SARASOTA, Fla. — In early July, Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson flew out to Los Angeles — the offseason training ground for both Evan Mobley and De’Andre Hunter.
It’s a usual occurrence — an opportunity to reconnect while also getting a close-up of their workout sessions. But in this case, the reasoning went a bit deeper.
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While Atkinson had more than a year to form bonds, build trust and learn about various Cavaliers, including mainstays Mobley, Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Max Strus and the others, that same opportunity didn’t exist with Hunter — the trade deadline