since 2010.
Udoka’s path with the Rockets mirrors Mosley’s time with the Magic: Udoka has transformed a lottery team into a playoff team, but he has been unable to get out of the first round in multiple tries despite a talented young roster. With Houston committing big dollars to Kevin Durant, Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson, it’s officially time for Udoka to translate his team’s potential into actualized success.
The good news for Udoka is that veteran guard Fred VanVleet will return to the court after missing last season with a knee injury and Houston didn’t lose any crucial rotation players this summer.
The bad news? Serious questions linger about the Rockets’ ability to create enough spacing on offense and execute in close games. Udoka, who made his name as a defensive-minded coach, must prove he can find creative answers to the scoring issues.
Houston’s collapse in last season’s first round against the Luka Doncic-less Lakers was the type of painful defeat that can pull a group closer together or fracture its chemistry. While Udoka has some peace of mind thanks to a lucrative long-term contract extension he signed in 2025, the time has come for the Rockets to turn the corner.
1. Nick Nurse, Philadelphia 76ers
Any coach worth his salt would embrace the challenge and opportunity facing Nurse. Talent is a prerequisite for winning, and the new-look 76ers have assembled an awful lot of it.
Just two seasons ago, Nurse was stuck coaching a hopeless 24-win team that got off to a 2-12 start and could barely keep franchise center Joel Embiid on the court. Nurse survived that trainwreck. He then guided the Sixers to an unexpected first-round playoff series win over the rival Boston Celtics last season, watched longtime general manager Daryl Morey get fired in June and had James and Jaylen Brown fall in his lap. What a truly incredible change of fortune.
Of course, the catch: The 76ers, who haven’t reached the Eastern Conference finals since 2001, are now in championship-or-bust mode, and James’ presence ensures their team dynamics will face maximum scrutiny.
That could play out in a few different ways. Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra withstood an early storm after James’ 2010 arrival to guide Miami to two championships. Former Cleveland Cavaliers coach David Blatt didn’t make it through his second season with the team once James returned in 2014. With the Los Angeles Lakers, Luke Walton lasted only one season after James’ 2018 arrival; the Lakers wound up cycling through four head coaches in the four-time MVP’s eight campaigns in L.A.
Nurse, a creative coaching lifer who has paid his dues, has a major accomplishment on his résumé that separates him from Spoelstra, Blatt and Walton: He guided a title team (the 2019 Toronto Raptors) before James joined his team. Though Nurse’s circuitous career path has never previously intersected with James, the coach enters their new relationship with preexisting championship validation.
The primary puzzle Nurse must solve on the court is how to distribute touches and shots. James, Brown, Embiid and Tyrese Maxey are all high-usage players, and VJ Edgecombe and Anfernee Simons also are talented scorers. From there, Nurse will need to coax consistent defensive effort from veteran stars accustomed to being surrounded by high-energy role players.
There’s also the matter of managing James and Embiid with an eye toward the playoffs. Over the past six seasons, the chronically injured Embiid has averaged 47 games played and James, now 41, has averaged 60 games played. Nurse should prepare four different rotations to handle the two stars’ game-to-game availability (both play, neither plays, only James, only Embiid).
Finally, Nurse will operate knowing that Morey, the executive who hired him in 2023, has been replaced by president of HBSE sports Bob Myers and president of basketball operations Mike Gansey. New front office regimes don’t always hire their own coaches, but it can be tempting to oust the incumbent if an aspiring contender falls short.
