Report: Kenny Atkinson spent extended time this offseason with Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson reportedly traveled across the country during the offseason in order to spend quality time with some of his team’s best players in Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Darius Garland.

“Officially hired in early July after an extensive coaching search, Atkinson has spent a bulk of the last three months fostering relationships,” Chris Fedor wrote. “In between other coaching responsibilities, he flew to Las Vegas for a couple days, running players through workouts, having intimate dinners and lengthy sit-downs.

“He ventured to Nashville to work out with Garland and then across the country to Los Angeles for some time alongside Mobley. Immediately following his unforgettable Olympic run with Team France, Atkinson went to Greenwich to spend time with Mitchell, sending Altman and general manager Mike Gansey video clips of Mitchell in the gym splashing jumpers.”

Interestingly, two of the three aforementioned Cavaliers stars inked extensions to remain in Cleveland in the offseason. Mobley agreed to a five-year, $224 million extension, while Mitchell re-signed with the Cavaliers on a three-year, $150.3 million deal.

Plus, Garland signed a similarly lucrative extension in the summer of 2022. He won’t hit unrestricted free agency until after the 2027-28 NBA campaign comes to an end.

Barring an unforeseen trade, all signs point to the notion that Atkinson will begin his first season as the head coach the Cavaliers with three of the team’s top talents under contract for the foreseeable future.

Atkinson will try to help the Cavaliers make a deep playoff run in 2025 after the team was eliminated early on in the 2023 and 2024 NBA Playoffs. Cleveland’s lone playoff series victory of the past two years came against the Orlando Magic in the opening round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs.

The Eastern Conference is arguably better on paper than it was last season, though. The Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks have added stars in Paul George and Karl-Anthony Towns, and squads such as the Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks seem primed to have bounce-back campaigns.

The Cavaliers’ odds of reaching the Eastern Conference Finals may be stacked against them, but the team certainly has a puncher’s chance to advance deep into the 2025 NBA Playoffs when factoring in Cleveland’s talented star trio and the supporting cast on the rest of the roster.

Caris LeVert, Jarrett Allen, Max Strus and Georges Niang are all productive ancillary players, and every one of the four players were key components to the Cavaliers’ success last season.

Time will tell exactly how Atkinson’s first season leading the Cavaliers will pan out and if he’ll prove to be the right man for the job, but it seems as if his tenure with the team is off to a promising start.