CLEVELAND, Ohio — When an NBA team loses three assistant coaches in one offseason, the replacements aren’t just warm bodies to fill sideline seats — they’re strategic pieces in a championship puzzle.
The latest Wine and Gold Talk podcast pulls back the curtain on the Cavaliers’ hiring of Jawad Williams, revealing a thoughtful process driven by trusted relationships and specific skill needs.
“We know the Cavs lost Jordan Ott, they lost DeMarre Carroll, and they’ve lost Bryan Tibaldi. Three assistant coaches on Kenny Atkinson’s staff,” explained podcast host Ethan Sands, setting the stage for understanding the voids Cleveland needed to fill.
What makes this hiring particularly fascinating is the behind-the-scenes connection that led to Williams joining the Cavaliers.
As cleveland.com Cavs beat reporter, Chris Fedor detailed on the podcast, this wasn’t simply a resume-based hire but one rooted in trusted relationships.
“Mike Brown, I’m told, gave the highest glowing recommendation of Jawad Williams,” Fedor revealed. “When Mike Brown is going to go to bat for a guy like Jawad, Kenny’s going to listen.”
That recommendation carries significant weight given Brown and Atkinson’s history working together with the Warriors.
But the relationship web extends even further, tracing back to St. Edward High School connections between Williams, Brown’s son Elijah, and longtime St. Ed’s coach Eric Flannery.
This hiring illuminates how NBA coaching staffs are built on trust networks as much as basketball acumen. It’s not just what you know, but who vouches for what you know.
Beyond the personal connections, Williams brings two critical elements the Cavaliers lost with previous departures: player development expertise and the former player perspective.
“I just think with a guy like Jawad’s background that gives you so much currency with players when you can speak from experience,” columnist Jimmy Watkins explained on the podcast. “I think it’s a different tongue of the same language that former pro players will speak, that they understand each other a little bit better.”
This “different dialect” of basketball understanding is precisely what makes former players valuable on coaching staffs. Williams played with LeBron James in Cleveland, competed overseas, and brings a perspective that technical coaching knowledge alone can’t replicate.
The strategic nature of this hire extends to Williams’ player development background—beginning in Japan and continuing with the Sacramento Kings. This expertise becomes particularly valuable considering Jordan Ott’s departure, as Ott was instrumental in Evan Mobley’s development into an All-Star and All-NBA player.
“We talk so much about fit when it’s players, but the coach has to be the right fit, too,” Fedor emphasized on the podcast, highlighting how coaching hires require the same careful consideration as player acquisitions.
For Cavaliers fans looking to understand the methodical approach behind the organization’s coaching decisions, the Wine and Gold Talk podcast provides invaluable insights into how championship-caliber teams build their support systems.
The Williams hiring isn’t just filling a vacancy — it’s a calculated move to maintain development momentum for a team with title aspirations.
Here’s the podcast for this week:
_Note: Artificial intelligence was used to help generate this story from the Cleveland Wine and Gold Talk Podcast by cleveland.com. Visitors to cleveland.com have asked for more text stories based on website podcast discussions._