Kenny Atkinson was eager to pursue the Cavaliers‘ head coaching job after the team fired J.B. Bickerstaff in May, writes Tom Withers of The Associated Press. Atkinson recognizes that Cleveland has the potential to become a serious contender in the East after two straight playoff appearances, as he explained at Monday’s introductory press conference.
“The first thing I said (was), ‘I want this job, I’m going for it and I’m going to be aggressive,’” Atkinson told reporters. “I knew all the great things that were in place.”
This is the second head coaching job for Atkinson, who compiled a 118-190 record while overseeing a rebuilding project in Brooklyn before being let go in 2020. Since then, he spent one season as an assistant to Tyronn Lue with the Clippers and three years on Steve Kerr’s staff with the Warriors. He compared that experience to “getting your doctorate in basketball.”
“It’s a partnership,” Atkinson said. “Ty was great at it. Steve was a master at it. When you’re making big decisions, sure, you’re the ultimate decision-maker. But you have talked that through with your best players. In my experience, they might say: ‘No, why don’t we do this in the pick-and-roll? Why don’t we do this?’ So really, it’s a true partnership, and that means you better be a great listener when you do have those one-on-ones.”
There’s more from Cleveland:
- Getting the chance to coach Evan Mobley was one of the things that attracted Atkinson to the job, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. In his discussions with Cavs’ management, Atkinson described his detailed plan to develop Mobley’s offensive skills in hopes of making him one of the league’s top five players. “I do think we can schematically get the ball in his hands more quite honestly,” Atkinson said. “It’s going to be in multiple ways. I think when you have a guy that versatile, it could be him in transition bringing the ball up, it could be him handling in a five out situation or him handling in pick and roll. I think there’s creative things we can do to help him.”
- Appearing on ESPN Cleveland, Brian Windhorst (Twitter video link) says teams “definitely” have interest in trading for Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen, but Atkinson wants to keep him. “I don’t think they’re trading him,” Windhorst said. Atkinson previously coached Allen during his time with the Nets.
- Windhorst also expressed skepticism that the Cavaliers will look to move Darius Garland (Twitter video link), who has been the subject of trade speculation related to Donovan Mitchell‘s contract extension. “I don’t think the market is there for Darius Garland. … I think it’s a terrible time to trade Darius Garland,” said Windhorst, who added that he’s not convinced the point guard will even want a trade.