Cleveland will interview Kenny Atkinson and James Borrego as part of their coaching search.
J.B. Bickerstaff left the Cavaliers after they were defeated by the Boston Celtics in the second round of the playoffs.
After losing to the Boston Celtics in the second round of the playoffs, the Cleveland Cavaliers fired J.B. Bickerstaff and are now assembling a list of potential coaching candidates. ESPN reports that Cleveland has been granted permission to speak with assistants Kenny Atkinson from the Warriors and James Borrego from the Pelicans. The Cavaliers are drawn to Atkinson and Borrego because they have both held head coaching positions in the past.
After serving as the Brooklyn Nets’ head coach from 2016 to 2020, Atkinson most recently left the team to work as an assistant with the Clippers for one season and the Warriors for the previous three. Atkinson played for the Nets for a while, finishing with a record of 118-190 and one postseason appearance. With the guidance of Atkinson, a Brooklyn squad that had spent years struggling to find its identity was able to make its first postseason appearance in four years, spearheaded by Caris LeVert and D’Angelo Russell. In the past, he was given consideration for several head coaching positions. Most recently, he was expected to take over as head coach of the Charlotte Hornets before the 2022–2023 campaign, but he finally made the decision to stay as Golden State’s top assistant.
Other teams have expressed interest in Borrego, another former head coach, namely the Lakers, who spoke with the former Hornets coach during an interview. Borrego guided Charlotte to its first winning season in six years during his four seasons as head coach of the Hornets, when he compiled a 148-183 record. Since then, he has served as an assistant coach with the Pelicans, but he was a strong contender to become head coach of the Lakers.
According to ESPN, the Cavaliers have also been granted permission to interview Heat assistant Chris Quinn and Knicks assistant Johnnie Bryant. Bryant served as Quin Snyder’s assistant coach for the Jazz from 2014 till 2020. After that, he joined the Knicks as an associate head coach, a position he has held for the previous four seasons. Following a six-year NBA career, Quinn joined Erik Spoelstra as an assistant coach in 2014. The Lakers have expressed interest in him for their coaching opening as well, and it now seems the Cavaliers are as well.
There will be pressure on whoever takes over the Cavaliers position to do well right away. The Cavaliers made it clear by firing Bickerstaff that they aren’t happy with just qualifying for the postseason. Additionally, there will be pressure on the next coach to perform quickly because there are rumors that Donovan Mitchell is asking to be traded before he can exercise his player option in the summer of 2025.
