Cavs hire Kenny Atkinson as new Head Coach
Well, it finally happened. After four long, merciless weeks, the Cavs got their man. According to ESPNs Adrian Wojnarowski, the wine and gold have hired Kenny Atkinson to be the next head coach. The former Brooklyn Nets coach was one of two finalists for the job, winning it over James Borrego, both of who are more offensive-minded coaches and intrigued the Cavs trying to reinvigorate the team that has struggled offensively in two postseason appearances.
In his time in Brooklyn, Atkinson was handed a rebuilding team, with little draft capital after the disaster that was the Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett Deal, and took a lottery team in many peoples eyes to respectability, making a playoff appearance in the 2018-19 season as the 7th seed. A team featuring current Cavs Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen will now be reunited, barring any potential trades this offseason.
Kenny Atkinson was one of the candidates I felt the best about going through this coaching cycle. His motion-style offense is something that intrigued me, especially with a Cavs roster that could benefit from that style to create advantages in the half court. The problem with JB Bickerstaff, despite the success and progress over his 5 years with the organization, was that his offensive X’s and O’s weren’t up to par for a team with bigger and higher goals than simply an entrance to the postseason. I believe that Atkinson will have a much more creative and innovative scheme that can maximize a roster that you could argue had more juice to a squeeze than what it produced. The one question that will arise with Atkinson is, ultimately, can he take the Cavs to Promise Land? His time with Brooklyn was short-circuited after a power struggle with Kevin Durant and management, resulting in him resigning mid-season in 2019-20, which leaves him in a place like his predecessor Bickerstaff: you can help develop teams but are you ready to help the Cavs level up to the next and be NBA Finals contenders?. Those will be questions as we head to the fall and early winter, but for right now, I’m happy with who they selected, and I think he’s the right guy for the job; the Cavs needed a new voice and new offensive ideals, and this feels like the right guy for the job.