The Cleveland Cavaliers will reportedly have their fifth confirmed head coaching interview on Sunday, with this being with San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Ime Udoka, and they were also reportedly given permission to interview another Spurs assistant coach, Ettore Messina, for the same position.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are getting things kicked into full gear when it comes to their head coaching search.
As of now, Cleveland has conducted four interviews for the position, of which is vacant due to the team and former head coach Larry Drew mutually parting ways shortly the 2018-19 season (where the team finished 19-63, per NBA.com) for the team ended (as was reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania).
At this point, Cleveland first interviewed Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Jamahl Mosley and Miami Heat assistant coach Juwan Howard (according to Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor), and then Cleveland interviewed former Memphis Grizzlies head coach J.B. Bickerstaff on Tuesday (according to the Associated Press’ Tom Withers), and on Friday, Cleveland interviewed Utah Jazz assistant coach Alex Jensen, according to Fedor.
Now, a fifth name will be added to the list of those interviewed for the head coaching job, in that being San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Ime Udoka, as was reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, and according to Fedor in the aforementioned article, that interview will be on Sunday.
Additionally, the New York Times’ Marc Stein noted that Cleveland requested permission to interview another Spurs assistant coach, Ettore Messina, for the team’s head coaching position, too.
The Cavaliers have secured permission to interview Ettore Messina and Ime Udoka -- two of Gregg Popovich's top aides in San Antonio -- for the Cleveland coaching vacancy, according to league sources
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) May 4, 2019
Fedor touched on Udoka’s qualifications in his previously mentioned piece, which definitely seem to fit the player development mold the Cleveland Cavaliers are looking for in their search seemingly more than anything.
"“Known for his ability to connect with players, Udoka was instrumental in LaMarcus Aldridge’s decision to join the Spurs in free agency. Udoka also played part in Kawhi Leonard’s evolution into superstar, often going to San Diego in the summer to work with Leonard. In 2013 and 2014, Udoka coached the Spurs at the Las Vegas Summer League.”"
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Udoka is reportedly well-respected and appeared in seven seasons in the NBA (per Basketball Reference) and as Sam Amico of Amico Hoops noted, Udoka “has been an assistant on Gregg Popovich’s staff with the Spurs since 2012.”
Being on the bench with Pop that long has to prove that the 41-year-old Udoka is doing something right, and according to Amico, “Udoka interviewed with the Detroit Pistons last summer,” further proving that he’s likely on the radar of other teams around the league for a head coaching position down the road, and maybe that’ll end up being the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Back to Stein’s report, the Cavaliers also were given permission to meet with the previously noted Messina for the team’s head coaching position, who is also reportedly well-respected.
Messina has been on San Antonio’s staff since the 2014-15 season (per Basketball Reference), and as CavsNation’s Paul John Rivera hit on, he’s “a high-profile assistant coach, having interviewed for the head coaching position with several teams in the past.”
Rivera would note how Messina “once interviewed with the Los Angeles Lakers several years ago and was reportedly a strong candidate for the Sacramento Kings coaching vacancy last month.”
As a side note, Fedor added that Cleveland has “also requested permission to interview Denver [Nuggets] assistants Jordi Fernandez and Wes Unseld Jr. as well as Portland assistants Nate Tibbetts and David Vanterpool.”
I’ve often detailed (along with our own Corey Casey) how with the way the Cleveland Cavaliers are headed with their focus on player development centered around pieces such as Collin Sexton, Cedi Osman, Ante Zizic and others, bringing in a coach, such as Fernandez, Unseld or Jensen, along with potentially Tibbetts/Vanterpool, and perhaps Udoka (with the way he’s reportedly helped Leonard, for example) would seem to make sense.
We’ll see what Cavs general manager Koby Altman and the organization ultimately do, but it seems that they are at least heading down the right path.