Cavaliers Hiring Kenny Atkinson As Next Head Coach I CBS Sports

Cavaliers Hiring Kenny Atkinson As Next Head Coach I CBS Sports

we’ve got breaking news coming out of the NBA the Cleveland Cavaliers are hiring Kenny Atkinson as their next head coach that’s per multiple reports Atkinson most recently was the assistant coach under Steve cerr the lead assistant there in Golden State since 2021 prior to that he was the head coach for the Nets for four years from 2016 to 2020 Atkinson will replace JB bicker staff in Cleveland who was fired after five seasons as the Cavs head coach made just two playoff appearances so Kenny Atkinson if you’re wondering how he did in those three plus Seasons as the head coach with the Nets resigned back in that 2019 2020 season as the team went through a lot of injuries made the playoffs in 2018 2019 and started the job in full rebuild mold and now Atkinson takes his talents over to Cleveland saying bye-bye to Golden [Music] State we’re now bringing our NBA expert Tim Doyle and Tim another Domino Falls here in the head coaching position in the NBA ranks Kenny Atkinson to the Cavs how do you feel about that one yay or nay uh I feel bad for JB bicker staff guy won 48 games last year and he had his two best players Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland Miss combined each 30% of the Season guy got to the playoffs one a game in Boston two in a series that Donovan Mitchell ended up getting hurt in all right so he’s no longer the coach you’re bringing Kenny Aon I’ve known Kenny ainon since the day I was born he’s a Long Island guy went to St Anthony ended up at Richmond and L A big upset in the NCA tournament played against him in the summer league I think he’s an amazing basketball Talent now recently he’s been an assistant with the Golden State Warriors and I think that’s very interesting because I think Draymond Green at this point in his career way The Dominoes may fall out in San Francisco if clay moves on if they start trending in a wrong direction and let’s just say that thing gets blown up Draymond Green has Midwest ties the Cleveland Cavaliers if huge if they retain Donovan Mitchell um they’re young they’re talented they’re heading in this direction okay not in this direction so obviously the ra ship Kenny could have with Draymond Green but I think the bigger thing is Zach the LA Lakers draft number 17 in the NBA draft Cleveland drafts number 20 do they go out there and take bronny James at number 20 because then if you grab bronnie maybe the king wants to come on home and then he leaves his boy JJ out now oh so many storylines the NBA sometimes Zach is juicier off the court than it actually is on the court uh there’s so many ways I could go from here next with all the different pieces that you left for me with that answer but I want to go back first to Donovan Mitchell because clearly he is the star of this Cavs team right now played I believe just 55 games this past season he’s up for an extension has just one year left on his deal before he could opt out if he wants to the Cavs of course want to bring him back does Kenny Atkinson being the head coach of the Cavs does that maybe sway Donovan to want to stay in Cleveland yes because how deep is Kenny aon’s relationships with two other key Cleveland Cavalier players let’s go back to Kenny Aon when he was on the Brooklyn Nets who did he draft Jared Allen yeah he did Carris lever yeah he did do those two guys really like him I’m sure they do they went up hiring kakis if both those guys were like oh God we can’t stand him so he believed in those two guys so now it becomes Caris Levert’s job Jared Allen’s job to keep Donovan Mitchell here oh by the way D’Angelo Russell the often criticized left-hander for the Los Angeles Lakers made an Allstar team one year guess who his coach was Kenny ainson and I think Donovan Mitchell legit needs to be in the MVP conversation for what he has done with Cleveland since he has gone there he has elevated them to one of the top five or six teams in the Eastern Conference so you know if you’re like a ring Chaser right now and that’s why I brought up Draymond Green because that’s probably where he is at this point in his crew he’s made a ton of money it’s about winning uh this is a roster that’s pretty good now you got to move to Cleveland which isn’t as fun as Los Angeles or Miami but Kenny Aon seems to be a perfect fit guy got D’Angelo Russell be an Allstar it’s up to Carris Levert and Jared Allen to keep Donovan Mitchell there if they keep Donovan Mitchell there um they’re not that far away they go grab one key free agent they’re not that far away from competing to go in the NBA Finals yeah you got to figure if they do resign Donovan Mitchell then we’ll wait to see what happens with Darius Garland because those reports out there maybe if the two of them can coexist and if Darius Garland wants to stick playing with Donovan Mitchell but Kenny Atkinson just two years ago we were talking about him when he took the head coaching job for the Hornets only to then say no uh what makes you think that this one now will have the staying power for ainon to actually leave Golden State and become the head coach yeah I mean you said the Hornets right I mean like like I think you just woke up one day went wait I’m the head coach of the Hornets to St in a good spot I mean you know they were probably going through you know management issues Jordan ended up selling the team if you don’t know who Jordan is it’s Michael Jordan so Kenny’s a very well-respected mind and obviously you know Steve Kerr has won multiple championships he’s considered one of the greatest NBA coaches of all time and he had Kenny ainon sitting by him side by side over the last couple of years so uh I think Kenny’s a great basketball mind when he got to Brooklyn you know it was a disaster he gets them into the playoffs they bring Kyrie in Kyrie doesn’t like he’s fired so that’s the NBA um I think for Kenny a to say no to an NBA job just tells you what type of ju ice juicy has in NBA circles that he goes out there and gets even a better job of a team that went to the playoffs last year so he’s in a pretty good spot as you said there’s a lot of pieces that may fall if you lose Donovan Mitchell you know I don’t believe that you’re no longer a contender to win the Eastern Conference but they went to Boston they won a game early in the series it was 1-1 against the Celtics one of the greatest teams statistically in the history of the NBA so if you’re a Cleveland Fan right now I’d be pretty excited but now you need uh your front office to go to work and keep those pieces in place yeah certainly some pieces if they are in place that can make you intrigued and excited for the future of Cleveland as like you say might be trending upwards instead of downwards Tim Doyle thank you so much joining us in the conversation as we talk about Kenny Atkinson and now you look around the NBA well what jobs are open just one and it is the Pistons who were still looking for a head coach after firing Monty Williams names like James MGO certainly being Flo flirted out there as a potential spot for the Pistons but they are the only one out there still needing a head [Music] coach e

Tim Doyle joins CBS Sports HQ to discuss the Cavaliers hiring Kenny Atkinson.

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHANNEL:
https://www.youtube.com/user/CBSSports

WATCH
CBS Sports HQ: https://www.cbssports.com/live/
Paramount Plus: https://www.paramountplus.com

FOLLOW US ON:
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/CBSSports/
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/cbssports/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/CBSSports

#nba #nbadraft #nbanews