Cleveland Cavaliers Next Head Coach Odds: Borrego Favorite to Replace Bickerstaff

The Cleveland Cavaliers are in a difficult bind, with All-NBA talent Donovan Mitchell in a small market on an underachieving team. 

While injuries sabotaged much of this season for Cleveland, results weren't up to snuff. The team canned head coach JB Bickerstaff on Thursday, prompting books to launch Cavs next coach odds as the job hunt begins. 

The candidates are a solid mix of name veterans and fresh faces, tasked with the tall order of maximizing The Land's rich but maligned talent. 

Let's check out the NBA odds to be the next Cavs coach. 

Cleveland Cavaliers next coach odds

Next Coach	Odds
James Borrego	+300
Sam Cassell	+400
Kenny Atkinson	+500
JJ Redick	+600
David Adelman	+700
Chris Quinn	+800
Phil Handy	+900
Terry Stotts	+1,000
Frank Vogel	+1,400
Adrian Griffin	+1,600

Cleveland Cavaliers coaching situation

It's unfortunate the Bickerstaff was let go, caught between a rock and a hard place after a season where he spent months among the Coach of the Year odds favorites.

Not only did he effectively steer the Cavaliers to a 3-seed through a litany of injuries (Cleveland blatantly tanked the final Game of the season to draw the fourth seed and first-round matchup with the Magic, itself a master stroke by Bickerstaff), but the Cavs' playoff demise was also tainted by the critical absences of Donovan Mitchell, Jarrett Allen, and Caris LeVert.

Still, Cleveland ostensibly has four All-Star caliber players and has to keep Mitchell in the title chase if it's going to keep Mitchell at all. League-wide rumblings of the star's potential departure (next season is his last locked into this contract before a 2025-26 player option) are sure to force the Cavaliers' hand.

With plenty of assets that could be both valued and more functional elsewhere, it's unlikely this coaching change is the only move the Cavs make this summer, but nailing it without panicking (I see you, Milwaukee) will be a crucial framework for whatever on-court moves are about to materialize.

Favorites to become next Cavs head coach

James Borrego (+300)

A disciple of the revered Popovich coaching tree, Borrego served as an assistant with the Spurs for a decade across two stints before sticking his head out as a head coach with a deeply flawed Hornets franchise from 2018-2022.

While Borrego never made the playoffs with Charlotte, his reputation was that of a solid coach in a difficult situation, handicapped by both injuries and questionable front-office decisions. 

A shuffling of the deck by the Hornets was inevitable, but it was equally probable that Borrego would land himself another gig eventually. Whether the pressure-cooker stakes of Cleveland's attempt to hold onto Mitchell is the ideal scenario remains to be seen. 

Sam Cassell (+400)

Widely touted as one of the next-in-line assistants to land a head coaching gig, Cassell brings not only years of experience on the bench of successful squads (he's been with playoff teams virtually his whole tenure as an assistant), but the pedigree of an All-Star and three-time champion as a player.

Cassell may add another ring to his fist if the Celtics take down the NBA title this season, and it would be the perfect launchpad for his foray into head coaching.

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Kenny Atkinson (+500)

A coach who probably should've been hired by now, Atkinson's a wily globetrotting veteran who was unfairly axed by the Nets after leading massively overachieving teams for several seasons when the KD/Kyrie coup demanded Steve Nash be hired (gee, how did that turn out?)

Since then, he's been an assistant with the Warriors, biding his time until his number's called by the next franchise that needs to get more than the sum of its parts out of the roster. 

Given the Cavaliers are currently concerned with doing precisely that, this could be his time. 

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