Cavaliers Hire New Head Coach After Lengthy Search

After an extensive quest, the Cleveland Cavaliers have finally settled on their 24th head coach.

Per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Cavs are hiring Golden State Warriors assistant coach Kenny Atkinson to replace former head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, whom they let go after a hair over four seasons (he served as Cleveland’s interim head coach for the final 11 games of the pandemic-abbreviated 2019-20 NBA season).

Across the past two seasons, Bickerstaff had led Cleveland to a pair of playoff berths and a cumulative 99-65 regular season record. This past spring, Bickerstaff even brought Cleveland its first playoff series win since LeBron James departed the Cavaliers for the second time as a free agent, in 2018. He oversaw the development of Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen into All-Star talents and helped the club really solidify a post-James identity.

None of this was enough for Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert, and now the Cavaliers are reuniting Allen with his former Brooklyn Nets head coach in Atkinson.

Following a lengthy, mostly international playing career as a point guard (he never made the NBA), Atkinson turned to coaching in 2004. He first linked up with French club Paris Basket Racing (now Levallois Sporting Club Basket) and hopped to the NBA in 2008 to serve as an assistant coach under Mike D’Antoni with the New York Knicks. He next worked as an assistant coach on the Atlanta Hawks from 2012-16, before assuming the Nets gig.

Atkinson helped turn around a Nets team in turmoil after its Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce/Joe Johnson/Deron Williams/Brook Lopez experiment flamed out, and the team was depleted of blue-chip prospects. He led the team from 2016-20. His greatest achievement during that tenure was guiding a young Brooklyn squad in 2018-19 to a 42-40 record and a playoff appearance.

After the Nets signed future Hall of Famers Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in free agency, as well as ex-All-Star DeAndre Jordan, things soured amid rumors Durant wanted to bring in a head coach of his choosing. Atkinson eventually paved the way for him to do that, stepping down midway through the season with the team struggling at 28-34 (Durant was hurt the entire season while rehabilitating an Achilles tear).

Pivoting, Atkinson joined the Los Angeles Clippers in 2020-21 as an assistant coach under Tyronn Lue, before heading north to join the Golden State Warriors and head coach Steve Kerr the subsequent season. That team instantly won a title, Atkinson’s first, in 2021-22. The aging Warriors have posted declining results in the years since, however. They missed the playoffs this past spring after failing to get out of the play-in tournament.

Now, Atkinson joins a young, intriguing Cleveland club that boasts four key assets in guards Donovan Mitchell and Garland, plus big men Allen and Evan Mobley. There have been fit questions surrounding the two backcourt players and the two frontcourt pieces, but presumably with Atkinson’s situation now settled, the team may look to figure out how best to accommodate its top players.