{"id":78920,"date":"2024-05-26T20:05:04","date_gmt":"2024-05-27T00:05:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=78920"},"modified":"2024-05-26T20:05:04","modified_gmt":"2024-05-27T00:05:04","slug":"cavs-knicks-coach-johnnie-bryant-gaining-steam-jb-bickerstaff-replacement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/26\/cavs-knicks-coach-johnnie-bryant-gaining-steam-jb-bickerstaff-replacement\/","title":{"rendered":"Knicks Coach Gaining Steam as JB Bickerstaff Replacement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Instead of letting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mitchdo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Donovan Mitchell<\/a> fantasize about playing for the New York Knicks, the Cleveland Cavaliers might just bring a slice of the Big Apple to the table.<\/p>\n<p>Per The Athletic\u2019s Jason Lloyd, Knicks associate head coach Johnnie Bryant could soon become linked to the Cavs\u2019 head coach vacancy. The primary impetus for Bryant emerging as a candidate is his experience coaching Mitchell (under Quin Snyder) during his stint with the Utah Jazz. \u201c\u2026<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cleveland.com\/cavs\/2024\/05\/12-cavs-coaching-candidates-who-could-be-in-the-running-to-succeed-jb-bickerstaff.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">No one has meant more<\/a> to Mitchell\u2019s career than Bryant \u2014 a friend, mentor and one-time development coach,\u201d reports cleveland.com\u2019s Chris Fedor.<\/p>\n<p>Bryant, 38, would become the second-youngest head coach in the NBA behind the Jazz\u2019s Will Hardy (36).<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Still hearing Kenny Atkinson as leader for Cavs job but don\u2019t be surprised if Knicks associate head coach Johnnie Bryant\u2019s name emerges. Bryant was an assistant in Utah when Donovan Mitchell was there. Sounds like Dan Gilbert is heavily involved, more than I originally thought.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jason Lloyd (@ByJasonLloyd) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ByJasonLloyd\/status\/1794791116136419377?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 26, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Bryant was also in the running for the Brooklyn Nets\u2019 head coach role before they hired former Sacramento Kings associate head coach Jordi Fernandez. In 2022, he interviewed for both Jazz\u2019s head coach positions.<\/p>\n<h2>Johnnie Bryant Gaining Steam as JB Bickerstaff Replacement<\/h2>\n<p>Bryant is the archetypal player\u2019s coach, typically getting to know his players on and off the coach.<\/p>\n<p>A sharp basketball mind with experience playing at the collegiate level after starring for the Utah Utes, he could be more respected in the locker room <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/23\/cavs-make-decision-head-coach-jb-bickerstaff\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">than J.B. Bickerstaff was<\/a>. Though Bickerstaff empowered his players, they became disenchanted with his strategies. His drills seemed pointless, his adjustments slow-coming, his rotations questionable.<\/p>\n<p>As a first-year head coach, Bryant won\u2019t exactly be immune to these problems. It\u2019ll be an adjustment period for him, and he\u2019ll make some mistakes along the way. However, he\u2019s spent his entire coaching career learning under Snyder and Tom Thibodeau. There are hardly two better active head coaches that he could learn from so far as having a playoff formula. That being said, Bryant should have less of an issue transitioning to a head coach role than other potential candidates.<\/p>\n<h3>Butterfly Effect<\/h3>\n<p>Notably, Bryant also has a close relationship with Milwaukee Bucks star <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lillada01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Damian Lillard<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Due to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/garlada01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Darius Garland<\/a>\u2019s rumored ultimatum, a trade request <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/26\/cavs-does-plan-keep-backcourt-duo-together-make-sense\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">could be imminent<\/a>. If so, Lillard could be a trade target for the Cavs as he\u2019s had trouble fitting in with Milwaukee. A guard with plenty of experience sharing touches with an offensive-minded backcourt mate, Lillard should be more comfortable beside Mitchell than Garland.<\/p>\n<p>For the Bucks, Garland\u2019s efficiency, passing instincts, and scoring upside make him a better option than Lillard. It\u2019s a rare win-win scenario.<\/p>\n<h3>Kenny Atkinson the Favorite?<\/h3>\n<p>If Golden State Warriors assistant coach Kenny Atkinson is the favorite, it\u2019s because the Cavs are fans of his combination of experience, analytics-based approach, and developmental ability.<\/p>\n<p>Though the former head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, Atkinson\u2019s less experienced than Bickerstaff was. Nonetheless, his ability to balance statistical analysis and film study should help the Cavs\u2019 offense get out the mud. To that point, Cleveland\u2019s offense ranked 20th in points per game (112.6) in 2023-24. They were prolific from beyond the arc, ranking seventh in average 3-point attempts (13.5). However, their offense was a bit too perimeter-based, barely getting points from anywhere else.<\/p>\n<p>To make matters worse, only Mitchell was especially equipped to call his own number. With that said, part of the blame for Cleveland\u2019s unsatisfactory season belongs to Cavs president Koby Altman. As the lead decision-maker, he\u2019s primarily responsible for a roster that struggled to create shots for themselves. However, this also underscores Bickerstaff\u2019s flaws as a developmental coach.<\/p>\n<p>Consequently, if Atkinson can unlock players like Garland, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/leverca01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Caris LeVert<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mobleev01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Evan Mobley<\/a>, he might pass with flying colors no matter what Altman does.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Instead of letting Donovan Mitchell fantasize about playing for the New York Knicks, the Cleveland Cavaliers might just bring a slice of the Big Apple to the table. Per The Athletic\u2019s Jason Lloyd, Knicks associate head coach Johnnie Bryant could soon become linked to the Cavs\u2019 head coach vacancy. The primary impetus for Bryant emerging [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":72092,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,1608,62,3,4721],"tags":[187,1937,900,3109,49168,236],"class_list":["post-78920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cavaliers","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","category-trade-rumors","tag-damian-lillard","tag-darius-garland","tag-donovan-mitchell","tag-j-b-bickerstaff","tag-johnnie-bryant","tag-kenny-atkinson"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}