Cavs lost ‘mastermind’ in Jordan Ott: ‘He ran that whole offense for us’

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ offensive attack was nothing short of a juggernaut during the 2024-25 season. Cleveland scored a whopping 121.9 points per game, a mark that ranked as the highest scoring average in the league and 11th-highest in league history.

Strong 3-point shooting and great scoring efficiency were keys to the Cavaliers being tough to stop as an offensive unit. They finished second in the NBA in 3-point percentage and field-goal percentage, and they also knocked down the second-most 3-pointers per contest of any team in the league.

According to former Cavaliers assistant coach DeMarre Carroll, who’s now an assistant with the Phoenix Suns, Jordan Ott was behind Cleveland’s lethal offense last season. Ott is the newest head coach of the Suns after he was a member of the Cavaliers’ coaching staff along with Carroll last season.

Ott will get his first opportunity to serve as a head coach at the highest level this coming season with a Suns squad that isn’t exactly facing high expectations. Phoenix moved on from one of its best players, forward Kevin Durant, earlier this offseason and shipped him to the Houston Rockets.

Another one of the Suns’ better players could be on his way out of Phoenix in the near future as well. The possibility of the Suns buying out guard Bradley Beal has been floated in recent rumors. He remains a talented player but hasn’t had a very smooth tenure with the franchise.

While the Suns’ roster could look quite different by the start of the new season, there’s no indication that franchise cornerstone Devin Booker is going anywhere, so Ott should have a chance to coach one of the premier shooting guards in the league. Booker, a four-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA selection, has spent the entirety of his career to this point with the Suns.

Ott will try to get the Suns back to contention in the Western Conference, but he has his work cut out for himself, and folks shouldn’t expect the fruits of his labor to pay off overnight. Hopefully, he and Carroll will enjoy success after they gave a lot to the Cavs last season.