Johnnie Bryant and Donovan Mitchell will be back together again.
On Saturday afternoon, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Cleveland Cavaliers will be hiring Bryant as the associate head coach on new head coach Kenny Atkinson’s staff.
The move brings Bryant and Mitchell back together on the Cavs after they formed a close relationship during their shared days with the Utah Jazz from 2017-2020.
In 2020, Bryant was hired by the New York Knicks to be their associate head coach under Tom Thibodeau as they were gearing up to try to acquire Mitchell before the Jazz traded him to Cleveland in 2022.
At the end of May, Bryant was reportedly in the running to be named the Cavs’ head coach, replacing the fired J.B. Bickerstaff (who has since been hired as the head coach of the Detroit Pistons), before Atkinson was ultimately hired for the position.
Last week, Mitchell and the Cavs agreed to a three-year contract extension worth $150.3 million, with Mitchell getting a player option for the 2027-28 season (he will be under contract for the 2024-25 season at $35.4 million before the extension kicks in).
That was a relief for Cleveland and its fans, as they risked either having to trade him this offseason or see him become a free agent next summer and losing him for nothing after the Cavs gave up a huge haul to acquire him from the Jazz.
Bryant, 38, hails from Oakland, California, and played college basketball at the University of Utah from 2004-2007. He joined the Jazz’s coaching staff in 2012 and remained until he was hired by the Knicks.