The Los Angeles Lakers have requested and received permission to interview Golden State Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson to be their head coach.

The fifth candidate to interview for the L.A. gig, Atkinson joins Bucks assistant Darvin Ham, Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin, former Blazers coach Terry Stotts and former Warriors coach Mark Jackson.

Atkinson was a Knicks assistant from 2008-2012, a Hawks assistant from 2012-2016, then spent three and a half seasons coaching the Brooklyn Nets, was a Clippers assistant 2020-2021 before landing with the Warriors last year.

The Portland Trail Blazers are finally making the decision many expected them to make a full offseason ago by preparing to get rid of coach Terry Stotts, according to The Athletic‘s Shams Charania and Sam Amick. According to The Athletic, if Stotts can’t “pull a rabbit out of his hat” with “a playoff miracle,” Portland is expected to opt for a new coach.

This move makes complete sense, as the Trail Blazers have been stuck in the mud for quite some time now. Although they’ve been a playoff team since the 2012-2013 season, or Stotts’ first year, they’ve never reached the finals. They’re ceiling appeared to have been in the 2018-2019 season, in which they reached the Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors, only to fall in a sweep.

The Athletic also reports that Stotts has less player support now than he did in years past. He’s seemingly lost the locker room, which is integral to maintain as a head coach. Players like Damian Lilliard, who were outspoken in years past in support of their head coach, have gone silent amidst the team’s average season.

The Blazers defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night to move to 37–29. They are currently tied with the Los Angeles Lakers for the No. 6 seed, but the Lakers have the tiebreaker. That means that if the season ended today, the Blazers would be tasked with playing in the play-in tournament as the No. 7 seed.

When the season concludes and the team potentially decides to fire Stotts and go in another direction, they should go all in on a rebuild and trade Lillard and CJ McCollum. This team has reached its ceiling and needs to start fresh. The Trail Blazers should consider proven coaches as Stotts’ replacement as well, including Jason Kidd, Nate McMillan, Dave Joerger and Chauncey Billups. Kenny Atkinson could be a great hire for a rebuilding team as well. Stotts has nothing to be ashamed of with his tenure, as he recorded nearly 400 wins. It was an excellent run, but the Blazers need a new man on the bench.

The first year of a long-term plan to acquire two injury riddled superstars has hit a roadblock after Nets general manager Sean Marks announced that Kyrie Irving underwent shoulder surgery Thursday and will be sidelined for the rest of the season.

“He’s obviously upset about this,” Marks told the New York Times. “We’re here to support him, support the process, moving forward with him.” Irving appeared in just 20 games this season, but with stats consisting of 27.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game on 47% shooting, the organization is hopeful he can regain full health for next season as Kevin Durant returns following a ruptured achilles tendon injury that he sustained in the 2019 NBA Finals. In January, Irving reportedly took a cortisone shot to relieve pain and delay surgery but Marks didn’t want to take any chances.

“It gets to the point where you say enough is enough,” Marks said. “Again, it goes to long-term health, and the best prognosis right now is to shut him down and get this taken care of once and for all.”

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Brooklyn knew this season was more about getting Irving comfortable with coach Kenny Atkinson‘s coaching schemes and philosophy while adjusting to new teammates in order to prepare for next season when the team will likely be a title contender.

“We’re looking at the big picture here,” Marks said. “We’re not looking at the next two, three months. We’re looking at the next two, three years.” Without Irving, the team is 13-13 stemming from the exceptional play of Spencer Dinwiddie, a versatile 6’5” point guard who is averaging 21 points, 3.5 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game. Other solid players on the roster include Joe Harris who averages 13.8 points per game shooting 40.4% from three point range, and fourth-year swingman Caris Levert, who scored a career-high 37 points in early February is starting to shake the rust off from last years injuries.

The big picture for Brooklyn is building a team that will compete for championships over the next 4-5 years. If the team can stay healthy, there’s no doubt the Nets will be a force to be reckoned with.