With the firing of JB Bickerstaff almost immediately following his team’s postseason exit, the interviews for the next coach have been rampant. With that being said, here’s a look at the most likely of the Cleveland Cavaliers coaching candidates.
Kenny Atkinson
One of the more likely candidates to take over the head coaching role for the Cavaliers, Kenny Atkinson is currently the assistant coach of the Golden State Warriors. Starting with the Warriors the season of their most recent championship, he’s a coach who’s helped develop a championship caliber team.
Atkinson started his coaching career as an assistant with the New York Knicks in 2008. He then was an assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks before landing the head coaching position with the Brooklyn Nets. Coaching the Nets from 2016 until 2020 (when the failed super team began running the show), Atkinson had a record of 118-190.
He has yet to take up another head coaching position, but has been an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers and the Warriors since. Although, he did finish fifth in coach of the year voting in 2018-19.
James Borrego
James Borrego, the most tenured prospective head coach for the Cavaliers, has spent five seasons behind the wheel of an NBA team. Along with his five seasons of head coaching, Borrego has spent eight years as an assistant coach.
Starting as an assistant coach with the New Orleans Hornets, he eventually moved to Orlando. While in Orlando he got the chance to take the helm of his first professional team. After this short 30 game stretch as head coach of the Magic, Borrego was an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs before landing his second head coaching position with the (now) Charlotte Hornets for the 2018-19 season.
Although he hasn’t seen the most success with the Hornets over these past few seasons, his time in the position has placed him as a likely candidate for the open position in Cleveland.
David Adelman
David Adelman, current assistant coach of the Denver Nuggets, is another name that has surfaced as a potential candidate to replace Bickerstaff. Although he’s never been a head coach, his experience does prove to be something that could help the Cavaliers.
Starting his career with the Minnesota Timberwolves in player development in 2011-12, Adelman was able to land the assistant coaching position the following season. Following his time with the Timberwolves, he was an assistant coach for the Orlando Magic before moving to Denver.
Adelman is another assistant coach who’s been a part of a championship team, and Cleveland is hopeful he may have the vision required to advance their agenda.
Micah Nori
The most recent name added to the list of candidates, Micah Nori has an upcoming interview for the Cleveland coaching position. He is also yet to be a head coach in his career, but has been an assistant with the Toronto Raptors, the Sacramento Kings, the Nuggets, the Detroit Pistons and is currently the assistant coach of the Timberwolves.
The Timberwolves aren’t a championship team, but this season proved they’re not far off at all from that level of play. With the kind of experience that Cleveland wants in their next head coach very apparent with who they’re coaching to interview, all Cavalier fans can do is sit and await to see which of the Cleveland Cavalier coaching candidates will be anointed as the next man to run this team.
For more NBA and other sports and esports news, you can find The Game Haus on Twitter and Facebook.
Featured photo courtesy of NBA.com
“From Our Haus to Your’s”