Does Donovan Mitchell have POWER in the Cleveland Cavaliers coaching search? | Locked On Cavs

Does Donovan Mitchell have POWER in the Cleveland Cavaliers coaching search? | Locked On Cavs

on today’s show Donovan Mitchell should have some power when it comes to who the next head coach of the Cavs is I’ll tell you why you are locked on Cavs your daily Cleveland Cavaliers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your teams every day thanks for making lock on Cavs your first listen every day you can help grow the show listen every day subscribe on wherever you get your podcast Apple Spotify somewhere else watch the show on YouTube we are free and available everywhere you get your podcast YouTube as well part of the locked on podcast Network Today’s Show is brought to you by LinkedIn jobs post your job for free at linkedin.com lockon NBA that’s linkedin.com lockon NBA terms and conditions apply the Cleveland Cavaliers are now more than two weeks into their search for a new head coach we know they fired former head coach JB bicker staff um last month in May it’s been more than two weeks since then a handful of different names have come out as far as guys go that the team has requested permission to interview guys that work for other teams um we know the names right Kenny Atkinson’s been a hot name James bergo has been a hot name that I certainly think will we will be hearing more about in the coming days Chris Quinn certainly a hot name Johnny Bryant a hot name Micah Nory a hot name so there have been a lot of names and of course there are other people too that have been involved in this but there have been a lot of names that have been thrown around here and one of the things that often gets brought up and this is not a calav specific thing this is an NBA thing one of the things that gets brought up when you’re talking about who teams should hire when they’re in the position to hire a head coach particularly particularly when when they’re in the position that the Cavs are in right now where the Cavs are not in a rebuild the Cavs are in a position where they’re hoping that this head coach that they hire whenever they make this high is going to be someone that pushes them forward into a more competitive space right it’s not someone that you’re looking to start a rebuild with it’s not someone that you’re hoping to go from bad to good with it’s someone that the Cavs are hoping can take them from good to Great which to me and I don’t know that this gets talked about enough but to me going from good to Great is probably the toughest jump to take in the NBA we can see teams go from bad to good or bad to average but going from good to Great is really really difficult and that’s the point where the Cavs are at and one of the reason reasons they’re at the point is because the play of Donovan Mitchell has been so good since he’s been on the Cavs for the past two seasons and when a team in this position goes through a coaching change so often the conversation is well how much power should the star player have in selecting the new coach right we hear about this right now with the Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James and Anthony Davis and I think we hear about it a a little bit less but still some with the Cavs and Donovan Mitchell and part of the reason why we don’t hear about it a ton with Donovan is because his situation certainly is a little cloudy I think it’s fair to say as far as if he’s going to be on the Cavs next year or if he’s going to not sign an extension my money is still on him signing that extension with the Cavaliers and being in Cleveland for the foreseeable future but I want to to talk about just how much someone in his position should have sway over an organization when they are making this sort of head coaching higher and I don’t think that this is as simple as well who does Donovan Mitchell want the Cavs to hire that’s who they should go out and get I don’t think that’s what this is and I don’t think that’s what this should be um and I also think that we’re at the point in the NBA maybe we were at a different point a few years back but I think we’re at the point in the NBA where guys don’t NE necessarily want that um because they start to be viewed as you know if it doesn’t work out it’s their fault we just saw this this year with what happened with the Milwaukee Bucks where Giannis an TMO wanted a certain coach Adrian Griffin was hired very clearly did not work out for the bucks and for Griffin they move on from him mid-season Giannis is the one that gets blamed there and part of that’s fair you know he reportedly allegedly is is the guy that Yannis wanted I don’t think that those situations are are very commonplace in the NBA anymore I do believe that we’re at the point now where Stars want to distance themselves a little bit from certain decisions that organizations make because they don’t want to take the fall if that decision goes poorly and I totally get that and that’s how I think it it should be because this is an organizational decision with that said I do think that there should be some input if the Cavs get to a certain point in their progress right like say they have it narrowed down to one to two guys they have two candidates that they really like that they’re between that they don’t know who to go with it’s not as if they’re going to ask the star player in this case Donovan Mitchell to be the tiebreaker but they can certainly ask for input or if the Cavs are at a point where you know you know maybe there’s a certain coach that they really like that this is the guy they want to hire one of the steps I believe towards the end of that process should be well let’s have this coaching candidate X meet with Donovan Mitchell and let’s see how those two how their personalities mesh how their ideas around basketball fit together I do think that’s a very fair thing to have as part of the conversation and I think organiz ations would be smart to do that so I don’t think that when you sit here it’s oh let Donovan Mitchell pick who he wants to be the next head coach of the Cavs I think that would be foolish I don’t think that’s what’s going to happen but I also think that he is at the the point in his career now and certainly at the talent level across the NBA where teams and in this case the Cavs should go to him and say hey this is where we’re at with this we would love for you to have a meeting with said coach and see where it goes and then that is part of the decision-making process on the organization’s you know that’s part of the organization’s process because if that sort of meeting goes great I don’t want to say your decision is made but it makes that decision easier to make right and the same thing if that decision goes poorly if that meeting isn’t good that meeting goes poorly I should say you know that decision becomes tougher But ultimately because this is such a star driven league and having Stars matter so much in today’s NBA that it’s something that you have to take into account you have to take into account how Stars feel about certain coaches again I don’t think it’s the be all end all it’s not the entire decision I think it’s foolish if an organization makes a decision on a head coach based on the opinion of one player I think that’s very very foolish but the Cavaliers have a player right now in Donovan Mitchell who I expect to be around that they should ask for input on these sorts of things I and I think that the best way to do that the best way to do that is when the process is nearing its end and we’re at you know it is June 10th today we’re at the point where we’ve got to be getting a little bit closer where the Cavs have had a little over two weeks at this point I know Cavs president the basketball operations when Kobe Alman when he had his end of season availability talked about wanting to take the weekend that was Memorial Day weekend and then regroup so it’ll be two weeks from Memorial Day is is today so we’re at that point where progress has to have been been made there I think that’s a fair assumption to make and as we get get deeper into this into this process I think that’s when you start to ask the opinion of and it’s not just Donovan Mitchell it might be Evan Mobley too it could be Darius Garland maybe it’s Jett Allen I think Donovan’s the easiest one there because he is the really the the biggest I think pivot point in the NBA this summer as far as so many things across the league are going to be I don’t want to say held up for what he decides to do but I think that there’s a lot of the league that’s going to just move maybe in a a little bit of slow motion until we get an update on Donovan status and with him being that type of player I think asking for input and trying to set up a meeting between him and a potential head coach would be something that’s really smart for the organization to do and I I think if the organization isn’t planning on doing that that is something that I think could be looked at as a mistake because ultimately the goal yes winning is is the goal here right the the Cavs to be the best version of the Cavs possible that’s what the goal should be but how do you get that goal how do you reach that goal how is that attainable well it’s attainable by having Donovan Mitchell on the roster and I think the chances of Donovan Mitchell being on the roster we could all agree are better if the coach that’s hired whoever that is is someone that’s going to fit in well not just with this organization not just with this roster really but with Mitchell as a whole I I think it’s something that it is very important to keep in mind as this process is moving along that’s a very important thing with it I’ve got a list of other very important things that I think the Cavs need to keep in mind as they start to near closer to the end of this coaching search the coaching search is is coming to a close at some point soon with every day that passes we are closer to the Cavs having a new head coach we don’t know who it is yet but we’re getting closer and I will tell you some of the things that I think are really important to be thinking about as 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at ebaymotors.com eligible items only exclusions apply eBay guaranteed fit only available to us customers so among the things that I think are really important for the Cavaliers to consider as they are searching for this new head coach the thing that I think and and I’m really encouraged by what a lot of their list has looked like as you go through this the number one priority for me has to be what do things look like or for this coach in particular whoever it is what have things looked like on the offensive side of the Court throughout his time in the NBA because what we’ve seen and I think that what JB bicker staff did while in Cleveland one of the best things he did was he built a really great defense and it’s really difficult to get a young team especially the way that the Cavs were particularly in that 2021-22 season they made the play in it’s really difficult to get a young team to play good defense and bicker staff achieved that and I think he deserves a lot of credit for that with that being said you know I think that there are a lot of pieces on this roster that are really good defensively when you talk about a Jarrett Allen and of course some of this is subject to change but you talk about a Jarett Allen and Evan moley who’s already been a defensive player of the year finalist um Isaac aoro I think is a very very good Defender Max Tru a very capable Defender Dean Wade a very good Defender you’ve got guys you have a lot of guys that are good Defenders and then even you know Donovan Mitchell has been better than I thought he would be defensively um Darius Garland Is Not Great defensively but he’s not one of the worst defenders in basketball either like I think that the bones kind of no matter who is hired at this point the bones of a really good defense are there so for me that means seeing a coach that is really good offensively is a priority because I just don’t think there’s as work as much work that needs to be done on the defensive side of the basketball does that make sense where you know if you have a really good defense already the offense is what needs to improve and that’s why I think going with someone who has a track record of being able to put together really good offenses particularly guard oriented offenses because the Cavs are a team that I do believe is going to be while Evan mble I still have a lot of stock in and think he’s going to be awesome we’ll talk about him coming up in just a second but I think that the Cavs are going to continue to be a very guard dominant guard oriented team even if both Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell aren’t together next year one of them will be and they’re going to be a team that the guards are going to take them as far as they can go offensively so hiring a coach that has done that before on that side of the court to where they’ve had some really good offenses that have been run by guards that’s something that I think is very very important to keep in mind as you do this um for this you know I look at James bgo to where what he was able to accomplish with one early in his tenure in Charlotte kemell ER who is he I don’t think he fits stylistically either of the guards the Cavs have right now as a basketball player um but similar size and that matters to me and then later on in his Charlotte tenure a younger Lamela ball and I I think that putting together a good offense with a young a rookie point guard and you know I I don’t love lamelo’s game I think he’s a little a little more flash than substance I think he’s sort of overrated but putting together a good offense that was sort of centered around him as such a young player and getting the most out of that I think is a really good thing so I do Wonder okay how good can that look if there’s a more established guy in the back court that can that can do that sort of stuff how much better is that going to be if that’s the case and James brego I look at him there I you know I look at Kenny ainson I think that particularly with what he did prior to the arrival of Kyrie riving Kevin Durant and that circus that came into Brooklyn when when those two did you look at what that offense looked like when Caris LeVert was part of it D’Angelo Russell a very very young and inexperienced d’angela Russell were part of it that’s a really good sign those are things that I look for when I’m talking about a coaching search or these qualities that I’d like to see and the offensive philosophy offensive side of the basketball is absolutely up there but it’s more about just having good offenses because you can have good offenses and you Rely Upon A A 6’8 6’9 Wing guy that’s awesome right now the Cavs don’t have one of those right now the Cavs have a lot of Firepower in the backport so it’s about is there someone out there is there someone that you think fits that has done that not maybe with two guards but at least with one guard having a guard centered offense that’s something that I think is very very important to keep in mind and one of the things that I take into mind when I’m you know ranking putting together the this big board of candidates that we’ll get to a little bit later on in the show up next for me another very important thing is Player Development because and this has been a really tough thing to balance and I talked about this a little bit last week it’s been a really tough thing to balance but Evan Moy has played almost every basketball game of his career I actually no every basketball game of his NBA career has mattered for something the Cavs have haven’t been a tanking team with Moy on the roster they’re tank finished the day they selected him they were above 500 Rookie year they won 51 games this second year they won however many games this year I think it was 48 games this year they’ve been a winning team they’ve had homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs each of the last two years when you are balancing that sort of thing which the Cavs obviously were and also trying to develop a top three pick which the Cavs have been trying to do it’s a really difficult thing to do it’s a very tough needle to threat and the Cavs have you know on the defensive side of the basketball it’s been perfect offensively I think there’s still more that can be tapped into with Moy so how much can a new coach get out of him that and when I talk about Player Development I am talking almost exclusively about Evan Moy maybe a little bit about Isaac aoro too but almost exclusively about Evan Moy because I think he’s the guy that he has the highest ceiling you know and I think part of this was when they traded for Donovan Mitchell they that was sort of a bet on Evan Moy becoming the team’s best player that’s sort of the way that I viewed it but Donovan has been so good and I think better than expectations to where he’s been while healthy a top 10 player in basketball in each last two seasons like that is what he has been so that I I think has just sort of recalibrated expectations a little bit or even recalibrated that bet a little bit that Cavs made with that trade but that doesn’t mean that Mo’s ceiling still isn’t as high as it once was that’s why it’s so important for this next head coaching hire to be someone that can help to that can help to tap into that that can help to really get the most out of Evan particularly on the offensive floor we know he’s a great defender we know that but getting him to be a better offensive player is something that I I do think matters a lot when you start to think about coaching candidates those are two of the biggest things I’ve got two more that I will tell you coming up as well as my coaching Big Board where we’re at almost a power rankings of sort because I think we’re getting closer to some sort of decision being made so I’m going to give my power rankings as far as where I’ve got guys who I think is the best fit and you know I’ve just continuing to do more and more research with this sort of stuff so I I’ve got my big board my power rankings of coaches as long as two more things that I think are very important coming up next but when you’re hiring for your small business you want to find quality professionals that are right for the role that’s why you have to check out LinkedIn jobs LinkedIn jobs has the tools to help you find the right Professionals for your team faster and for free when I’ve looked for jobs and I have looked for jobs before this isn’t my first job I’ve gone to LinkedIn jobs so if you’re out there if you’re hiring right now and you’re looking for people like me I hope you are looking for people like me I think I’m not a bad not a bad guy go to LinkedIn jobs because you’ll find people like me there and I know that and I can say that because I’ve used LinkedIn jobs before to find jobs LinkedIn no it’s not just another job board LinkedIn has a vast network of more than a billion professionals that’s billion with a B it’s a lot of professionals and that makes it the best place to hire gives you access to professionals you cannot find anywhere else these people aren’t on other job boards they’re on LinkedIn jobs and Linkedin does all that while making the process easy hiring is easy when you have that many quality candidates so easy in fact that 86% of small businesses get a qualified candidate within 24 hours that is super efficient so go to LinkedIn jobs post your job for free at linkedin.com locked on NBA that’s linkedin.com lockon NBA l o c k d o n NBA that’s linkedin.com lockdown NBA to post your job for free terms and conditions apply so the last two things that I had on my list here of qualities that I’m searching for winning background is up next because as I mentioned the Cavs are trying to take that jump from good to Great which is a very very difficult jump to take in the NBA it’s a big challenge it’s much more difficult to do than going from you know average to good or bad to average or even bad to good as we saw the Cavs in you know 2020 to 2022 they went from bad to you know good above average at the very least and that’s a difficult jump to make but the jump from what they’ve been the last two years to what they aspire to be next year and the year after that and the year after that and so on and so forth is a more difficult jump to make it’s really hard to be great in the NBA and it’s sort of a weird thing because in Cleveland around this team we don’t necessarily know what it’s like just to be good it’s either been really bad on this end or really good on this end like great on this end of the spectrum with LeBron so I do think that it it’s an interesting process for fans to watch like it’s it’s a really interesting process to see up close but having someone that has experienc in a winning culture could be a big boost there it really could be a big boost there and then the other quality that I have because the calves are at a point where you know they’ve got a superstar in Don of Mitchell what’s your history like handling Stars how what stars have you been around how has that gone in those experiences what’s that been like these two things aren’t everything like I think that I I’ve sort of gone in order of I think what matters the most but this is something that matters like I like Kenny ainson as a coaching candidate a lot but the way that things ended in Brooklyn give me a little bit of pause and I think that’s fair and I understand that situation sort of abnormal a lot was crazy especially in the world at that time but it’s something that sticks with me just a little bit just a little bit and and you know to be fair since then he’s been around Stars he’s been in Golden State he’s been with the Clippers he’s been around stars but that experience sticks with me just a little bit so those are the last two things um as far as my coaching big board or my coaching Power Rankings my top two guys right now are still Kenny Atkinson and I I think James bgo is number two or maybe number one for me right now I’ve done more digging into just how those Charlotte teams looked offensively and I do think that that is something that it it could be now my question with it is okay yeah those Charlotte teams look good offensively but they weren’t on playoff teams you know they they did not play very much defense how much of that was brego how much of that was roster like there’s a lot to impack when you’re considering it but I do think that offensively he’s one of the better Minds in basketball and that is something that I have to say is a little bit more appealing or at least maybe I I’m more educated on it right now than I was at the start of this um this whole candidacy or this whole coaching search I guess I should say but seeing how how bright of a basketball mind particularly offensively that he is is something that I I do think and know I went through this I put offense at number one on my list and that for bgo brings me a lot of that makes me excited about him as a potential coaching candidate right because that offense and what they were able to do particularly with lamea Bal when he was really young okay if they can do that with a guard that’s still very much finding his footing in the NBA what’s burgo capable of doing with that is an all NBA caliber player that’s so that F has found himself in the last two years on MVP ballots what could that offense look like and that’s a really fun thing I do think to think about so I would have him next I would then probably go Chris Quinn and Johnny Bryant in that same sort of second tier if you will um you know from things I’ve heard Johnny Bryant is ready to be a head coach in the NBA like this isn’t just a oh Donovan Mitchell loves him so he’s he’s a candidate because of that like I’ve talked to people that have have told me that they think Johnny ban is ready for this type of opportunity it’s not just a he’s only getting an interview because of Donovan Mitchell like that’s not something that’s that’s true and then with Chris Quinn um you know we really haven’t heard a ton about him lately really since Adrien wowski reported that the Cavs received permission to interview him but I I do think that there’s something to that heat culture stuff I don’t think it’s everything I don’t think it’s the whole thing but I think it’s something and I I just think that’s worth noting and that would put put it on there for me um Mike anori is probably next having some experience on the sideline I do like that I like that he’s got experience working in a system that employs two sometimes three big guys in the Floor of Minnesota when you talk about Rudy goar Carl Anthony towns NZ Reed so I do think that those are certainly pluses for him as well um we’ve got to be getting closer to this we’re at now the over two weeks since JB bicker staff was fired so with every day that passes we are closer to getting a new head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers you’re going to want to keep it locked on right here to locked on Cavs we’ll be coming at you each and every day we’ll be your first listen every day as we go through this coaching search as the draft approach is going to do some draft stuff later on this week as the NBA draft is you know just over two weeks away Cavs have the number 20 over overall pick so we will get into that coming up a little bit later on this week and certainly next week as well um as the draft gets closer and then obviously free agency but very much appreciate you listening today give us a five-star review subscribe on Apple podcast subscribe on Spotify subscribe wherever you get your podcast like the show on YouTube subscribe to the lock on lock on Cavs YouTube channel all of that stuff is how you help us grow the show which is what we want to do we have a lot of really big plans here at lockon Cavs super excited to be talking to you guys at least five days a week your first listen every day again locked on Cav is part of the locked on podcast Network I’m Danny Cunningham thanks for hanging out with me today I will talk to you again tomorrow

On Monday’s Locked On Cavs, Danny Cunningham (@RealDCunningham) of Cleveland Magazine and 92.3 The Fan discusses how much power Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell should have when it comes to the organization selecting the next head coach.

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