FIRST TAKE | Stephen A. [BREAKING NEWS] Cleveland Cavaliers hiring Kenny Atkinson as new head coach
tweeted that the Cleveland Cavaliers are hiring Kenny ainson as the franchise’s next head coach and sides are working on a contract that’s expected to be completed soon he was most recently the Warriors assistant coach Stephen A your reaction to the ainson hiring two forms of theory here number one first of all I’m happy for him he deserves this opportunity he’s an outstanding basketball mind uh for anybody NBA that covers the NBA they will tell you that’s what they hear about him religiously obviously the last three years he’s been in Golden State helped to win a deliver a title a couple of years back um he was a coach head coach for four years in Brooklyn um and then he got pushed out of there because the Stars Kevin Durant and and Kyrie Irving didn’t necessarily go to bat for him uh which some people understood because he had only won 38% of his games 118 and 190 if I remember correctly and only had one winning seasons in four years uh but nevertheless to replace him with Steve Nash who had no coaching experience whatsoever just didn’t seem like a good thing for Brooklyn to do uh so for him getting another opportunity Shannon I’m totally good with it all I’m saying is this for everybody out there that says it’s a great great thing for him to get this bite at the Apple I will remind everybody that there’s a guy by the name of Sam Cassell who is a champion as a player and has been an assistant coach for 15 years and I don’t hear anybody screaming that he Des deserves a chance let’s be fair here Kenny ainson I’m happy for him he deserves the opportunity I wish him nothing but the best but let’s also make sure that we point out guys like Sam Cassel who’ve been wanting the opportunity for many many years and have yet to get one 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 mode and now atson 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 won 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 aington since the day I was born he’s a Long Island guy went to St Anthony ended up at Richmond and leted 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 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 to 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 Levert yeah he did do those two guys really like him I’m sure they do they want them hiring k 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 Caris LT 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 know what makes you think that this one now will have the staying power for Aon 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 and went wait I’m the head coach of the Hornets this a 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 him he’s fired so that’s the NBA um I think for Kenny ax 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 still open just one and it is the Pistons who were still looking for a head coach after firing Monty Williams names like James spe for for spe spee speech spe for for for welome
FIRST TAKE | Stephen A. [BREAKING NEWS] Cleveland Cavaliers hiring Kenny Atkinson as new head coach
