Kenny Atkinson’s name landed in a tough neighborhood on ESPN’s latest coaching pressure list.
The Cavaliers coach checked in fifth among the NBA coaches facing the most pressure to win in the 2026-27 season, according to a ranking compiled Thursday by ESPN’s Ben Golliver. Atkinson joined a top five that started with Philadelphia’s Nick Nurse at No. 1, followed by Houston’s Ime Udoka, San Antonio’s Mitch Johnson and Denver’s David Adelman.
Golliver’s case for Atkinson was blunt. He wrote that the Cavaliers “have specialized in crash landings,” a nod to how Cleveland’s last two postseason runs ended.
That’s the backdrop for a coach who just delivered one of the best regular seasons in franchise history. In 2024-25, Atkinson’s first year in Cleveland, the Cavaliers went 64-18, grabbed the East’s top seed and watched him collect NBA Coach of the Year honors with 59 first-place votes.
But the playoff results haven’t matched the regular-season success. The Indiana Pacers knocked Cleveland out in five games in the second round.
Last season, the Cavaliers finished 52-30 and entered the postseason as the East’s No. 4 seed. They opened by beating the Toronto Raptors in seven games, then pushed through a dramatic conference semifinal against top-seeded Detroit.
After dropping the first two games on the road, Cleveland stormed back and finished the series with a 125-94 Game 7 win in Detroit on May 17.
That victory sent the Cavaliers to the conference finals for the first time since 2018, and without LeBron James for the first time since 1992. The New York Knicks then swept them out of the series.
Even with that playoff disappointment hanging over the team, Cleveland has doubled down on the current core. Donovan Mitchell agreed July 7 to a four-year, $273 million extension with a player option on the final season.
James Harden declined a $42.3 million player option for 2026-27 and later re-signed on a three-year, $97 million deal announced by the Cavaliers on Sept. 8.
Harden arrived from the LA Clippers in a Feb. 4 trade that sent Darius Garland the other way. In 26 regular-season games with Cleveland, the 2018 MVP averaged 20.5 points and 7.7 assists.
He turned 37 on Aug. 26.
The roster churn didn’t stop there. Peyton Watson joined Cleveland in August as part of a five-team trade that sent Max Strus to the Clippers and an unprotected 2031 first-round pick to Denver.
Watson, the 30th overall pick in the 2022 draft, signed a four-year, $88 million contract. He started 40 games for the Nuggets last season and posted career highs of 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists.
There’s also plenty of money tied up in the frontcourt. Golliver noted that Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen will combine to make $78 million this season.
Cleveland opens the regular season Thursday, Oct. 22, in Philadelphia against Nurse and the 76ers at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
The home opener follows on Oct. 24 against the Brooklyn Nets at 7:30 p.m. ET.
In Other News...
Kenny Atkinson Is Challenging The Cavs In One Crucial Way
The Cavaliers have taken their preseason work overseas, using training camp in Malaga, Spain, as more than just a chance to get shots up and legs under them. Kenny Atkinson has framed the trip as a test of adaptation, with the staff leaning into team bonding, scrimmaging, conditioning and mental drills as Cleveland tries to build a sharper foundation before the season begins. Peyton Watson and the rest of the group are getting a very different kind of camp than the usual routine back home.
What makes the setup notable is the emphasis on the part of the game that can be easy to overlook in October: how a team responds when the environment changes and the work gets uncomfortable. Atkinson has made mental performance a priority in Malaga, and the Cavaliers are trying to turn that into camaraderie and resilience as they prepare for what comes next. The real question is how much of that edge carries over once the trip ends and the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]
James Harden Just Added An Unexpected Twist To Clevelands Future
During the Cavaliers training camp in Spain, James Harden gave a glimpse of how he sees the later stages of his career, saying he has interest in eventually playing basketball in Europe or Spain. It was an interesting note to surface while Cleveland was working overseas, especially coming from a player who only recently committed to the team on a three-year contract and appears locked in on the present.
For now, the message is less about departure than possibility. Harden did not offer a timeline or suggest anything is imminent, but the idea of a future overseas stint adds a different layer to his Cleveland tenure and gives the Cavs something else to think about as they move through camp abroad. [Read more 🡒]
Donovan Mitchell Just Added Real Heat To Cavaliers Opening Night
Donovan Mitchell has become the face of Clevelands next chapter, and now he has already put a sharper edge on opening night. After LeBron James chose to sign a two-year contract with the Philadelphia 76ers instead of returning to Cleveland, Mitchell referred to him as the enemy, a comment that instantly gave the Cavaliers season opener a little extra bite.
Mitchell was brought in before the 2022-23 season and has since locked in his long-term future with a four-year, $273 million extension, so this is very much his team now. Cleveland will open the season with Mitchell in the lineup against James 76ers, a matchup that already carries the kind of storyline the NBA likes to package and fans in Cleveland will not need much convincing to circle on the calendar. [Read more 🡒]