With the Cleveland Cavaliers dismissing head coach J.B. Bickerstaff today, there have already been a few possible replacements named, including the most recent Phoenix Suns coach.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Hoops Wire’s Sam Amico posted on X that “(former Milwaukee Bucks assistant) Terry Stotts and Frank Vogel (are) among those on Cavs’ coaching radar.”
Terry Stotts and Frank Vogel among those on Cavs’ coaching radar. More hoops https://t.co/07DB6sA2eZ
— Sam Amico (@AmicoHoops) May 23, 2024
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Golden State Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson is also a name to watch.
Cavaliers President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman and GM Mike Gansey will start to formulate a list in coming days, but one candidate to monitor: Golden State assistant Kenny Atkinson. He coached Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert to playoffs with Nets. https://t.co/9GMvmp49BJ
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 23, 2024
The Suns dismissed Vogel after just one season with the team on May 9 and quickly moved to Mike Budenholzer to replace him as the 22nd coach in franchise history.
Phoenix finished Vogel’s first regular season with a 49-33 record, which was good for the No. 6 seed in the West. However, the Suns were swept in the first round by the Minnesota Timberwolves just 11 days before Vogel’s firing.
“Meanwhile, (Kevin) Durant, among the best scorers in NBA history, was not always happy with how he was used. Sources briefed on the matter told The Athletic that Durant never felt comfortable with his role in Phoenix’s offense alongside Booker and Beal this season. Those sources said Durant had persistent issues with the offense, feeling that he was being relegated to the corner far too often and not having the proper designs to play to his strengths as the offense was built around pick-and-rolls. At the same time, some teammates and people close to the organization believed Durant needed to voice his concerns more adamantly and directly with Vogel and his coaching staff.”
Vogel agreed to a 5-year, $31 million contract with the Suns when he was hired last June. The Suns still owe the remaining four years to him until he takes another coaching job.
At Budenholzer’s introductory press conference last week, general manager and president of basketball operations James Jones explained why the team moved on from Vogel.
“We needed to improve in a lot of areas, so there wasn’t one specific area,” Jones said, “By and large it was we just felt the timing to ship was right. And we moved quickly to Bud just because when we look at our roster and what our roster needs, he fits it. I’m a competitive guy, and … throughout that process Bud must have said compete 95 times in two minutes, but compete at everything. Compete in practice. Compete with each other, against each other. Compete against your opponent, but more importantly, compete with yourself.
“I thought that was an area of our team where we could be better because there were spouts where we didn’t reach our potential. A lot of that was just the inconsistency and our competitive nature. And so that’s something we wanted to rectify and I believe we’re getting it right.”
Before Phoenix, Vogel was the head coach of the Indiana Pacers from 2010-2016 (went 250-181), the Orlando Magic from 2016-2018 (54-110 record) and Los Angeles Lakers from 2019-2022 (finished 225-127, won 2020 NBA championship). Combined, his teams have gone 480-422 (.532 winning percentage) in the regular season and 49-43 (.533) in the playoffs.
The Cavs finished with a 48-34 record this past season and lost 4-1 in the second round to the Boston Celtics, dealing with injuries to All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell and center Jarrett Allen in the series. In total, Bickerstaff had a 170-159 (.517) record in five seasons with the Cavaliers.
Could Cleveland hire Vogel to be their next head coach?
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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
