Podcast 306: Kenny and Kel’el

The Cavs’ coaching search saga is over! Exactly one month after the wine and gold fired J.B. Bickerstaff. In his place: Kenny Atkinson, who was primarily hired over James Borrego so that Cleveland wouldn’t have a second coach with the same initials. The 57 year old Atkinson brings four seasons of head coaching experience in Brooklyn from 2016-2020, resigning the year that Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving came to town. He has been an assistant coach to Steve Kerr in Golden State for the last three seasons, and won a championship ring with them in 2022. The season before that he was on Ty Lue’s staff in L.A. Atkinson reportedly won the backing of Dan Gilbert and will join the team before the Wednesday night draft.

To process all this, Nate Smith, Eli Kim, and Chris Francis rotated through the CtB podcast Studios in late June fashion (casually). The trio discussed the hiring, why the Cavs passed on other candidates, and who Atkinson may add to the fill out the Cavs’ staff.

The crew then dug into as chaotic an NBA draft as any of us have ever seen, with no clear cut number one, or even clear cut top five. It’s safe to say that anything could happen Wednesday night (… and Thursday afternoon) as the now two day event unfolds with the Cavs holding onto the 20th pick. The gents broke down who they liked, who they didn’t, and some of their theories around old wings, stiff centers, and stupid names. Top that all off with a random tour of Boston, some novel picks, and some gushing over the Guardians, and you’ve got a pretty good podcast.

As always, listen below, download the full audio file, or listen on Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, or Spotify.

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