Latest news with #KennyAtkinson
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Phoenix Suns hiring Cleveland Cavaliers assistant Jordan Ott, according to report
The Cavs are losing a piece on their coaching staff. According to Shams Charania of ESPN, the Phoenix Suns are hiring Cavaliers assistant coach Jordan Ott to be their next head coach. Ott and fellow Cavs assistant Johnnie Bryant were reportedly finalists for the job. Advertisement Bryant and Ott were hired by the Cavs last summer. They held key roles during the 2024-25 season under first-year Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson. The Cavs went 64-18 in the regular season, earning the Eastern Conference's No. 1 playoff seed before falling 4-1 in the second round to the Indiana Pacers, who will meet the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals starting June 5. Atkinson became NBA Coach of the Year. Ott is a longtime Atkinson lieutenant. During Atkinson's previous NBA head coaching job with Brooklyn, Ott was a Nets assistant. The Suns fired coach Mike Budenholzer in April after just one season. Advertisement Nate Ulrich is the sports columnist of the Akron Beacon Journal and a sports features writer. Nate can be reached at nulrich@ On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich . This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: New Suns head coach will be Cavs assistant Jordan Ott, Shams reports
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Suns hire Cavs' Jordan Ott as new head coach
The post Suns hire Cavs' Jordan Ott as new head coach appeared first on ClutchPoints. The Phoenix Suns have agreed to hire Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach Jordan Ott as their new head coach, first reported by Shams Charania of ESPN. Advertisement Ott was a key part of Kenny Atkinson's staff this past season in Cleveland and contributed to the Cavs winning 64 games as one of the leading voices on their bench next to Atkinson, who was named the 2024-25 NBA Coach of the Year. Johnnie Bryant, another Cavs assistant, was also a finalist for the Suns head coaching vacancy. Both Bryant and Ott met with owner Mat Ishbia, CEO Josh Bartelstein, and general manager Brian Gregory in Michigan on Tuesday for the final time before Phoenix decided who they wanted to hire. Superstar guard Devin Booker was also involved in the search that led to an agreement with Otto to become the Suns' new head coach. Before joining the Cavaliers for the 2024-25 season, Ott spent two years with the Los Angeles Lakers as an assistant on Darvin Ham's staff. He previously served as an assistant for the Brooklyn Nets from 2016 to 2022, as well as the video coordinator for the Atlanta Hawks from 2013 to 2016. Advertisement Ott, who originally graduated from Penn State, received his master's degree in athletic administration from Michigan State, continuing Ishbia's lineage of hiring fellow Spartan alumni. The Suns owner recently hired Gregory, who also attended Michigan State, as the team's newest general manager with James Jones moving into a senior advisor role with the franchise. The new Suns head coach has been heavily regarded around the league for his devotion to player development and relationships with his team. As he takes over the role left behind by Mike Budenholzer, who was fired after the Suns missed the playoffs, Ott will be responsible for flipping the script in Phoenix and creating a new, positive atmosphere. However, the immediate future of this organization is unknown due to the uncertainty surrounding Kevin Durant. After appearing in serious trade conversations against his will before the trade deadline in February, the Suns are expected to part ways with Durant this offseason. Where Durant ends up remains a mystery, as the bigger question for Phoenix revolves around what value and assets they can get in return for the two-time Finals MVP in trade talks. Advertisement The Suns finished the 2024-25 season with a 36-46 record, their worst since the 2019-20 season. Related: Kings rumors: Sacramento eyeing Suns guard in free agency Related: NBA rumors: Spurs teased as Kevin Durant trade destination before draft
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Cavaliers Could Make Big Trade This Offseason
Cavaliers Could Make Big Trade This Offseason originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Cleveland Cavaliers were the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference this year. They won 64 games during the regular season under first-year head coach Kenny Atkinson, who won the 2024-25 Coach of the Year Award. Advertisement The Cavaliers swept the Miami Heat in the first round of the 2025 playoffs. It appeared Cleveland was primed to compete for the championship for the first time in the second post-LeBron James era. However, the Indiana Pacers humbled the Cavaliers in the conference semifinals, winning that series in five quick games. Indiana won Games 1, 2 and 5 in Cleveland, sending Cavaliers fans who went to those games home sad. The Cavaliers haven't advanced past the second round of the playoffs since acquiring Donovan Mitchell from the Utah Jazz in 2022. Some around the NBA believe Cavaliers President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman has to make a big trade this offseason for Atkinson's group to take the next step. Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson may have a new point guard next Richard-Imagn Images According to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, Cavaliers point guard Darius Garland 'might be available under the right circumstances.' Garland has spent his entire career in Cleveland. He was the fifth overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. Advertisement Garland, 25, will make $39.4 million next season. He struggled against the Pacers in the conference semifinals, averaging only 14.0 points while shooting just 34.2% from the field and 16.7% from beyond the arc. Garland appeared in 75 games for the Cavaliers this season. He averaged 20.6 points, 2.9 rebounds and 6.7 assists while shooting 47.2% from the floor, 40.1% from 3 and 87.8% from the free-throw line. Garland is listed at 6-1, 192 pounds, while Mitchell is listed at 6-3, 215 pounds. That's a small backcourt in today's NBA, which is why some believe Garland should be traded for a bigger guard this summer. Related: Four-Team NBA Trade Idea Sends Cavaliers' Donovan Mitchell To Mavericks This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 6, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Nets parting with Cavaliers' Kenny Atkinson fueled his COTY bid
The Brooklyn Nets made an important decision more than five years ago when they had a mutual parting with then-head coach Kenny Atkinson as the Nets had a 28-34 record. Since then, there has been to make over the paths that Brooklyn and Atkinson took since the parting, but Atkinson deems the splitting of ways to be beneficial to his coaching career. "That one hurt," Atkinson said of the mutual parting, according to Shaun Powell of "Hurt me, hurt my family; they were settled in Brooklyn. You've got to sit down with your kids, tell them you've been fired. And it's also not just personal, but a competitive and pride thing. I'm a local. I do think in another city the blow would've been less, but coming to New York, it was more. I wanted to stay long there." Advertisement After the Nets parted ways with Atkinson, the team finished the 2019-20 season with a 7-3 record under interim head coach Jacque Vaughn, allowing them to make the NBA playoffs where they proceeded to be swept by the Toronto Raptors in the first round. After leaving Brooklyn, Atkinson went on to be an assistant for the Los Angeles Clippers and the Golden State Warriors before being hired as the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers for the 2024-25 campaign. While Atkinson had a tough act to follow given that Cleveland fired JB Bickerstaff after the team finished with a 48-34 record before losing to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in the 2023-24 season, the former Nets coach managed to turn things around for the Cavaliers. Under Atkinson's watch, the Cavaliers went on to finish this season with a 64-18 record that earned him the Coach of the Year award. "I'm definitely different," Atkinson continued. "I've changed. I wouldn't have been ready for this job before. I needed to get fired, needed those experiences, needed to go through all that. Now I feel super confident in my own skin, whereas before, maybe not that much." It's tough to say that a firing benefits someone, but it seems like Atkinson did what he could to learn from the situation and move on. This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets parting with Cavaliers' Kenny Atkinson fueled his COTY bid
USA Today
07-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Nets parting with Cavaliers' Kenny Atkinson fueled his COY bid
Nets parting with Cavaliers' Kenny Atkinson fueled his COY bid The Brooklyn Nets made an important decision more than five years ago when they had a mutual parting with then-head coach Kenny Atkinson as the Nets had a 28-34 record. Since then, there has been to make over the paths that Brooklyn and Atkinson took since the parting, but Atkinson deems the splitting of ways to be beneficial to his coaching career. "That one hurt," Atkinson said of the mutual parting, according to Shaun Powell of "Hurt me, hurt my family; they were settled in Brooklyn. You've got to sit down with your kids, tell them you've been fired. And it's also not just personal, but a competitive and pride thing. I'm a local. I do think in another city the blow would've been less, but coming to New York, it was more. I wanted to stay long there." After the Nets parted ways with Atkinson, the team finished the 2019-20 season with a 7-3 record under interim head coach Jacque Vaughn, allowing them to make the NBA playoffs where they proceeded to be swept by the Toronto Raptors in the first round. After leaving Brooklyn, Atkinson went on to be an assistant for the Los Angeles Clippers and the Golden State Warriors before being hired as the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers for the 2024-25 campaign. While Atkinson had a tough act to follow given that Cleveland fired JB Bickerstaff after the team finished with a 48-34 record before losing to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in the 2023-24 season, the former Nets coach managed to turn things around for the Cavaliers. Under Atkinson's watch, the Cavaliers went on to finish this season with a 64-18 record that earned him the Coach of the Year award. "I'm definitely different," Atkinson continued. "I've changed. I wouldn't have been ready for this job before. I needed to get fired, needed those experiences, needed to go through all that. Now I feel super confident in my own skin, whereas before, maybe not that much." It's tough to say that a firing benefits someone, but it seems like Atkinson did what he could to learn from the situation and move on.
