There are a lot of things that the Cleveland Cavaliers need to work on during their offseason. They have to know if they are able to retain Donovan Mitchell and estimate how much capital they have such that new players are able to come in through NBA Free Agency to help Evan Mobley and Co. Another key concern is their head coaching post that has been left open since JB Bickerstaff cleaned his desk. There is a certain need for the next Cavs head honcho to be battle-tested while also knowing how to handle young guys. Thankfully, Micah Nori under Chris Finch’s Minnesota Timberwolves system has that experience.
The Cavs have received permission to interview Micah Nori, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. He has had his pulse on the team for the longest time because he is a native of Ohio. Whether it was those early runs with Mark Price or the rise of the squad through LeBron James’ godly ascension, he has seen it all. If there were anyone who embodied Cavs basketball more and is qualified to lead this program as he can, they’d be lying.
Micah Nori is an in-demand coach in this NBA offseason. He had a fantastic year with the Timberwolves and just came up short of expectations when the Anthony Edwards-led squad crumbled against the Dallas Mavericks. Nonetheless, teams like the Los Angeles Lakers have publicly made their interest in acquiring him known. The Cavs and Lakers’ desire to make him their next head honcho does not go without merit.
Cavs and Timberwolves share a lot of similarities
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He has helped the Timberwolves’ young guns develop much more holistically. More importantly, Micah Nori helped orchestrate the team’s league-leading defense. The Cavs have all the personnel to replicate and even exceed the Rudy Gobert-anchored defense which clocked in at a 109 defensive rating. They also allowed the least points in the league as only 106 points per game came out of their opponents.
All of these are going to be very essential in fixing the Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley-led squad’s woes. For one, the play styles of both teams are not too different. They are defense-oriented rosters with some guys showing the ability to pop off offensively. For the Timberwolves, it was Anthony Edwards or Karl-Anthony Towns. Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland, on the other hand, were those types of guys for the Cavs.
Another similarity is that their rosters are constructed to run half-court sets. The Cavs were 22nd in pace last season. This meant that they were not running with their opponents well and needed to ease on getting fast breaks. The Timberwolves had an identical situation because they were 24th. Nori will definitely learn to find the sweet spot when it comes to getting Evan Mobley to set better screens. This is all while Donovan Mitchell is allowed to thrive.
The roster makeups of the Cavs and Timberwolves are all too similar. It goes the same for the type of personnel and the schemes that they run too. One might question if the Cavs need a drastic shakeup or if retaining the same scenarios with just a different coach would make things better.