With a new head coach comes new connections, and the Cleveland Cavaliers could look to tap into that world after hiring Kenny Atkinson earlier this offseason.
According to Cavs insider Chris Fedor, the Cavs plan to meet with Atkinson to discuss the possibility of adding a player who has ties to him.
“I’m told that this front office is going to get together with Kenny Atkinson when he returns from France,” said Fedor. “They’re going to have a conversation about, are there any players out there with ties to Kenny — either from his days in Atlanta, Brooklyn, Golden State — that would make sense to fill that roster spot and be some combination of maybe the guy can play, (or) maybe the guy can add playable depth, but he’s a locker room lieutenant for Kenny. He’s somebody who can teach some of these guys the system. He’s somebody who can set a professional attitude with the culture and stuff like that. I don’t know who that would be. I don’t know who fits that profile. Maybe it is Tristan Thompson. Maybe it is Marcus Morris Sr. … Maybe it is somebody else that we haven’t talked about. Maybe it’s one of these guys that’s on the French national team that he wants to bring to America. I don’t know.”
Atkinson had several stops during his NBA coaching journey before coming over to Cleveland, so the pool of players with ties to him is likely large. But that doesn’t mean that all of those players are available (or interested in joining the Cavs), nor does it mean that they all have what Cleveland is looking for.
As such, it’s anyone’s guess where this could go. As an assistant, Atkinson had coaching stints with the New York Knicks, Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors. As a head coach, he spent several seasons with the Brooklyn Nets.
While the Cavs are evidently going to see about adding a player that Atkinson is familiar with, they’re seemingly confident in his ability to get results out of the pieces he currently has. He reportedly was able to sell the Cavs on some ideas to squeeze more out of the roster while he was trying to land the job.
The organization is likely itching for some more substantial success, as the team’s current core — as talented as it is — has won just one playoff series in two seasons together.
Aside from potentially adding a player with ties to Atkinson, the Cavs also have some other decisions to make when it comes to players like Isaac Okoro and Emoni Bates. Okoro and Bates both remain restricted free agents, even with the offseason getting late. But according to Fedor, Bates is likely to return to Cleveland.
With the season getting closer, the Cavs still have some business to take care of.
