Atkinson is “gaining steam” in Cavs coaching race
Atkinson could be in the driver’s seat for Cavs opening.
A few days ago it seemed like James Borrego was the one who was going to be the one to fill the Cleveland Cavaliers coaching vacancy. Marc Stein reported that insiders “project” Borrego to be the next head coach and it seemed like an announcement would come as early as Wednesday. As of Saturday morning, the Cavs are yet to fill that vacancy.
Kenny Atkinson’s reemergence could be why that’s the case. Terry Pluto of cleveland.com reported on Thursday that the Cavs could end their search with Atkinson. Stein backed that up by reporting Friday night that Atkinson was “gaining steam” in the coaching search. Micah Nori is also still in the running.
Cleveland’s ultimate selection is expected to have a direct impact on Detroit’s just-opened coaching search, with the Pistons already known to hold interest in both Borrego and Nori as well as Dallas’ Sean Sweeney and J.B. Bickerstaff, whose ouster led to the Cavaliers’ opening. https://t.co/3QXErtd062
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 22, 2024
It’s unknown what happened between now and Wednesday that could’ve changed things. The Los Angeles Lakers filled their coaching vacancy in that time period, but the Detroit Pistons created a spot of their own by firing Monty Williams.
Trajan Langdon, the new Pistons president of basketball operations, has history with Borrego as both were with the New Orleans Pelicans last season. Langdon served as general manager for New Orleans from 2019 through this past season.
Coaching searches take many twists and turns. We saw this happen a few times in Los Angeles before they landed on J.J. Reddick who seemed to be the favorite from the beginning. It’s difficult to envision the Cavs ending up with anyone besides Atkinson or Borrego at this point. Both were the two initial names mentioned nearly a month ago when J.B. Bickerstaff was fired. It seems like the job will either be one of theirs.