The offseason plan is fueling the Cleveland Cavaliers to the top of the NBA

On By Littum

  • Brian Windhorst, ESPN Senior Writer18 Nov 2024 at 08:00 ET

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    • ESPN.com NBA writer since 2010
    • Covered the Cleveland Cavs for seven years
    • Author of two books

WITH TWO MINUTES back in the fourth quarter on Friday night, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Caris LeVert hit a 3-pointer from the left corner to give his team a nine-point lead over the Chicago Bulls. Almost everyone in the building realized it was a dagger that all but secured the Cavs their 14th straight win to start the season.

But then, in a sudden surge, the Cavs played some of their most intense basketball of the night, moving at full speed, hoisting 3-pointers early in the shot clock, pressing the accelerator in transition and applying pressure defense.

The Bulls, their bench cleared, gave up 13 points in a blurry 80 seconds, and suddenly the Cavs were up by 18 — celebrating with each addition.

Here’s why: Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson played and coached overseas for 15 years. He knows all about the rules of international style league cups and the importance of scoring margin and total points when it comes to tiebreakers. This was the Cavaliers’ first NBA Cup game of the season, and they followed their coach’s instructions.

And this little corner of the first month of this season underlines the whole approach to this surprise man.

These Cavs don’t mess around.

They have a vision, a plan and total buy-in from a group of star players who all want to prove something, led by a like-minded coach. That’s an attitude they’ll take to Boston to face the defending champion Celtics on Tuesday night for the Cavs’ biggest test of the young season in what could prove to be the most impactful NBA Cup game in the Eastern Conference bracket. The Cavs are a perfect 15-0 after a 14-point win over the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday night, with star Donovan Mitchell rested.

“This is rare,” Atkinson said. “We just have this incredible chemistry and incredible understanding and respect for each other. It’s beautiful to see.”

THREE DAYS LATER The Golden State Warriors, who got off to a surprisingly unexpected 10-2 start themselves, were destroyed by the Cavs, including a 41-point deficit in the first half, Draymond Green took to his podcast for a candid chat.

“I think these Cleveland Cavaliers are serious, and I’ll tell you why,” Green said. “That ball was buzzing… My head was spinning, they were moving it so fast. I think this team, they’ve got something there… I like that team.”

The Cavs had a lengthy coaching search this spring, conducting round after round of interviews and working internally to settle on Atkinson and New Orleans Pelicans assistant James Borrego — veterans with assistant titles and previous head coaching experience — as the final two .

Atkinson ultimately got the offer and won the team leadership with his offensive vision.

Atkinson spent the next two months flying back and forth across the Atlantic, between France and Cleveland and Las Vegas, watching Cavs game film and reviewing statistics.

On hot summer nights, in an old barracks where the French national team trained for the Olympics – Atkinson was on the coaching staff that helped the squad to a silver medal in Paris this summer – he put the fine points on a plan.

1: Play his list. Atkinson felt like president of basketball operations Koby Altman, who had made a series of aggressive trades that had given him Jarrett Allen, LeVert and then, the big man in Mitchell, had built a deeper team than Altman had been given credit for.

Altman’s high first-round picks — Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, Isaac Okoro — had all hit in one form or another. He had strengthened the team with Max Strus and Georges Niang. He had found rotation players on the scrap heap, such as Dean Wade and Sam Merrill.

Not only did Atkinson think they could all play — including deep bench guard Ty Jerome, a 2023 free agent who had missed all of the previous year with an injury and whom Atkinson knew from his years in Golden State. So he decided he would try playing them. All together.

2: Unleash the offense. Two years ago, the Cavs miraculously ranked eighth in the league in offense, despite being dead last in pace, 24th in 3-point attempts and in the bottom half of the league in assist percentage. They ran a low-space, low-speed, old-school offense that worked.

Last season, ravaged by injuries, they fell to 16th in offense, but their ball movement and pace improved. What if Atkinson thought he could get the same players already on track to improve even more in a few influential areas?

So all of training camp was spent encouraging speed, quick decision making and movement. Pass and then move. Move and pass. And whatever you do, do it quickly. A lot of guys had to play. Everyone, including franchise player Mitchell, had to play less than before. So spend more energy on the minutes.

This was a selling point – and not a hard sell. And there was something else. Over the past two years, Mitchell, Allen, Mobley, Okoro, Strus, LeVert and Niang have all signed contracts worth a combined total of more than $600 million. Garland’s $190 million max deal, signed through 2022, also kicked in so the team was largely paid, helping set the tone for the brand of selflessness Atkinson wanted to install when he returned from Paris.

“This is an unselfish team and has been since we got together,” Mitchell said. “Kenny has been phenomenal with us on that and he continues to trust us.”

Now the Cavs rank no. 1 in the league in offense. They have risen to no. 7 in pace and can go higher; they lead the league in games played and have yet to have back-to-back days off all season and it has shown in recent games. They are third in total 3-pointers and first in 3-point percentage. They lead the league in its most basic form: curve.

“They move the ball so crazy!” Green said on his podcast.

“I was excited when Draymond said that. It’s Warriors-ish, you know?” said Atkinson, who was an assistant with the Warriors the past three seasons, including a return to their bench after accepting and then dropping out of the Hornets’ coaching position in 2022.

“That type of ball movement is beautiful to watch.”

3: A new role for Mobley. A big part of the Cavs’ coaching search was listening to candidates’ plans to get more from Mobley, who was a defensive star from his first weeks in the league but underperformed offensively. The conventional wisdom was to have Mobley stretch the floor with long-range shooting, something he didn’t always show much interest in doing.

Atkinson instead wanted him in a green-style role, encouraging him to bring the ball up the floor after getting defensive rebounds (Mobley is in the top 25 in the league in the stat). And then second, Atkinson envisioned Mobley as a distributor and focal point in the half-court offense, just as Green has been with the Warriors for more than a decade. As a result, Mobley’s usage rate is up 15%, and he’s scoring a career-high 18 points per game. match.

It was part of a larger overall strategy that Atkinson sought to implement. His team had elite perimeter scorers in Mitchell and Garland (both in the top 15 in 3-pointers made) and elite indoor scorers in Allen and Mobley (both in the top five in dunks). And in between a number of players who could connect them.

“I knew from the beginning that this was a group that liked each other and enjoyed playing with each other,” Atkinson said. “We have good passers and good connectors. I like that word, connectors. Ty (Jerome) is a good connector, Georges Niang is a good connector, Dean Wade is a connector. So you have your big scorers, but the guys around they can pass the ball and that’s what you see, the ball really moves.

JEROME AND DELIVERED are both having the best seasons of their careers in bench roles, and on Sunday, Jerome lit up the Hornets, hitting a career high with 24 points while starting in place of Mitchell. Wade can defend both forward spots and centers depending on the matchup. Strus was the Cavs’ no. 1 long range shooter last season and he hasn’t even played yet due to an ankle injury.

The Cavs’ depth, their offensive speed and Mobley’s continued development have blended together — huge ticks in Atkinson’s plan — in ways that have exceeded even the team’s expectations.

Atkinson admitted that he doesn’t think the Cavs can continue to run like this on offense and expects the shooting percentages to cool closer to the average. But in the same breath, he pointed out that the Cavs’ shooting quality is exceptional almost every night.

Mitchell, who is headed for a sixth consecutive All-Star season, has found himself in a similar position.

He has been on three teams that have won more than 50 games in Utah and Cleveland and still hasn’t seen the conference finals. He warns his teammates to keep thinking big, but he can’t help but feel the moment himself.

“It’s great to be a part of history. You don’t want to take it for granted,” Mitchell said. “At the end of the day, though, it will continue to be this team the whole (season). It’s great, we’re winning, the atmosphere is great. But will we be this team in January, February, March and April? That has been my message.”