Cavs hire former NBA player as assistant coach

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Cavs have added another new coach.

Sources tell cleveland.com that former NBA forward DeMarre Carroll will be joining Kenny Atkinson’s staff. An 11-year NBA player, Carroll has spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach — first, in Milwaukee and then with the Los Angeles Lakers, where he coached alongside assistant Jordan Ott who Atkinson lured away as one of his top assistants earlier this week.

Like Ott, Carroll has deep ties to Atkinson.

Carroll spent two years playing for Atkinson in Brooklyn, serving as a part-time starter and veteran mentor for Cavs’ Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen. The 37-year-old Carroll also had a two-year stint in Atlanta during the middle of his playing career while Atkinson was one of the top assistants on Mike Budenholzer’s staff.

In 11 NBA seasons, playing for eight different teams, Carroll averaged 8.9 points and 4.2 rebounds.

Both Carroll and Ott are expected to be part of Cleveland’s summer league staff. Atkinson is likely to make a few other coaching additions ahead of summer league, which will begin July 12 in Las Vegas.

Atkinson, who coached in Brooklyn from 2016-2020 and compiled a 118-170 record, was hired as J.B. Bickerstaff’s replacement in late June, receiving a five-year contract. During his formal introduction, he spoke about having multiple assistants lined up to join him in Cleveland and how they will match with his vision for the franchise.

“Me and my staff are going to figure out what fits best,” Atkinson said. “There’s a lot of good things in place. There’s a great basketball identity in place, a great defensive identity. So we’re going to have to figure out where are we winning on the margins. What are the margins? Where can we get better? It starts with if every guy gets a little bit better, every individual gets a little bit better, that’s how you can make the next step. I think we’ll have a strong staff that’ll make the tactical adjustments that we need to make to move this thing forward.”

Ott and Carroll are the start of that.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported that Carroll will be joining the Cavs.