Report: Cavs to interview Alex Jensen Friday for HC position

It was reported that the Cleveland Cavaliers will interview Utah Jazz assistant coach Alex Jensen for the team’s head coaching position on Friday.

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ head coaching search, as we’ve often touched on, is one that is so important for their coming years, and them taking their time in filling that role is a positive sign. At this point, Cleveland general manager Koby Altman and the organization have reportedly interviewed three candidates, and we’ve hit on the other reported names that project to realistically be involved in the search often here at KJG.

Those three candidates at this point in the search are Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Jamahl Mosley, Miami Heat assistant coach Juwan Howard (according to Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor), and as of Tuesday, the third candidate in that group was reportedly former Memphis Grizzlies head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, according to the Associated Press’  Tom Withers.

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Additionally, it was reported by the New York Times’ Marc Stein on April 30 that “Mosley is among the candidates Cleveland has already interviewed who is expected to advance to the next round in the Cavaliers’ search,” (per his league sources).

A fourth name will be added to the list of those who have been interviewed on Friday, according to a report from Fedor on Thursday, in Utah Jazz assistant coach Alex Jensen.

Initially, it was reported on April 25 by The Athletic’s Joe Vardon and Tony Jones that the Cavaliers were given permission to interview Jensen, and it’s good that Altman and company are formally seeing that request through, given Jensen’s reported extensive background in player development, as we’ve detailed here at KJG often as of late.

Fedor touched on how Jensen would seem to be a great candidate for what the Cleveland Cavaliers are looking for when it comes to their next head coach.

"“Jensen, who got his start as an assistant for mentor Rick Majerus at Saint Louis, was the first head coach of the Cavaliers’ G League affiliate Canton Charge. He was named Coach of the Year in 2013, his final season with the Charge before joining the Utah Jazz, where he has spent his entire NBA tenure. Jensen was elevated to Quin Snyder’s lead assistant in 2018 after Igor Kokoskov’s departure for Phoenix.Known for his defensive principles, attention to detail and player development, Jensen has helped Jazz center Rudy Gobert become one of the NBA’s best at the position. This Cavaliers coaching search has centered on candidates who thrive in that player development area — a must for one of the league’s youngest teams.”"

It was also reported by The Athletic’s Omari Sankofa (subscription required) that Jensen interviewed with the Grizzlies for their head coaching position on April 30, by the way.

From the sounds of it, Jensen, along with Denver Nuggets assistant coach, Jordi Fernandez, who also reportedly (per Fedor and Sam Amico of Amico Hoops) has an extensive background in player development and has had ringing endorsements as well (from our own Corey Casey recently, by the way) would seem to be what Cleveland should be going for in a head coach to lead their rebuild and aid in the further development of Collin Sexton, Cedi Osman, Ante Zizic and others, such as draft picks in the near future.

Bickerstaff, on the other hand, who has not proven himself to have much of a player development track record, does not, as we recently detailed.

Hopefully Altman and the Cleveland Cavaliers ultimately go with a candidate such as Jensen or Fernandez to help build up a winning culture (over a long-term time frame) related to better man and ball movement and more sound defensive practices, particularly in pick-and-roll coverage and in transition, as Cleveland had the worst defensive rating in league history last season since that metric has been recorded by Basketball Reference and had the second-lowest assist average in the league (per NBA.com).