Expectations for Kenny Atkinson as CLEVELAND CAVALIERS coach | Locked On Cavs Podcast

Expectations for Kenny Atkinson as CLEVELAND CAVALIERS coach | Locked On Cavs Podcast

on today’s show expectations for new Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson and why I don’t think Dan Gilbert being involved in this hire is a big deal the way that some people make it out to be that’s on today’s lock on Cavs you are locked on Cavs your daily Cleveland Cavaliers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day thanks for making lock on Cavs your first listen every day you can find the show wherever you get your podcast be sure to leave us a festar review Apple Spotify everywhere else you can also watch the show every day the lockon Cavs YouTube channel if you’re watching the show right now give us a thumbs up make sure you are subscribed to lockon Cavs on YouTube part of the lockon podcast Network Today’s Show is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment matter as playoffs wind down the sport stop sporting like we want them to but this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily that’s right there’s something for everyone every day all summer long visit fanduel.com lockon to get started so the big news yesterday is that the Cavs are hiring Kenny Atkinson as the next head coach Atkinson of course replaces JB bicker staff who was here for a handful of years in Cleveland um Kenny ainson does have head coaching experience he would is the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets for just under four seasons from 2016 to 2020 and then since then he has been an assistant with the LA Clippers and of course most recently for the last three seasons with the Golden State Warriors where he won a championship as a lead assistant to Steve Kerr so the things that I expect from this hire for the Cavaliers and out of Kenny Atkinson I’ve got a list of them that I want to go through here but the thing that I think we are going to see change and it’s going to be the most noticeable change that we see is how the offense works now the Nets weren’t exactly a top of the NBA offense when Atkinson was there I don’t think that is a Kenny Atkinson thing I think part of that was what the Personnel was like in Brooklyn because if you look at those Nets teams I think that Kenny got pretty close to the most out of those groups the those groups were right around their ceiling while he was the coach they just weren’t very talented like there were some nice players you know D’Angelo Russell may an All-Star team Caris LT when he was healthy was a good player Jarett Allen of course who we know very well started to develop there but he was a younger guy and certainly was not what he has turned into here in Cleveland he was a nice player but not the allstar caliber big guy that we think of as a member of the Cavs but the thing that the Nets did pretty pretty consistently under Atkinson and I don’t know how married he is to playing this way um this will certainly be something that I’m very interested in asking him when he’s introduced to the media whenever that is but the Nets wory team that was consistently in the top 10 in the NBA in Pace they were a team that they you know they weren’t the seven seconds or less Sons but they played pretty quick and part of that can be at times when a team isn’t as talented as other teams that was something that can be used in the NBA as a little bit of a gimmick to juice up numbers to make the team more competitive if maybe they’re not all that great offensively they’re going to look for some of that low hanging fruit by just getting out in transition and some nights you can just beat the opponent down the floor you can just win that race and that is how you can find a way when you’re winning 28 games in a season as the Nets were or 20 games in a season as they were even then you have to find ways and that might be one of the ways or considering that when the Nets got good that was still part of their DNA they were still a top third of the of the league team in Pace that could be part of Atkinson’s DNA as a coach now the Cavs I think right now have some roster issues that might prevent them from playing quite that fast but if you look at Atkinson’s four years they were a top 10 team in Pace in three of those four years the fourth year they were 11th so it’s not like they just had a random outlier year where they were 20th in Pace they were top 11 in the NBA in Pace in each of the four seasons that Atkinson was the head coach there that is something that I’m very much interested in seeing the Cavs do next year I don’t know how possible it is by playing two big guys as often as the Cavs do it can be difficult for those guys to get up and down the floor and to win the race against the opponent trying to play faster that can be a challenge that’s why that’s not the entire reason why but that’s part of the reason why the Cavs have been one of the the slower paced teams in basketball over the last several years because when you’re big it’s hard to move up and down the floor it’s hard to play Super Quick part of it I do think was a you know how JB Bickerstaff wanted to play the philosophy that he had but that is something that I think is very much worth noting as we dive into what we should expect out of a Kenny ainson LED basketball team the other thing that stands out to me is what D’Angelo Russell did in his 2017 season where Russell was an Allstar um he averaged just over 21 points a game shot just under 37% from three and I think D’Angelo Russell is a fine basketball player but I think that is the best he’s ever been and I think Kenny ainson deserves some credit for getting that out of him and the way that I translate that to the Cavs is that if he got that out of a young D’Angelo Russell who to be fair isn’t the D’Angelo Russell of right now um I think that player has changed in a number of different ways some good some bad I think Darius Garland is better than that version of d’angel Russell now that being said I’m not 100% certain Dean or Darius Garland is going to be on this basketball team when the season opens up in October that is something that I think is subject to change I do but if he is here I think Atkinson is a pretty good option as a coach to help Revitalize Garland’s career after what was just a nightmare of a season this past year with the fracture jaw and everything that Garland went through he needs a bounceback season I think Kenny ainson can be someone that really does help um help to get him back on the right track and get him back playing at an Allstar level I also do think that Atkinson’s a pretty good option to to get the two guard lineup to work um I’ve got questions about the two big lineup I think that is interesting I will talk about that coming up in a second but I do think that ainson if there’s a coach that can find a way to make all this stuff work I do have a lot of faith in Kenny ainson being that guy I I do the other thing that I think it’s overlooked a little bit with Brooklyn when he was the coach is they weren’t a bad defensive team they weren’t what the C Cavs are they weren’t a suffocating team that could defend the rim and defend the three-point line and just do everything that the Cavs have done so well but they were a pretty average defensive team with a roster that wasn’t filled with great Defenders Jared Allen was a good Defender then I think he’s a better Defender now and I don’t think you’re going to find a lot of people that disagree with me there um he was someone that was a a really good Rim Defender would get dunked on a lot the same way now he’ll get dunked on because he’s going to try and protect that rim and that’s a side effect of being a really good Rim Defender is sometimes getting dunked on but I think that this Cavs team is better suited to be a good defensive team so I actually have a little bit more faith in who KY ainson is as a defensive coach as someone who can control a defense than I did I don’t know a week or so ago as I’ve looked more into this that’s something that I think I I feel better about with the caps with this with this higher that’s something I feel just a little bit better about um the other thing that stood out to me as I went back and looked at some of the underlying numbers for the Nets under ainson his teams were always teams that were more than willing to take a ton of three-pointers the four years that ainson was the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets Brooklyn ranked fourth second Fifth and fifth in three point attempts that is an area where the Cavs absolutely can improve I think that getting d Garland to shoot more three-pointers is a big key for getting the most out of him I think this roster is also suited to have that type of output to where they can be a topof the league type team in three-point attempts I don’t know how many evmo is going to take we know Donovan Mitchell is going to take a lot I think more playing time is in the future of Sam Merill Max Drew certainly is someone that’s going to fire away if Isaac aoro is on this basketball team and as of now I expect him to be as he’s a restricted free agent getting him to up his volume a little bit more I think that the ingredients for this Cavs team to be a top five team in three-point attempts next season absolutely um ingredients that they have in their cupboard right now I think that that is something that is very attainable and of course you know you have to make those shots if you’re taking 43 44 45 three-pointers a game but they’re not good shots what good does it do you not very much but I think that they will be able to get good three-point look considering who is creating for them and I think that is part of the puzzle but one of the things that is the biggest priority for Conny Atkinson is developing Evan mopley that needs to be on the courts one of the biggest priorities that the Cavs have and that Atkinson has this team has its floor raised by Donovan Mitchell but at the end of at the end of this era we will judge how successful this era of Cavaliers basketball is by how good Evan Moy becomes Donovan Mitchell is going to continue to be great I don’t think there’s much room for debate there but if Evan Moy becomes great I think that the Cavs go from a really good team to a team that can be a championship Contender if Evan Moy stays what he is they’re going to be a really good team but I don’t see how they’re going to compete for championships they need Evan Moy to take a big step forward Kenny ainson getting that out of him is arguably the most important thing and going to be the most telling thing as far as his tenure as head coach of the Cavaliers goes this question that we’ve answered now as far as who the head coach of the Cavs is is just the first question of the offseason to be answered next up we know Donovan Mitchell contract extension that’s on the table we’re waiting to find out about that that’s a very big question I think that’s the one that gets answered next I would expect we’re going to hear a little bit more about that in the coming days I think if you’re reading between the lines too the way a lot of the stuff is being reported um you should feel pretty good about Donovan signing that contract extension and staying in Cleveland I think you should feel pretty good about that I do the other questions we have still the core four going to stay together if not who’s going to be traded are you going to trade just one of them are you going to trade Darius Garland and Jarett alen because if there are two people that get moved out of that group I think it’s those two what’s the rest of this offseason look like there’s still so much to find out but question number one was answered on Monday is Kenny ainson is the new head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers part of the reason Kenny got hired was because of Dan Gilbert I don’t think that’s all that bad I’ll tell you why next right here on lock down Cavs Today’s Show is brought to you by FanDuel I love sports I love watching sports I love everything about sports right now not the strongest time in the sports calendar it’s just not the NBA is over um the NHL wrapped up last night the WNBA going on Major League Baseball going on but the Olympics still aren’t here yet there’s a lot of stuff you can still you could still find ways to place a wager on and FanDuel is that way to do it they’ve got everything that you could possibly want and this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or bonus daily that’s right something everyone something for everyone every day all summer long right now one of the things I love and I’ve told you guys about on the last two shows if you’re listening every day to lockdown Cavs you know exactly what I’m going to say next Cleveland Guardians yeah I just I got a great feeling about this team I really do big win last night to start off their road trip in Baltimore with a 3-2 victory you know I haven’t I haven’t made the wager yet I haven’t but the Guardians the win the World Series you can get it on FanDuel at plus 2200 as I record this maybe it changes maybe it doesn’t I don’t know I like that man maybe this is finally the year nothing would make me happier maybe maybe this is finally the year so head on over fanduel.com lockon that’s fanduel.com lockon Lo k e d o n and start making the most out of your summer fandel the official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball so some of the reporting that came out about the Cavs hiring Kenny Atkinson centered on a reported meeting between the Cavs front office and Dan Gilbert owner of the team and Dan Gilbert is reported to have wanted Kenny ainson and that really seemed to upset a lot of Cavs fans and considering what the history is with Dan Gilbert and coaching hires I get it I can’t sit here and say you’re wrong for maybe having a little bit of worry that Dan Gilbert is involved that his hand is back in basketball operations in a way that it really hasn’t been as much over the last couple of years due to some health issues that Dan has had I can’t tell you that you’re wrong for feeling the way that you feel I can’t but what I can say and what I do believe is that this situation is so much different than what the situation was the last time we went through this think back to when the Cavs hired John be line where Cleveland was putting on a coaching search to replace Larry Drew who was the voice of the Cavs that replaced tonl it was a coaching search that by all accounts was run by the front office until John beine was a last minute hire essentially made by Dan Gilbert I don’t need to talk you through what the John beine era was like for the Cavs it didn’t go well it brought us JB bicker staff he was the lead assistant to beine ended up taking over less than a year in that line hire was a disaster one of the worst that I can think of ever in the NBA it was terrible so I get it and before that David blat was hired now I’m not necessarily as privy to how that coaching search went you know at that point in my life I wasn’t covering this team I was in college still um I was very much into basketball and very much into the Cavs but I wasn’t privy as to the the details as to how that came about but we also all know how that ended where David blat was not a great NBA coach I certainly think it’s a little unfair because he was hired to coach a very different team than the team he ended up coaching because of Lebron James returning to Cleveland um obviously a trade everyone would make right those are the last two hires the Cavs have made tonl was elevated JB bicker staff was elevated and if you want to go there Drew also was elevated this is not like those two hires it’s not even close because if you add up all the experience that David blat and John beine had in the NBA prior to being hired by the Cavs you get nothing those guys were not NBA guys Kenny ainson comes into this job with nearly 20 years of experience in the NBA he is someone who has been in NBA had coached before he is someone that is coming from one of the most respected organizations in basketball in the Golden State Warriors where he helped to win a championship as the lead assistant to Steve Kerr this is not the Cavs hiring John beine this is not Dan Gilbert stepping in and making a bad hire maybe this does work out maybe it doesn’t work out I don’t have a crystal ball I don’t know I feel feel good about this hire I like Kenny ainson as a coach I really enjoyed some of those Nets teams that he coached and I know a lot of you certainly I know I did I know a lot of you out there watched a ton of Nets games when he was the coach because the Cavs had their pick this hire is not a reflection on the previous hires that the Cavs have made this is not hiring John beine all over again this is not hiring David blat all over again this is the Cavs who had a very thorough search who talked to a lot of people this is the Cavs hiring a qualified candidate so yeah Dan Gilbert had say he’s the owner of the team but is this really that bad of an outcome there are people out there who don’t like this hire not because of anything Kenny ainson has done or hasn’t done but because Dan Gilbert had his hands in it and I don’t think that’s the right way to look at this if this were an out of left field hire that didn’t make sense that was a mystery candidate that no one expected to get the job the way John beine was when he was hired by the Cavs I’d be with you but that’s not what this this is it’s not even close to what this is this is for the Cavs I think a really good hire I think Kenny ainson is a good head coach I think he is someone that has been selective with where he has worked this isn’t the first time he’s been offered a head coaching job since leaving the Brooklyn Nets if you think back he was offered the Charlotte Hornets head coaching job and turn them down a few years back after they let go of James burgo this is someone that I think is ready to be part of a winning opportunity as a head coach and I think this is so so different from both of the previous head coaching hires that the Cavs have made again not counting the elevations of tanlu and JB Baker staff if you want to be upset because Dan Gilbert was involved fine I can’t tell you to feel a certain way all I can tell you is that this situation is much much different than either of those two situations were much much different they’re not the same and I don’t think that this is worth being super upset about because Dan Gilbert had it saying it I truly don’t the one rumor across the NBA that seems to be catching quite a bit of Buzz Paul George could the Cavs get involved there we talk about it next right here on lockdown Cavs but first are you watching Fox Sports or ESPN on your TV all day have to turn down the volume with all that shouting well make the switch to locked on sports today a free 247 sports streaming Channel programmed for you every day to bring you the biggest stories without all the screaming no one wants all that screaming right locked on sports today brings you C Miss analysis A opinions and news streaming 24/7 on YouTube where you could be watching this lock on Cavs right now or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app part of the lock on podcast Network your team every day so the biggest rumor across the NBA right now I think is Paul George where he has a player option for next year and there’s been a lot of conversation across the league about what Paul George could do and I was actually listening to the low post a little bit earlier on Monday and the Donovan Mitchell situation was brought up and I thought Zach made a great point because so many people myself included in this thought that Donovan Mitchell’s decision was going to hold up a lot of things this off season where a lot of things weren’t going to be put in motion until teams across the league Cavs included knew whether or not Donovan Mitchell was going to sign an extension in Cleveland or not sign an extension and by doing so essentially signaling that he would like to be traded I think because while we haven’t gotten Crystal Clarity on Donovan yet I think a lot of people are reading the tea leaves that Donovan is going to be in Cleveland long term I think the guy that the NBA off season is going to wait on is Paul George and George has a player option there’s a lot of talk that he could opt in to that player option and request to trade out out of LA and if he does that I think the Cavs immediately should be involved I do there are difficult things that make this complicated and part of it is Paul George wants to be on a winner you’re not as good of a player as he is at this point in his career that he’s in at his age and want to go to a situation where you’re part of a rebuild you don’t have time for that because you’re running out of years as a basketball player with that said the Clippers still want to win the Clippers still have really good basketball players on their team Kawhi Leonard signed an extension I think everyone expects James Harden to return to La particularly if Paul George is not there that makes it hard for the Clippers to trade make a deal that allows them the chance to win now while trading away a really good player and it’s difficult because that really good good player is only going to want to be traded to another good team you don’t often see two teams that are both competitive that both have Championship aspirations make trades but I think that there is an Avenue for the Cavs to be involved here I do and the other thing that complicates it with the Clippers is they’re going to be operating as a second apron team meaning that there are certain trade rules and restrictions that they have to abide by like cannot add if they trade Away Paul George I believe and maybe I’m wrong on this this is all still relatively new I think a lot of people are still getting the hang of this myself included I believe they can’t trade another player with Paul George they have to send out only Paul George now they can take a couple players back for instance I don’t know Darius Garland George ying and Ty Jerome that works MoneyWise but they can’t trade Paul George and another player from their roster that complicates it a little little bit but that package I just threw out there you know I don’t think the Clippers would say yes to that but I do wonder if there’s something that is centered on Darius garland that could make this work that could bring Paul George to Cleveland because if he’s made available if he is going to be on the trade market this off season he should be the top Target for the Cavaliers if you add Paul George to this roster to this starting lineup and you still have Donovan Mitchell you still have Evan Mobley if if that group is all healthy and that’s a big if considering a lot of injury histories this is a team that I think could have legitimate Championship aspirations and if the Cavs have a move in their back pocket or up their sleeve whatever term you want to use that can make that a reality it’s one they should make thank you for making lock on Cavs your first listen every day very much appreciated yesterday was such a big day on the YouTube channel on the podcast feed thank you guys so much for tuning in we’ll be back going to talk uh with her Brooklyn Nets expert about Kenny Atkinson coming up also we’ve got some NBA draft stuff planning on going live Wednesday night after the Cavs make their selection in the first round if they do make a selection hey trades are always certainly um something that can be part of the equation on draft night as we all know but I will be live on YouTube that night so come hang out super excited for it looking forward to it but again thank you for making lock on Cavs your first listen every day part of the lock on podcast Network I’m Danny Cunningham and I will talk to you tomorrow

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

On Tuesday’s edition of Locked On Cavs, Danny Cunningham (@RealDCunningham) of Cleveland Magazine and 92.3 The Fan goes more in depth on the Cavs hiring Kenny Atkinson and talks about why Dan Gilbert being involved in the hiring process isn’t a bad thing.

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOCavs?sid=YouTube

Locked On NBA League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft, WNBA & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNBA

#Cavs #ClevelandCavaliers #NBA