BREAKING: Cavs Hire Kenny Atkinson – Chris Fedor & Adam the Bull React to Cleveland’s New Head Coach

BREAKING: Cavs Hire Kenny Atkinson – Chris Fedor & Adam the Bull React to Cleveland’s New Head Coach

welcome everyone to the latest edition of the bullpen with Adam the bull brought to you by bet Rivers coming up on today’s podcast we have breaking news today that Cleveland Cavaliers have a new head coach it’s former New Jersey oh not I was going to say the New Jersey Nets but of course they’re now the Brooklyn Nets I’m dating myself with the New Jersey Nets former Brooklyn Nets head coach and recent most recently Golden State Warriors assistant coach Kenny Atkinson what do we like about him what do we not like about him we’ll break it all down with my pal Chris Fedor of cleveland.com to discuss that breaking news that’s all coming up on today’s edition of the bullpen with Adam the bull brought to you by B Rivers you’re watching Adam the bull on the BET Rivers network all right we are back uh and brought to you by bet rivers of course and joining me now Chris Fedor covers the Cavs for cleveland.com and for some reason Chris people were getting worked up how long it was taking to hire a coach which I didn’t understand because who were they competing against uh there there was I know uh Detroit just fired their coach but there was really no competition and no need for Rush so I wasn’t worried about it I was surprised there was were you surprised that you heard people like what’s going on I I didn’t think it was a big deal but no not really honestly um if if you have um a situation like this where you fire a coach and you don’t have somebody already lined up bull where you’re just going to go to him no matter what happens which seemed to be the the case for Phoenix when they got Mike buen Holzer immediately after firing Frank vogle um these things take time it took the Lakers a little bit more than a month the Cavs five years ago when they ended up with John beine took about a month and this one was about the same thing because you have to make so many calls you have to schedule so many interviews some of them over Zoom some of them in person um the finalists that the Cavs met with were all two-day type interviews with a dinner mixed in there you’ve got to bring the owner into the process I remember talking to a member of the Cavs front office during the early portion of the search bowl and he said Chris I can’t talk right now I’ve got 40 or 50 people on my call list former players of some of these coaches Executives that worked with these guys coaches that were on the same staff as these guys there’s just so much information that you have to gather because there are so many variables when it comes to a coaching search and it’s such an important decision that you don’t want to rush this process and like you said they weren’t competing with anybody for these candidates the Lakers if they weren’t going to go with JJ reck it was going to be Dan Hurley neither of those guys were on the Cavs radar anyway so they almost um were able based on uh the other teams that were looking for coaches to take their time and do it the right way Chris Kenny Atkinson is the man the last two times the Cavs hired a coach they were bizarre choices right I mean David blat bizarre choice but waiting in the Wings was tyo and he turned out to be the SEC you know the backup guy but he was a great choice same thing happened again this time around uh where the First Choice John beine I don’t know and JB did a solid job I’m not gonna say he was good he’s not as good as Ty Lou obviously but he did certainly better than John beine this time they hire a guy that is highly credible around the league and the first thing I think of frankly with him is when the Cavs made the Kyrie Irving trade and we were all like well the Nets are going to have the best odds cuz they’re the worst team they stink and he made them a competitive team and that has always stood out to me over the years about him and I’m sure that was one of the many factors as to why he eventually got this job right there’s no doubt about it bull um I actually phrased it to somebody earlier today when I was having a conversation about this hire and I look at it because I’m a golfer I look at it as a short Par Four take iron hit it in the middle of Fairway play to the middle of the green see if you can make a putt for birdie as opposed to going for the green off the tea and pulling driver you know what I mean it was a safe logical reasonable hire that the Cavs made um because the situation that they’re in right now requires something specific from a coach this is a team that went to the Eastern Conference semi-finals this is a team that has made back-to-back playoff appearances this is a team that’s trying to take the next step I don’t think it required a firsttime head coach are there success stories from other guys making that leap from assistant to head coach and having success immediately yes but like I said there’s so many different variables involved and they eliminated the variable of can this guy do the job is this guy ready for the job they have seen him be successful he has head coaching experience he’s known for Creative Innovative offenses he’s worked under tyloo Steve Kerr Mike buen Holzer Mike dantony think about that roster of coaches the success that they’ve had over the last 10 to 15 years in the NBA the knowledge that he has gained he’s worked in rebuild situations he’s worked a Stars Stephen Curry Draymond Green Klay Thompson Paul George kawii Leonard all these different things and I think learning that over the years has prepared him for this situation here in Cleveland and it did feel like from the very beginning bull that the Cavs were looking for somebody with previous head coaching experience somebody that is known for Player Development given the importance of Evan Moy to this team’s future and somebody that could get more out of this offense than what JB bicker staff could and from that standpoint Kenny Atkinson checks enough of those boxes yeah it’s a fair point you know you sometimes you go for the unknown and a lot and sometimes it pays off and it becomes a big story but more often than not the guy at the guy who’s never coached before does not pan out you know we we we we don’t discuss that when we want that but fans often want the the unknown the unknown’s more exciting yes but I am excited about Kenny Atkinson and I I am Mo this is the most excited I’ve been about a Cavs coach hire in a long time because I think they hired the right guy and a smart guy and I I like the fact now we’ll see what happens with Jared Allen obviously we don’t know for sure he’s going to be here but I was recent I was watching an interview today that of a couple minutes of Jared Allen I’m sure you’ve seen it with JJ reick who you mentioned before and he talked about playing for Kenny Atkinson and he spoke very highly of Kenny Atkinson said it was a lot of fun to play for him and then obviously once they got Kyrie and once they got Durant and uh DeAndre Jordan the chemistry on that team changed and they kind of wanted him out and and it didn’t and fell apart but when this team was playing with a bunch of young guys which this team has they seemed to really like it and they liked his leadership and his Player Development so it does seem like a good fit from that perspective and the other thing is um the Cavs want to be more modern on the offensive end of the floor if you look at his four years in Brooklyn um three of those four years they they finished um in in the top five in three-point attempts and each one of those years they were top 10 in the NBA in Pace that’s what this league is it’s Pace In Space it’s bombing threes it’s finding a way to be more Dynamic creative Innovative on the offensive end of the floor and and some of the problems that that some of the people inside this organization had with JB bicker staff including the players big reason why they lost belief and confidence in him is because they just didn’t believe in in the offense they just didn’t believe that it was Dynamic enough and and that showed itself bull in the playoffs against Orlando and Boston they could barely score a 100 points they got Donovan Mitchell Darius Garland Jared Allen Evan Moy and for all of um the questions about the fit of those guys and the spacing on the floor do they take enough threes and the roster construction and all that kind of stuff that’s a lot of Talent on the offensive end mix in Max stru mixing Carris Levert to struggle to score a 100 points in a playoff environment two straight years that’s something that the Cavs believe needs to change and obviously Kenny ainson showed in Brooklyn with lesser Talent than what he’s going to have here in Cleveland that he could find a way to get more out of that group so there’s a belief with more Talent here that he’ll find a way to do it again with the Cavs like you said time will tell it’s it’s very hard to predict these kinds of things but it does seem like a logical fit for where this team is yeah and uh you look at Player Development and there’s Evan Mobley is staring right in the face right I mean Evan Moy uh as a defensive player he’s where you want him to be but as an offensive player he’s not reached close I don’t think to where they thought his potential was and he’s kind of leveled off and I think there was I don’t know maybe I’m overreacting I I know a lot of guys were out by the time they got eliminated by Boston but I thought right at the end of that series he started to show some of the promise that we all thought he had and I got excited about that and I’ve been a little down on Moy because I’m like where is this offense so my hope and I’m sure everybody’s hope is that he can lead to this next step that we’re hoping to get because Evan m still obviously very young he just turned 21 years old it’s not too late for him to develop into the player that they’d hope he’d be and I guess that’s what they’re hoping that Kenny Atkinson can help take his offensive game not to be cliche but to another level well you were not the only person that was excited about that performance in the series against the Celtics yeah it’s game five kavsar in the locker room they’re about to leave Boston they had just lost the Series against the Celtics they’re headed back home for an uncertain summer because obviously they’ve got the Donovan Mitchell situation that they’ve got to work they didn’t know at that point what they were going to do with their coach but everything felt like JB’s job was in serious Jeopardy and they’ve got some roster decisions to make in terms of how these guys fit and whether they’re going to stick around is the core four going to stay together all that kind of stuff was out there at that time it’s the end of game five Donovan Mitchell doesn’t play in that game but he’s in the locker room he goes up to Evan Mobley he pounds him on the chest right and he says that’s who you are that’s who you need to be so Donovan Mitchell saw something in Evan Mobley in that Series against the Celtics including game five that was different right how the Cavs used him was different how he scored offensively was different the confidence that he was playing with on that stage against that caliber opponent that was different too if that can carry over if he can take another step offensively then the Cavs offensive ceiling gets raised organically without them having to make other moves around the roster and you know this bu this organization has been talking about Evan Moy calling him a unicorn calling him a future Hall of Famer saying that he’s the most important person in this organization for years to come ever since he was drafted third overall in 2021 this off season they’re going to present him with a $270 million rookie scale Max extension because he’s that important to their future and this was a big reason why they were attracted to Kenny Atkinson from the very beginning and why ultimately they went down the road of him because Player Development getting the most out of Evan Moy changes the direction of this organization it changes whether they’re going to get to the level of Boston and some of these other teams or if they’re just going to be that next tier team in the Eastern Conference yeah I mean I think we’ve talked a lot in in a football vein of you know the Browns are a good football team but if Des Shawn Watson could play like Houston Deshawn they’re a Super Bowl team if he plays like the way he’s played the last couple of years they’re just a playoff team that’s going to get eliminated same thing with with the Cavs right if Evan Mobley can reach that level that we that unicorn level the Cavs are a championship Contender if he’s just a player he is now which is a fine player they’re not a championship Contender and that makes the difference and and I think what’s going to be interesting this off season is you obviously you got to develop his game while still trying to win right and do you decide ultimately and I guess it part of it depends on what’s being offered do you have to trade Jared out right and it feels painful to trade jiren Allen because he’s a great guy it seems I you know him better than I seems like a great guy and he played great for them and do you trade Darius Garland do you change the mix of chemistry what do you what I know it’s tough to predict but what are you expecting to happen this off season what’s what’s your best guess my best guess B is that Darius Garland and and Jared Allen both stay because there isn’t going to be an offer out there that the Cavs are going to receive for either guy that they’re going to be willing to say yes to because they’re not in a situation where they have to be desperate they’re not in a situation where they have to make a move just to make a move this team has won 99 games over the last two years for whatever you feel about the regular season and its importance theyve won 99 games over the last two years they’ve been a top four seed in the Eastern Conference the last two years they just won their first playoff series Without LeBron James in more than three decades it’s not the kind of season where they completely flamed out against the New York Knicks and they had to start overreacting they had to overpay in free agency to fix their roster and stuff like that they did good this year I me they made the move that they feel like they needed to make by firing JB picker staff and seeing if they could bring in a coach that could get more out of Darius Garlin and Donovan Mitchell see if they could get more out of this offense out of Jared Allen and Evan Mobley work around some of the limitations of the offense so I just think they’re not panicking they’re not overreacting and I find it hard to believeable that in this current Marketplace and things change in the NBA quickly somebody could become available at the end of this this this cycle of free agency and trade activity and stuff that you know the Cavs feel like there’s an opportunity out there and they’re going to go explore that it happens all the time in the NBA um but right now in this trade Marketplace I just don’t think they’re going to get the kind of offer for either guy that they’re going to say this is going to make us a clearcut better basketball team um and unless they see an offer like that unless they’re Blown Away um for for a deal for either one of those guys um I just don’t see them uh pulling the trigger on that in the same off season where they already made a pretty um significant move by changing the coach yeah and I think by you know not only maybe they won’t get the trade they want but there may just be a part of them as you alluded to there that says you know what let’s see what this let’s see if a more creative coach can get the best of these guys because we haven’t you’re right the C and and I poo poo the regular season I admit that but I think last year considering the injuries especially I mean I didn’t expect even if they were healthy I didn’t think they’d be Boston let alone with all the injuries so they went as far as I could have expected them as opposed to the first year when they you know lost that Series in embarrassing fashion to the Knicks but you it’s easy to say well Darius Garland certainly had his worst year last year right and Evan Mobley hasn’t reached what he’s capable of and uh and so if I have the right coach yeah maybe I do have the right team I think a lot of us think they don’t have the right team the mix is wrong it may be that may be the case but maybe also with another coach if he can get the best out of this group then the then as we talked about earlier the sky could be the limit here’s the other thing too bu it it is hard when you have young talented controllable players that want to be in the situation where they are and fit well enough to have some level of success right it’s hard to move on from those kinds of guys and I know that no situation is the same and I know that no two tandems are the same but a number of years ago everybody was saying that the Boston Jays weren’t going to work Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum they had overlapping skills and they had to break those guys up and look at them now they evolved as players and I think that’s a variable that people cannot ignore here Darius Garland get better Evan Moy can get better and if they correct some of their own flaws and they become more evolved players at both ends of the floor then you’re not having the same kinds of questions about fit with Donovan Mitchell or about fit with Jared Allen like if Evan Mobley becomes a more polished and reliable outside shooter perimeter player then all of a sudden you have the kind of player at both ends of the floor that you want alongside Jared that you want alongside Donovan Mitchell for years to come so you just can’t ignore that fact and it’s really really hard in today’s NBA Bol to give up on that level of talent it is because you know that or you believe that what you get back like how do you know that that’s going to work better you just don’t so it’s a big risk to take and I just don’t think the Cavs are in position where they want to take that risk unless yeah there is a clear-cut better option out there sure that they think is a no-brainer Type move yeah and and what’s funny and you know Rel Everything’s Relative but Jared Allen is kind of cheap at this point you know for 20 million a year as good as he’s been I’ll tell you when they got Jared Allen I was like well he’s a good player like this is and I thought he’ already reached the ceiling and his ceiling keeps going up not a huge amount every year but a little bit each year I’m I’m surprised that he kept having more levels to his game obviously you need e you know and it’s got to be Mobly probably but that’s the only flaws that that neither one right now can shoot from the outside but right his Pro he has progressed as a player and that’s been impressive to see he has if you think about it Jarrett you know everybody was killing him after that Series against the Knicks oh oh my God he got pulverized by Mitchell Robinson and he’s not Tough Enough and he’s not physical enough and he can’t rebound and he can’t do this and he can’t do this so then this past off season you know away from the cameras out of the spotlight just the way that he likes it he becomes a better player he’s stronger he’s more physical he got better in terms of adding a face up jumper to his offensive Arsenal he became a better passer he had a great year for the Cavs I put him on my second Team all defensive team there were people that were wondering if he was going to make the allar team once again that was the kind of year that he had that was the kind of impact that he had for the Cavs and the other thing is well there are people inside this front office that were responsible for bringing Jarrett here that believe that the trajectory of this organization changed the minute that he was brought here he gave them a direction he gave them an identity so going away from him seeing how much success that he has had is going to be hard for this organization especially coming off the year that he had especially correcting some of the weaknesses that he showed against the Knicks in last year’s playoffs and when it comes to Darius if the Cavs were to go down that road they would be trading him maybe at his lowest did not have a good year not in the regular season not in the playoffs dealt with a bunch of injuries has a massive contract that any team would have to take on so you’re not talking about um Darius Garland at his Peak value you’re talking about other teams that feel like they can take advantage of the situation um because of the year that he is coming off of and that’s never the time that you want to trade away a player like that Chris let’s wrap it up with this let’s say you’re right and they stick with the the the core four you wanted and and obviously you hope there’s Improvement within the core for sure but there’s going to be moves you’re going to try to make on the edges with the rest of the roster right yeah is there a guy you have in mind either via trade free agency May I’m not talking about a star maybe just a guy who’d be an interesting fit for this team that you have your eye on yet or have you just not Dove down that road enough yet no I’ve gone down that road I feel like I have to I feel like I have to be Forward Thinking especially if they don’t make a significant move to alter the roster um look if they’re going to make a significant move I think everybody understands the names right Brandon Ingram Uh Kevin Durant if the owners can end their beef Jimmy Butler Jimmy Butler like those types of players are the significant ones where you have to use either Jarrett or or Darius as the centerpiece of OG an anobi if things don’t work out for him with the Knicks Paul George like those are the ones that that significantly Chang the complexion of this team but that’s obviously going to cost you either Darius or Jarrett um the the other ones that that are like around the margin type guys I think Harrison Barnes is interesting for this team you’ve always loved him you’ve loved him forever he can play the three or the four he’s got playoff experience he’s more of a win now type player and again a lot of this comes down to cost right and and do the Cavs have the kinds of assets to make these deals work to appeal to the team that would be trading these guys um cam Johnson from the Brooklyn Nets is somebody that the Cavs have had on their radar since the draft a number of years ago I think he makes a lot of sense from a Cavs perspective um Kellin Johnson of the San Antonio Spurs is a logical fit for the Cavs as well I’d keep an eye on Jeremy Grant from the Portland Trailblazer somebody that the Cavs tried to take a run at in free agency a number of years ago like those are the kinds of guys I think they need somebody that can fill minutes at the three4 spot Bowl um give them a little bit more depth a little bit more lineup versatility if they are going to play Evan Moy at the five a little bit more than what they have then they need a floor spacing forward that’s why I bring up Kyle kosma Harrison Barnes Jeremy Grant like one of those kinds of guys um I I think should be cam Johnson I think one of those guys is and should be on the Cavs radar this off season I told you 15 minutes we’re already up to 22 but now I gotta ask you one more thing because I gotta ask you about the draft before you get out of here I’ve got time yeah thank you I know it’s the 20th pick in the draft Yeah by all accounts this is the worst draft we’ve seen in a long time however the one good thing about it according to the guys that that I know like you who know basketball my man Mikey McNuggets he said the one interesting thing about being 20th in this draft is that the guy you get draft 20th might be just as good if not better than the guy drafted fifth because there’s not a huge differential in Talent OR there’s there’s a diff big difference in opinion on who’s really good in this draft or not so they’re may be some interesting guys that can help who do you have your eye on and who do you think the Cavs have their eye on with that pick or could they move around in the draft so the other thing that is pretty complicated about this draft bull is that there is a belief that that you know somebody who could be in play for one team in the lottery could also drop between the 20s so you know could the Cavs be in a position where they take advantage of a guy slipping and they end that draft night fall um Johnny Fury from Kansas is somebody that the Cavs like that has worked out for the team he um is from Australia he spent one year at Kansas kind of like a three and D type player um Tristan Silva from Colorado is another player on their radar I do know that the cows like Zach Edy if he is available at number 20 what is he 74 7 foot4 from Purdue one of the best college players of the last decade basically um they’re are legitimate questions about how does he hold up in today’s NBA right and does does the things that make him special in college do those translate um to the NBA level and I get all those questions but he’s definitely on the Cavs radar and there are people in this oranization that like him Kyle filipowski from duke who became the seventh player Duke player in the last 50 years to score a thousand points in their first two seasons in college he’s intriguing he’s somebody that the cows are looking at Carlton Carrington of pit is somebody that is on their radar as well um so they have a bunch of different guys that have worked out through this process a bunch of different guys that are on their radar I don’t think it’s going to be a highlevel impact guy from day one I just don’t think they’re going to get that in in the draft at 20 for a team that is coming off in Eastern Conference semifinals appearance but if they can improve like guy number 10 11 12 in this rotation I certainly think there’s value there no doubt and it might you know and you know with the way injuries go especially in the regular season if you’re the 10th guy on the team or even if you’re the 12th guy on the team there enough injuries you’re going to get some run during the season and then we see hey maybe this guy’s got something so and then the are going to just keep calling for that guy to get more and more and more and more and more run more and more and more fan base does that better than Cleveland fan base we are the kings of wanting the especially when it’s a little white dude we love the little white dude uh that’s a scrappy hard worker first guy in last guy out we love that guy that’s right Chris great stuff man I appreciate the time thanks for joining me you got it bu anytime man all right always great stuff talking with Chris and like I said with Chris Kenny Atkinson I love the job he did in Brooklyn you look at the Litany of great coaches he’s worked under I think this guy’s a good hire and it will be interesting I’ve been down on the idea of the Cav standing Pat but I am intrigued about the possibility of these four guys playing for a new more creative coach I think it’s going to be fascinating folks if you’re not using the BET Rivers app what are you doing get on it you can start betting on football already soccer all the soccer stuff is going on right now people are going crazy with soccer betting tennis Nobody Does it Better for tennis of course baseball I’ll have a parlay for you on Tuesday lot going on thanks tozo for producing thanks to Chris Fedor for joining me thanks to all of you for watching and listening make sure you have to subscribe make sure you hit the like we’ll talk to you next time where else but right here in the bullpen with Adam the bull brought to you by B Rivers see you everybody [Music]

Cavaliers & NBA reporter Chris Fedor (Cleveland.com) joins Adam the Bull to react to Monday’s breaking news that the Cavs have hired Kenny Atkinson as their next head coach! Chris and Bull discuss the fit for Atkinson in Cleveland and whether he can improve the offense and develop Evan Mobley. They also weigh the hire’s effect on the futures of Jarrett Allen & Darius Garland, along with potential targets in free agency, trade talks, and Wednesday’s NBA Draft!

00:00 Cavaliers hire Atkinson
02:00 Chris Fedor reacts to Cavs’ hire
03:44 Kenny Atkinson is a safe, logical choice for the Cavaliers
05:40 Atkinson’s coaching style, offensive strategies, and his success with other NBA teams
09:40 Importance of player development, particularly for Evan Mobley
12:37 Impact on Cavaliers’ core players (Darius Garland, Jared Allen, and Evan Mobley)
20:35 Potential Cavs’ roster changes
23:00 Considerations for the upcoming NBA draft and the types of players the Cavaliers might target with their 20th pick

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