BREAKING: CAVS HIRE KENNY ATKINSON | EMERGENCY LOCKED ON CAVS

BREAKING: CAVS HIRE KENNY ATKINSON | EMERGENCY LOCKED ON CAVS

on today’s show the Cleveland Cavaliers have a new head coach Kenny Atkinson’s the guy and I think that’s good for what this team needs to do offensively you are locked on Cavs your daily Cleveland Cavaliers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day thank you for making lockdown Cavs your first listen every day you can find the show wherever you get your podcast Apple Spotify anywhere else be sure to leave a festar review WR of review as well you can also watch the show on YouTube the lockon Cavs YouTube channel make sure you’re subscribed give this video a thumbs up part of the lock on podcast Network your team every day Today’s Show also brought to you by FanDuel heading over to fanduel.com locked on to make sure that you get the most out of your summer emergency episode the Cavs are hiring Kenny Atkinson he’s the guy the next head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers replacing JB bicker staff it has been about a month since bicker staff was relieved of his duties the Cavs finally got their guy there’s a lot to dive into but I think the first thing that is worth bringing up is Kenny ainson is an offensive minded coach he is someone that I do believe given his track record given his history I do believe will help to elevate this team team offensively and I think that is the second most important thing that needed to happen as part of this coaching search and the first most important thing was having Donovan Mitchell sign off on whoever the Cavs were going to hire certainly sounds like Mitchell is on Bor with this and I think Atkinson’s offensive progress what he’s done and the thing that I look at when I’m speaking about that is some of those early Brooklyn Nets teams yeah it didn’t work with him with Kevin Durant and Kyrie in once those guys got there I’m not sure that there was a coach in the NBA that it was going to work with at first especially given everything that happened there and I know part of the reason why Atkinson ultimately um left that job was because he wanted to start Jared Allen instead of DeAndre Jordan which was the right decision to be making at that point um I look at when I look at Kenny ainson hire in Brooklyn or his 10 in Brooklyn I should say excuse me I look at how he was able to get the most out of D’Angelo Russell I don’t think D’Angelo Russell is all that good I think he’s a fine NBA player but I don’t think he’s great I don’t think he’s special I think he’s incredibly streaky and inconsistent Kenny Atkinson helped him to play at an All-Star level now Atkinson doesn’t deserve all that credit you have to give credit where it’s due to the actual player cuz he’s the guy that’s going out on the floor bouncing the ball putting in the basket but Atkinson was able to put him in a position to where he was the best player on a playoff team he was an Allstar that hasn’t been anything that’s been close to being recreated since for D’Angelo the Russell his time in Golden State wasn’t very good his time in Minnesota also not great with the Lakers incredibly up and down Atkinson got the most out of him now if you put that ver version of d’angel Russell on this Cavs team where does he rank amongst guards I think he’s probably the third best guard we know Donovan Mitchell is better than him that’s not really a discussion and I certainly believe Darius Garland is better than that version of D’Angelo Russell as well so I’m very hopeful that ainson can be the guy that will get the most out of this Cavs back court if it is kept together I’m very hopeful for that to be the case I also do I really one of the the other things I really like about ainson is the fact that he has he has experience in a great organization culturally what he built in Brooklyn I thought was awesome and I think Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving did a lot to tear down that culture like when those two arrived on July 1 of that was 2019 when those two arrived in Brooklyn July 1st 2019 that culture dramatically changed it stopped being Kenny Atkinson’s culture and it started being the culture of Kevin dur ranton Kyrie iring and that was obviously not for the better I think that’s a very fair thing to say but I do think the Golden State Warriors have had one of the best cultures in basketball I do and the fact that Atkinson has been there for the last several years won a title as the lead assistant to Steve Kerr and has accumulated that experience I think is a really good sign for whether it was going to be in Cleveland or whether it was going to be somewhere else I I think that was a really good thing for him to grow as a coach to become a better head coach that’s one of the things that you do when you are trying to improve yourself as a coach you go find a winning organization and be part of that Atkinson doing that I think is a really good thing I do that is something that I think should excite Cavs fans now the the biggest part of this and there was a report from the athletic that came out today there’s a couple things that and I should let you know it is 10:45 as I’m recording this right now so this is very fresh I’m still digesting this news I’m still sort of piecing it all together as I’m sure you are as you’re listening to this there are a couple of things in that report from the athletic that are worth bringing up one is first and foremost the Donovan Mitchell situation which the Cavs have been for a long time very confident that Donovan would sign an extension and stay in Cleveland um this extension doesn’t mean he’s going to be a member of the Cavs forever it doesn’t mean he’s going to retire in Cleveland but it it means that there is at least some short-term security I think on the way they remain very confident that he will sign this extension and part of that confidence is knowing that he is signing off on whoever the next head coach of the Cavs is whether it was James brego or whether it was Kenny ainson I’m not sure if he signed off on any other candidates but with those two certainly being the main two candidates you have to feel pretty good about Donovan Mitchell signing a contract extension with the Cavs today as this hire comes out that should be the first thing you think of after that we can talk about what Atkinson can do for the offense what Atkinson can do because he’s got experience around a great organization we can talk about all those things afterwards but first and foremost the fact that Donovan Mitchell signing off on this according to a ton of reports Donovan Mitchell signing off on Kenny ainson being the next head coach of the Cavs should make you feel really really good about his standing in Cleveland and the chances of him signing that contract extension the report was that it’s going to be the four-year extension worth over $200 million that’s offered to Mitchell um we will see if that’s the amount of years he wants to sign for I know it’s been reported at other places that he might be interested in a little bit of a shorter term contract extension so he can hit the open market when he reaches 10 years of service time and really get an even bigger payday we will see what happens there um but I think you should feel really good about Donovan Mitchell today not only because of that but also because I think that Atkinson is a coach that can get the most out of Donovan Mitchell if he was able to get the most out of D’Angelo Russell what’s Donovan Mitchell going to is a far far superior player what is Donovan Mitchell going to look like under Atkinson I think that is a very exciting thing to find out and I think there are some exciting things about Darius Garland to to bring up here now Garland’s status as a member of the Cavs given some of the reporting that has come out long term is a little bit more murky I think just because you know there is the the possibility that rich Paul and clutch Sports go to Kobe Alman the Cavs president of basketball operations and say hey you know we would like to see Darius move to another situation so you can’t necessarily count on him for sure being on this roster but I’m not sure that there are many guys out there that I would rather see help to rehabilitate Darius Garland’s game than Kenny Atkinson I think that he what he’s done with guards and the guards that he has been around because I’ve not even mentioned Steph Curry and he’s been you know the lead assistant in Golden state with Steph Curry there for the last couple of years for last few years I would have to think a lot of learning for Kenny ainson came from that situation a lot of it I’m not sure how many coaches out there I would rather see help Elevate Darius Garland back to Allstar form than Kenny Atkinson it’s not a very long list when this coaching search started Kenny Atkinson was the guy I wanted I wavered a little bit and I sort of flipped to James brego and I still think brego would have been a fantastic hire had they made it but I think that because of what he’s done with guards particularly guards that are not not huge right like Steph Curry is 6’2 not a big guard and I know he’s a one of one but he’s not a big guard what he’s done and who he’s been around I think is a great sign for getting the most out of Darius Garland getting him back to All-Star form for getting the most out of Donovan Mitchell keeping him at an all-nba level maybe even a little bit higher and then what the biggest issue with JB bicker staff was was the offense defensively this team was awesome I don’t expect that to change under cenning Atkinson um we don’t know what the rest of his staff is going to look like obviously but the bones of a really good defense just from roster Construction in Cleveland are there I think at this point a good defense will have less to do with coaching and more to do with who is playing I think the offensive stuff because there are a lot of t talented guys offensively there are on this roster getting the most out of those guys that’s what I think Kenny ainson needs to do and I think that is going to be the biggest change that we see from last year’s Cavs and the pre and the JB bicker staff era Cavs to this year’s Cavs in the next era of Cavaliers basketball I’ve got one more thing I want to hit on we know that bgo was the leader in the clubhouse it felt like for the majority of this search according to the Athletics something changed there was a meeting that flipped things we’ll talk about that next right here on lockdown caps today’s episode is brought to you by eBay Motors passion drive and patience the formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to Peak Performance superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more whether you’re into speed power or style eBay Motors has you covered with over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die you will always find exactly what you’re looking for and with eBay guaranteed fit your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money back because with eBay Motors you’re burning rubber not cash with all the parts you need at the prices you want it’s easy to make your card the MVP and bring home huge wins like hey maybe hireing Kenny ainson for the Cav is a huge win for that franchise keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com eligible items only exclusions apply eBay guaranteed fit only available to us customers so the other thing that came out in that report from the athletic was that there was a meeting between the front office and Cav’s Governor owner whatever you want to call him Dan Gilbert and historically when Dan has been healthy and he has gone through some very serious health issues over the last several years and was not as involved with the day-to-day direction of the Cavs while he was recovering from that stuff but Dan it does seem is much more back in the fold has a much stronger voice in the way things are going and I think that this is a a result of that partially at least I don’t think that Kenny ainson is being hired solely because that’s the guy Dan Gilbert wanted but I do think that’s part of it there was a report that came out that Tom ISO someone who in the past Dan has tried to hire ISO of course head coach of the Michigan State University basketball team is though someone that Dan has tried to hire during previous coaching searches way back in the day he was not a candidate for this search um at any point in time but in previous searches he certainly was someone that the Cavs were interested in there was a report that came out that ISO gave his vote of confidence to ainson and that is something that that Gilbert certainly listened to um if that’s true I think that’s fine because this isn’t some and I know in the past when Dan has been involved in these hires they’ve not gone well right like you think of David blat which is a little unfair because I don’t know what David blat would have looked like as an NBA coach if he would have coached a team that didn’t have LeBron and wasn’t immediately expected to compete for championships but it also you know in in hindsight was a bad um John beine was a very bad hire there’s no argument about that and Dan was certainly involved in each of those twoo but both of those guys were hires from out of left field so to speak where they weren’t guys that were on the radar of many NBA teams they weren’t in consideration for a ton of other jobs like they weren’t the prototypical NBA coach they were not a safe choice to make they were bold they were gambles and those gambles did not pay off so I understand trepidation that people might have when Dan Gilbert gets involved in these hires I get it I totally understand that but I don’t think you should feel that way with this hire because Kenny ainson is an established coach he’s a coach that has had success in the NBA he is someone that has been thought of for several other job openings think back to when James bgo was let go by the Charlotte Hornets which never should have happened when bgo was like oh Atkinson went through the interview process there and was actually offered the job and turned it down so it’s not as if he is someone that is one obviously this is not his first go at it as a head coach in the NBA which is very important you can’t say that about the past two head coaching hires that were not elevated from within the staff so that I I mean so that takes out tyo that takes out JB bicker staff you can’t say that about this hire because ainson has the requisite experience I wonder how this would look if the Cavs just last week would have hired Atkinson and that report about Dan Gilbert’s involvement not coming out I wonder if that changes the opinion of of some people because I think it’s worth looking at this through that lens I do because if you look at it through that lens it changes things Kenny ainson is still the same coach he’s still the same candidate he still has the same experiences he’s still someone that can Elevate the offense so don’t allow the involvement of the owner to really strongly sway your opinion of this if you weren’t a Kenny Atkinson guy 10 days ago or Kenny ainson person 10 days ago because everyone can have these opinions if you were not a a person that was wanting to see him hired that’s fine that opinion shouldn’t change and we’ll see if you were right or wrong in due time but I don’t think that this opinion should be one that is clouded by the involved M of Dan Gilbert I don’t I think that this is an opinion that if you liked Kenny ainson Dan Gilbert’s involvement Now isn’t a reason to say ah you know what maybe I was wrong and I also don’t think it’s a reason to flip because Kenny ainson is a good coach we’ll see where this goes I think that he will be a good offensive coach for this team I will have more thoughts later on this is an emergency episode I just wanted to get you know 15 to 20 minutes talking about this so you guys could get my immediate thoughts I will have a full lock on Cavs episode coming out later tonight um it’ll be up on YouTube first it’ll hit the podcast feed tomorrow morning at 5:00 a.m. I will have more complete thoughts I might I may try and line up a guest um and just really talk through this Kenny ainson hire but I wanted to put together an emergency episode of lock on Cavs before um before I really digested everything in totality so stay tuned for that but Today’s Show is also brought to you by FanDuel I love sports we all love sports I don’t want Sports to stop the playoffs are winding down they’re gone in basketball but that doesn’t mean that sports are gone there’s still plenty going on and FanDuel has you covered because they let the sports keep going whenever you want all you have to do is open up the app and dream up bets at any time and you can make them whenever you’re in the mood talked about on today’s earlier show the full lockdown Cavs for today Monday as I record this the Guardians at plus 2200 man I’ve been watching a lot of Cleveland Guardians baseball they just swept the Blue Jays this past weekend they have a huge series starting in Baltimore tonight and then they go to Kansas City for four games this a huge week they’re plus 2200 to win the World Series right now let’s say they keep up this hot streak they go I don’t know five and two this week those odds might plummet a little bit you might not be able to give them plus 2200 might be down I don’t plus 1,800 so maybe jump on them now because you think the Guardians are going to win the World Series like I do FanDuel is the place to do that at head on over to fanduel.com locked on that’s fanduel.com lockon because this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or bonus daily that’s right so there’s something for everyone every day all summer long fanduel.com lockon and you can start making the most out of your summer fandel the official Sports setting partner of Major League Baseball so like I said I will have a full lockon Cavs episode coming up late tonight I may try and get a guest but we will talk through this Kenny Atkinson hire also if you have any questions about Atkinson drop them in the comments tweet them at me real D Cunningham and I will try and carve out some time on the full episode of lock on Cavs that comes out later today um to answer some of those questions again thank you for making lock on Cavs your first listen every day um this episode might be your second listen of the day very much appreciate that you can find the show wherever you get your podcast if you’re not subscribed subscribe on Apple Spotify everywhere you get your podcast also head on over to our YouTube page you can watch me record this show every day in 4k on a great iPhone camera lock on Cavs YouTube channel if you’re watching this video give it a thumbs up if you haven’t already subscribe to lock on Cavs and I will talk to you coming up a little bit later with so much more on the Cavs hiring Kenny ainson as their next head coach

The Cleveland Cavaliers are hiring Kenny Atkinson as the team’s next head coach.

On Monday’s BONUS edition of Locked On Cavs, Danny Cunningham (@RealDCunningham) of Cleveland Magazine and 92.3 The Fan gives his initial thoughts on the Cavaliers hiring Kenny Atkinson as head coach.

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