The Cleveland Cavaliers are still doing their diligence before deciding who should be the team’s next head coach. According to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, the Cavaliers conducted an interview with Denver Nuggets assistant Jordi Fernandez this weekend, and will meet with Nuggets assistant Wes Unseld Jr. on Saturday night.
The team will also interview Portland Trail Blazers coach David Vanterpool while in Denver, though his inclusion in Cleveland’s search was previously reported earlier this month.
Jordi Fernandez, 36, was hired as an assistant by the Nuggets before the 2016-17 season. His first NBA gig came in 2009 as a player development specialist with the Cleveland Cavaliers, who sent him down to the G-League’s Canton Charge to be an assistant four years later. After just one season with the Charge, Fernandez, a native of Spain, took over as the team’s head coach for the next two years.
Unseld, meanwhile, is Mike Malone’s top assistant with the Nuggets. He came to the team in 2015-16, and has since been credited with helping Denver craft an improved defense and the development of the team’s impressive young core. His father, Wes, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1988, and 10 years later named one of the NBA’s 50 greatest players of all time.
Cleveland fired Tyronn Lue early in the 2018-19 season and parted ways with interim coach Larry Drew at the conclusion of the regular season. The team has reportedly already conducted interviews or will conduct interviews with Miami Heat assistant Juwan Howard, Dallas Mavericks assistant Jamahl Mosley, Utah Jazz assistant Alex Jensen, San Antonio Spurs assistants Ettore Messina and Ime Udoka.
