Cavs Insider

WATCH: Donovan Mitchell Chats With New Cavs Head Coach Kenny Atkinson

A contingent of Cavaliers front office personnel are visiting Mitchell's camp in Los Angeles

Spencer German

Jan 15, 2020; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson reacts during the second quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 15, 2020; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson reacts during the second quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports / Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
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The Cavaliers officially announced the hiring of Kenny Atkinson as their next head coach on Friday. Hours later, Cleveland's new head man was part of a contingent of team personnel meeting with star guard Donovan Mitchell out in Los Angeles.

A video shared by NBA writer Tomer Azarly showed Mitchell and the newly minted head coach Atkinson chopping it up for the first time as part of the same team. Azarly noted that Cavs president of basketball operations Koby Altman was also present, although not featured in the video.

Mitchell is currently hosting his "Spida Elite Camp" out in the City of Angels, showcasing some of the top high school talents in the country in front of NBA scouts and team executives. As Brian Windhorst told ESPN Cleveland this week though, the Cavaliers presence at the camp is likely to be about more than just scouting future prospects.

With NBA free agency set to open on Sunday night at 6 p.m., the next major order of offseason business for the WIne and Gold is trying to finalize a max extension with Mitchell. As things stand right now, the 27-year-old guard is entering the final year of his current deal, but he's eligible for a four-year, $209 million max extension this offseason.

The Cavs brass, with Atkinson now in toe, is hopeful to potentially gain some momentum on those talks with Mitchell this weekend. Should the two sides consummate an agreement in the coming days it would allow Altman to start figuring out what the rest of their offseason plans look like just in time for the new league year next week.

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Spencer German

SPENCER GERMAN

Spencer German is a contributor to the Northeast Ohio cluster of sites, including Cavs Insider, Cleveland Baseball Insider and most notably Browns Digest. He also works as a fill-in host on Cleveland Sports Radio, 92.3 The Fan, one of the Browns radio affiliate stations in Cleveland. Despite being a Cleveland transplant, Spencer has enjoyed making Northeast Ohio home ever since he attended college locally. 

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