The Cleveland Cavaliers were among the NBA’s most pleasant surprises this past season, as the young Cavs came out of the gates as one of the league’s hottest teams and finished 8th in the East at 44-38, as injuries took their toll, ultimately dropping both of their play-in games to miss the playoffs.
Still, optimism abounds in Cleveland after Darius Garland made the leap to All-Star in his third season, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley became a formidable frontcourt force on both ends of the floor, and Kevin Love found himself revitalized alongside all that young talent. There’s still a ways to go for the Cavs to enter the contender realm in the top-heavy East, but they have undoubtedly taken the first big step in the right direction and it is incumbent on Koby Altman and the front office to continue building on that foundation.
This offseason will present some interesting options for the Cavs, most notably what they do with Collin Sexton (who missed most all season with a torn meniscus) as he will be a restricted free agent with a roster clearly needing more creation and scoring punch from the backcourt. There are other organizational moves to make, and on Tuesday we learned one of those would be bolstering their coaching staff with former Lakers and Kings head coach (and more successfully, Warriors assistant) Luke Walton coming on as an assistant for JB Bickerstaff.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are hiring Luke Walton as an assistant coach, sources tell ESPN. Walton joins JB Bickerstaff’s coaching staff after spending five-plus years as head coach of the Lakers and Kings. Walton spent his final two seasons as a player with Cleveland a decade ago.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 31, 2022
Walton has not been successful as a head coach, but was highly regarded in Golden State as an assistant under Steve Kerr, so it’s possible that he’s just a better fit in a secondary seat on the bench rather than in that first chair.