Looking over the resumes of top Cleveland Cavaliers coaching candidates

Looking over the resumes of top Cleveland Cavaliers coaching candidates

on today’s show we are going to dive into the reported head coaching candidates for the Cleveland Cavaliers with prior head coaching experience in the NBA I’ll help you decide myself who is the best fit for Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers you are locked on Cavs your daily Cleveland Cavaliers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team at every day welcome back to loton Cavs how you doing how you doing come on in and sit on down because folks it is Tuesday uh Tuesday as our British listeners may say but Kobe Alman did say that he and his staff would take the entirety of Memorial Day weekend out of respect for JB Baker staff since he coached the Cavs for half a decade and just kind of deal with the emotional hangover and Fallout of letting biger staff go and relieving him of head coaching responsibilities and that the Cavs in through Alman and his staff would begin the head coaching search on Tuesday and although Alman said that there are no hard lists out there there are no actual fundamental proof that the Cavs have any coaches linked to them um that doesn’t seem to be the case since the moment the Cav season ended since the moment JB biger staff was let go it appears that a lot of names have popped up in The Ether for the Cavs um a name that Jason Lloyd at the athletic has shared over the weekend uh name that Mark Stein via substack shared over the weekend and something Evan damell shared via right down uid right when the season ended so subscribe and support WR down uid because we get that stuff faster than anyone else shared that Kenny Atkinson former Brooklyn Nets head coach and current Golden State Warriors lead assistant coach is the oddson favorite and a likely candidate to get some serious and strong consideration for the next head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers and later this week I’ll be having Adam arre on from lock on Nets to talk about Atkinson sign with Brooklyn uh you know some interesting stuff that ainson had to deal with in that era of Nets basketball um we’ll be talking with some guys from clips and dips um two good friends of mine including Chuck mockler who who has been on the show before to talk about and discuss um ainson as you know an associate head coach for the LA Clippers but just looking overall let’s just you know give a brief resume breakdown of Kenny Atkinson we’ll also be talking about some other head coaching candidates today but let’s start with Atkinson a coach that has had some prior NBA coaching experience um he was a the guy who took over once uh the Kevin Garnett Paul Pierce donon Williams uh Robin no Brook Lopez era net came to a close as they tore that man and jam down and ainson helped kind of develop and lead the charge with two familiar cabs you may know in like Caris LT and Jared Allen but then was eventually a casualty of the Kyrie Irving Kevin Durant Brooklyn Nets uh because he as in ainson refused to start DeAndre Jordan over Allen which funnily enough was kind of a parallel when James Harden ended up in Brooklyn and Jared Allen ended up in Cleveland where Allan backed up um Andre Drummond um had a tweet that go viral about the Rick and Morty clip about Ricky or Morty knowing true flatness and um yeah uh that’s that’s kind of what life was like when Andre trumpin is out and Jared Allen started and Jared Allen got re-rated to the bench but focusing on ainson in Brooklyn he went 18 and 190 in those three years of the Nets including going 42 and 40 and reaching the playoffs in the 201819 season uh for clarity he did almost accept another head coaching position two years ago uh with the Hornets and not too long after before before changing his mind he remained with the Warriors for a second season and after parting away at the Nets to give you a timeline of where he’s been he spent a year on the LA Clippers coaching staff during the 2019 2020 season um and just a brief overview of how Atkinson operates his offense relies heavily on passing three-point shooting and playing at a fast rate overall which if you paid attention to the Cavs over this last season that was when they at their best when they’re moving the ball quickly they were executing quickly they weren’t hesitating on their shots or their attempts and I think it is something that really could Jive and Jael with this Cavs team especially if they don’t follow through on the commitment Kobe Alman made that um there’s not a large a lot of large wholesale change coming towards Cleveland roster wise like let’s say Darius Garland heads out because he’s a guard that plays at a slower Pace whereas Mitchell plays faster and they somehow find a guard that can play at a bit of a faster giddy up pace that ainson likes to do and um kind of just get more shots up as poss as quickly as possible and also aici shots as well um he also does bring a solid defensive principles and uh Concepts to the table he is in that Greg papovich and tree um taking and for context he took the Nets from the worst defensive team in the league in the year prior he arrived to being the eighth best team defensively in his first season of the helm so it’s not just all shot shot shots it’s not like an inverse of JB bicker staff where it’s all offense with not a really an inspired defense playing out there um instead it’s some pretty solid basketball I’d say and I think just like looking at it and it makes sense why Atkinson is the oddson favorite to be the Cavs next head coach I think that’s something that I’ve kind of gotten General Vibe W wise across the league is he’s not going to do what he did with the Hornets last time where he accepts the position and then pivots away from it and it causes the Hornets to scramble um and instead he likely is a coach that is looking to coach a team where maybe he has a lot of input um I mean the Hornets are a bit in flux at the Time Michael Jordan was trying to sell the team and also the Hornets are just like an incredibly toxic environment in general I think um God help Brandon Miller but if they can get Lamela ball and Miles Bridges away from him I think that team has something going for them um but more importantly um I think he’s just looking to coach more a win or not deal with another rebuild um because because he has had tastes with success he is coaching with the Golden State Warriors he has been heavily involved with kind of scheming up and planning their offense a little bit I mean obviously a lot of it is the basketball socialism that Steve cerr employs but like ainson is doing a good job trying to maximize and trying and find opportunities for role players whether it is Moses moody or um just even like trying to blend him with like um Steph Curry or cavon Looney or uh Jonathan kaminga like ainson has been a key figure in that and also just like he did develop Jared Allen into the player he was he went very low in the draft was kind of considered in not super passionate about basketball coming at of Texas but ainson tapped into him made him into a defensive monster and I think that’s why the Cavs are so high on his upside after seeing him flourish and develop under ainson tutelage and Caris L’s a guy who’s a diamond in the rough a little bit I think a little bit unremarkable coming out of Michigan and ainson showed off a lot of his as in Levert’s playmaking chops through a lot of this like heavy spray and pre pick and roll kind of just oriented offense and I think if you were to bring in a coach with experience sure he’s a guy who doesn’t have a winning overall record he only has three-ish years of experience coaching as a head coach overall but he has a wealth of experience coaching just as an assistant I think he’s just seen a lot of opportunities in just a lot of just different situations I mean let’s just break down his resume overall like he has a NBA title to his name he um excuse me coached Paris basket racing from m406 he’s an assistant Knicks from 2008 to 2012 um excuse me was I guess technically another the papovich in tree because he was coaching with Mike buer at the time but he was an assistant with the Atlanta Hawks from 2012 to 2016 obviously coached the nets for those three-ish years and then has been an assistant with the Clippers in the Warriors since and won a championship in 2012 and was cons considered kind of vital to coaching Golden State through that stretch and just kind of being like an offensive conduit for the Warriors and I think that’s just valuable wealth of experience like he knows what it takes to make offensive adjustments when they matter his system is pretty fundamentally sound it’s not super play Heavy it’s just you know schematically set in stone I think there’s a lot of freedom and creativity for guys like Donovan Mitchell and others to thrive and if you’re the Cavs like that is a pleasant thing and he was kind of a part of um like Brook Lopez developing a bit of a three-point shot too didn’t really come to fruition till Lopez joined Milwaukee of course and um but still like I think ainson could be a solid pick for the Cavs I am curious to see how far the interviews go or if he really wants to leave greener pastures in Golden State because he has a pretty nice gig there where sure the Warriors are a bit of a Dying Star right now but maybe he could take over for Steve Kerr whenever Steve Kerr retires as well and just deal with you know continuity and living in the Bay area as well but I think Kenny ainson makes a lot of sense for the Cleveland Cav leaders but you know what makes a lot of sense for everybody else here here these words from today’s first sponsor and only sponsor today FanDuel as I had mentioned before as we went into break today’s episode of Locked on caps is brought to you by FanDuel it’s winner tick all in time in the NBA NHL and FanDuel is giving you a shot to bring home a big win of your own right now new customers get $150 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet so if you’re feeling good about the 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lockon sports today a free 247 sports streaming channel that is programed for your every day to bring you the biggest stories without all the yelling lock on sports today brings you the can’t miss analysis opinions and news streaming 24/7 on YouTube or on the free Amazon Fire TV channels app which is part of the loton podcast Network which again folks features your team every single day including the Cleveland Cavaliers the Browns the guards Blue Jackets Buckey gosh it’s it’s an Ohio schoras Board the Broncos from me love it all let’s ride but moving on from Kenny Atkinson who I think makes a lot of sense for the Cleveland Cavaliers Mark Stein did include this interesting Nugget In His Latest newsletter which reads as follows it is unclear if the Cavaliers are keeping Darius Garland on the roster this offseason still League sources say that the prospect of hiring Trailblazers coach Terry stots is among the scenarios Cleveland has contemplated in the initial stages of its supposed Co ching search Stein reiterates that former het Nets head coach Kenny ainson is widely considered the early favorite still the list of coaching candidates to replace JB Baker staff is said to include James burgo Terry stots former Cavaliers coaching consultant Dave Jager who we will touch on in a bit and Nick’s associate head coach Johnny Bryant who is close with Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell from their time together in Utah which folks quick self- promotion for myself um the moment the season ended I had mentioned James burgo Johnny Bryant and um Kenny Atkinson mostly Johnny Bryant because of the connection with the New York Knicks and everything as well so you know check out right down you to get that info first but Stein continues the thinking on STS Mitchell and Garland resemble the Damen Lillard and CJ McCullum preparing as a back court who were coached by STS as Portland for a Duo as a Duo for eight seasons so when it comes to Terry STS um it’s a it’s it’s a bit of a mix bag so over those eight seasons the Blazers did make a fairly improbable Western Conference Finals run I think it was a fluke maybe it was because the final season of Game of Thrones which was aing at the time was abhorrently terrible but the Blazers scrapped and clawed got past a then up and coming nicolea yic and Denver Nuggets team to then to then just get grinded by the Golden State Warriors who then were Ground to dust by the Kaw Leonard LED Toronto Raptors um injuries did play a part in that Warriors Dynasty coming to an end but I think STS would be an interesting choice just because like he does have a ton of experience he has been before and overall the head coach of the Atlanta Hawks the Milwaukee Bucks and the Portland Trailblazers and has an overall record of 5117 and 486 um I’ve done some just a lot of research on him and you can say his system in Portland and just overall Vibe is synergy freedom and cooperation this coalesence of his instincts for offense and also plays a part in defense and STS is a guy that knows what his players can give him and creates opportunities for them to contribute and I think of course a lot of that starts and ends with the fact that like if the kevs don’t honor Darius Garland’s initial trade request if they say you know what Rich clutch Darius Donovan is here for the foreseeable future we’re not getting the returns we’re looking for um when it comes to just like what you can possibly we can possibly as the in the CS can get for uh Darius out there and if you have a guy like stats who is comfortable scheming up an offense around two small ball Dominic guards that make them thrive in tandem with obviously I think Lillard clearly being the alpha in that situation and Mullen being a very very very high-end supporting backcourt partner um so You’ see the parallels with like Mitchell uh who is coached by Johnny Bryan who also Brian also coached Damen Lillard in the off season and also um Garland playing more of that McCallum Rose role as a primary maybe ball handler secondary shot Creator guy who has to play second fiddle to Mitchell and if you have a guy who can clearly establish the pecking order which is something I don’t think the Cavs really had in terms of continuity on offense that could help a lot and maybe also men fenes and fix the issue that Garland maybe has playing alongside Mitchell and maybe just you know maybe some of the just overall Kinks instead of the your turn my turn offense but over all similar to ainson it’s a lot of three-point shooting movement and passing I think the Blazers don’t play maybe as fast of a pace as Atkinson’s Nets teams did um but alike Atkinson um STS also has a ton of assistant coaching experience in one of his more interesting stops was in Dallas with the Mavericks and the Mavericks won their title back in 2011 but he was known for building a system can du to the Dirk nitzki shooting and if you’re an EV mobbly Truth where it comes with the three-point shooting especially if the Cavs really do run this whole Mama jamama back and they keep Jared all and have Mo out there as well if STS is able to build a system where they find Evan Moy cleaner shots on the perimeter they find him cleaner opportunities just to make an impact from the perimeter and kind of maybe deal with some of the spacing issues that exist with a pair of Moy and Allen I think that’s a way to look at it um just the issues is and okay another positive where we dive in the issues um Terry STS a system again it’s a lot on Synergy freedom and cooperation but like his team selum takes bad shots uh towards the end of his time um three-o shooting at first was rotation wide just not on the shoulder of their guards in Lillard McCullum but as things got thinner in Portland as the Blazers kept trying to make a championship caliber team around Dame and eventually CJ who they jet us into the Pelicans eventually um the things got thinner and thinner and it just kind of got more isolation heavy and heavier on Damen Lillard which just made you see Dame put up like these obscene numbers under STS and I think again that system works um but they aren’t bad shots they aren’t contested they aren’t sloppy they are a product of the offense and the movement I think there is some Merit to that possibly being a thing or if you’re looking from the Avenue of STS leaving his situation currently um and moving on to Cleveland let’s say like hypothetically speaking like Terry STS um who isn’t doing anything right now he last coached the Milwaukee Bucks in 2023 under Mike buen Holzer um which he resigned from the or no excuse me no gosh he wasn’t under mik that was if um Adrien Griffin when they got in a fight during practice and then he resigned because of the issues and then Griffin was fired maybe STS saw something but STS is comfortable being an assistant coach maybe a lead assistant coach and if he’s comfortable supporting a firsttime coach i’ say it’s like a Johnny Bryant or a guy that I reported is Alex Jensen who could help a lot with um big man development or maybe like James bgo who is a little bit of a flaw candidate um maybe there’s a way they could really gear up the offense where STS is doing things on offense and they let a first-time coach handle the charges well but the again like his offense is very very precise um and more than anything like there’s some biger staffan Vibes or the fact that like Terry STS is just you know he good feelings and good spirits became the Norman Portland win or lose he never threw players or coaches under the bus he carried the brunt to the responsibility when they issues for losses and deflect praise constantly and rather keep it on players or you know the front office putting these players in place for him to coach just because that’s kind of how it works and I think if you have a positive approach to it um and firm optimism on everything I think it just makes a lot of top situations easier to tackle but um yeah we we’ll see I think STS in terms of just like ranking I think he’d be a distant two to ainon of the two candidates we’ve discussed so far again I think he’d be better utilized as like a lead assistant similar to the role that ainson is in in Golden State behind Steve cerr especially if the Cavs strike out on Kenny ainson but like Terry STS could scheme up a really good offense for the Cavs um maybe make the Bucks really regret their decision of not mediating the dispute between AJ Griffin who was screaming at STS and kind of try to make an example out of him in front of the team according to reports by the athletic and um just what they’re doing now but I’m not super thrilled about it but it is an interesting game to kind of keep an eye on especially if the Cavs are a little hellbent and determined to run this back as much as they can especially with Evan Mo and Jer and Allen together in terms of just like stretching things out with Evan Moy on the perimeter and Allen just being the big man in the paint or between Darius Garin and Donovan Mitchell um yeah it’s worth keeping an eye on it’s worth I think just kind of monitoring as things go forward but a distant second place right now and the guy who I think could kind of be in that mix too maybe he becomes an assistant as well but could make sense as a head coach for the Cavs is a name that folks might be too all too familiar with in Dave Jagger which we’ll talk about in a second as I had mentioned before uh I’m having Dam by the way uh host of lock on Cav still weird to say um Dave Jagger as a candidate who Mark Stein mentioned I think makes sense just because he was a guy that has a relationship with Kobe Alton um to begin with but for those who don’t remember Dave Jagger was brought in as a coaching consultant um who more or less like worked with biger staff both in person and virtually just kind of like fine tuning and correcting some of the mistakes when it comes to like offense or maybe some defensive stuff and just like an extra set of eyes just um to advise the coaching staff on like priorities and development things like that I’m kind of you know speaking it into existence we don’t a clear understanding of what his full role was at Cleveland but obviously he is there to kind of like maybe mentor and keep an eye on bigger staff who’s still a pretty young coach despite his wealth of experience as an assistant and a head coach um and also could have been like a little bit of a message from whether it’s the front office of the organization for bicker staff to coach his tail off which he certainly did in mid December um just because like they have Dave Jager on the sidelines who has been monitoring the situation kind of keeping tabs on things giving his input to the front office and the coach staff and you know um I don’t want to say worm tonging the situation but you know at least being a soothsayer and talking about things and you know if bigger staff didn’t work out Dave Jer could have very well been the replacement head coach for the Cavs last season and maybe he is Baker staff’s ultimate replacement now just months later but for an overall overview joerger was the head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies from 2013 to 2016 and with the Sacramento Kings from 2016 to 2019 he was also on Milwaukee’s 2021 championship team team and he left the Cavs midseason to become an assistant under Doc Rivers in Milwaukee uh a role he served last season with the Philadelphia 76ers and he owns an overall record of 245 and 247 which those kings teams were kind of wishy-washy and a little bit hard um so it’s kind of hard to fully evaluate it but in Memphis joerger continued Li o Holland’s established identity of grit and grind which you know was led by Tony Allen Merk Gasol uh Zack Randolph Mike Conley like everyone and everywhere in between and like it was a lot of like high high defense um which you know gives you a lot of Vibes and it could very much be if like let’s say joerger becomes the head coach and joerger decides to lean on defense over offense um it could be similar to what JB picker staff was like a head coach which you know doesn’t really draw inspiration but on the inverse of things uh in Sacramento he built the offense entirely around Demarcus cousins and the focus was on three-point shooting pace and space which you know allowed cousins to thrive I think would make sense just because like cousins was an interesting big man where he would shoot threes and also just was a defensive monster rebounding threat and just like a dominant force on the interior if you want to kind of like build an offense around Evan Moy maybe Jagger’s approach and guidance can make a lot of sense there this makes sense if you maybe move on from Jared Allen and keep Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell together maybe Jagger can kind of key some pieces there together too but the bigger red flag with Dave Jagger who again hasn’t coached since 2019 so it’s been almost half a decade since he last was at the helm of an NBA team um is the offense was there in Sacramento but the defense he coached up in Memphis did not follow whereas in Memphis the defense was there and I think it’s a lot of continuation of what Lionel Hollands established and built there um and you know continued down the line as well Bes had like David fizdale fizzing out and JB picker staff kind of being the casualty of coaching for his life in Memphis after fizdale um joerger coached the heck out of that defense again it was the grit and grind eror he maintained that status quo where the Grizzlies are just going to beat you to death and win like 83 to 80 in the playoffs and you know Clippers Grizzlies is must C TV during the postseason but I just think oh also just like the offense didn’t trans like like it did to Sacramento so it’s like two lanes like do you get the offensive Jagger or do you get the defensive and I don’t think if you’re the cabs you really want to have a guy who coaches up one way versus another and maybe just isn’t fit for the role like he does and has been reported to have been bit of a thorn in the side of some players and um of mostly like front office staff and stuff but again he does have like a established relationship with Kobe Alman he does have a bit of a rapport with the Cavs in general he probably has a relationship with some of the players and if I had to just continue to keep talking about this in just terms of guys that have had experience like we didn’t touch on James bgo in the show who I think would be my number one choice if you had to pick um Cav’s coaching candidates with prior head coaching experience and I’ll give a quick rundown on it um James bgo just makes a lot of sense because like he’s a guy who can make who can squeeze blood out of a stone on offense with the defensive acument still there I think he’s a very smart intelligent player the fact that he took the Pelicans as his current role as their lead associate head coach coach from 22nd in offensive rating to top 10 in just a season is incredible I think the fact that he can make the Hornets who were who have never had a big man um a solid defensive team and you know tried to make a make a eat every bite of a turd sandwich between lamelo ball who you know is toxic and runs over fans foots and Miles Bridges who is should not be playing basketball at all uh and turn that into a top 10 offense every single season or you know had the best offense in the league with Isaiah Thomas who was signed off a 10-day deal or 33-year-old is Smith running point for them like there’s a lot of juice there so I think bgo like I didn’t touch on him but like talked about him before I’ve talked about him before so I wanted to give some shine to ainson STS and joerger but I I would go bgo as like airm first I’d go ainson as the runner up and then distance pretty far back from ainson is Terry STS and at the absolute bottom is list is Dave jger just because I just don’t think jger is a good head coach I think he’s a better assistant coach like I think he’s a guy if you give him minimal tasks and not full autonomy he can be very useful in that whether it’s offense or defense or just big man coaching in general because he built an offensive system around Boogie cousins which was pretty successful until bogie got shipped to the Pelicans and played with Anthony Davis what a weird time but that’ll do it for today um again I will be back tomorrow to talk more about Kenny ainson with Adam arm I’ll be joined by by uh Doug Branson to eventually talk about James brgo as well be talking more about Kenny ainson with uh some of my friends who cover the Clippers um yeah just going through a lot of these coaching candidates and hires we’ll be doing a bit more of an NBA draft Deep dive as it turns to turns to June I’ll be joined by some draft analysts and experts because I’ll be frank I’m an akan Zips alumni and I uh I doubt the Cavs are picking anyone on akan with their 20th overall pick so we should dive into some of the players and kind of figure out what the Cavs would do there but until next time I hope you guys had a great Memorial Day weekend I am Evan damal check out my work at rown uid where a lot of this coaching stuff came out first before a lot of the bigger NBA insiders and names kind of reported it and just stay tuned uh the Cleveland Cavaliers are an interesting Crossroad but they should uh be making a decision on their head coach soon enough until then byebye

On a new episode of Locked on Cavs, Evan Dammarell (@AmNotEvan, Right Down Euclid) dives into previous NBA head coaches who have been linked to the Cleveland Cavaliers as the organization begins its search for the successor to J.B. Bickerstaff.
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