After Friday night’s preseason win over the Orlando Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue revealed that he may try to bring Kendrick Perkins on as a member of the team’s coaching staff if he doesn’t make the final cut and ends up being unsigned by other teams.
Via Joe Vardon of cleveland.com:
“We’ve already talked about that,” Lue said after the Cavs’ 113-106 win over the Orlando Magic. “I think Perk was great because he holds everybody accountable. He plays the right way, tries to do the right thing every single day.
“You need a guy like that around. A guy who’s going to be the right person for the team, not worrying about himself, not being caught up in all his own personal things and will help the team out in any way he can.”
Perkins, now 32 years of age, is well-known throughout the NBA community as a tough-as-nail enforcer who always has his teammates’ back. He’s also a good friend of both coach Lue, most notably from their time together with the Boston Celtics in 2009 where Lue was an assistant coach, and LeBron James.
“Perk,” as the former first-round pick in the 2003 Draft is known, was given a spot on the Cavs’ training camp roster. However, given their limited roster space, Vardon reports that Perkins will likely be cut this weekend.
Over the course of his 13 seasons of NBA service, Perkins, an NBA champion and native of the Lonestar State, racked up averages of 5.4 points on 53 percent shooting from the field, 5.8 rebounds, 1.0 assist, and 1.2 blocks per game.
Whether or not Perkins will indeed be given a spot on the Cavs’ coaching staff remains to be seen. With the start of the 2017-18 regular season just four days away, decisions will need to be made sooner rather than later. And if he eventually gets his first coaching gig as part of coach Lue’s staff, expect his former teammates to hear more mouthfuls from Big P himself.