James Borrego, Kenny Atkinson and Micah Nori have advanced to the in-person interview phase as the Cleveland Cavaliers continue their search for a new head coach.

Borrego completed a visit with hte Cavaliers on Tuesday.

Atkinson and Nori are also scheduled to interview this week.

The Cavaliers are also conducting interviews with candidates such as Johnnie Bryant and Dave Joerger over Zoom. 

During a recent episode of The Pat McAfee Show, the topic of Jimmy Butler's future came up. NBA insider Shams Charania gave some insight into where Butler and the Miami Heat are at.

"My sense is Jimmy Butler does not want to be anywhere but Miami," Charania told Pat McAfee. "Sense is that he loves it in Miami. But again, he is extension-eligible this year. There are multiple teams out there that would give him an extension, and I think this is something that we'll see play out over the next month or so. The Heat don't want to trade him; he wants an extension. Will they give him an extension? That's the question."

Butler is reportedly looking for a two-year extension worth over $112 million. It's unclear if the Heat will offer that amount to the veteran wing. The Philadelphia 76ers have been rumored to have interest in a reunion with Butler, which could via a trade and eventual extension. Philadelphia projects to have over $60 million in cap space this offseason.

There is some uncertainty over whether the Los Angeles Lakers had always targeted Dan Hurley to be their head coach, or if it was a new development after his extension talks with UConn stalled and how serious he ever was about leaving for the NBA.

Before the start of the Hurley talks, the Lakers were reportedly close to settling on JJ Redick for the job.

"It had been apparent that JJ Redick was separating himself as as one of the front runners, but obviously he is part of the NBA Finals coverage right now, and the feeling was that at some point after The Finals, these sides would reconvene and actually do something to bring him out to L.A. and do a more formal meeting," said Shams Charania on the Pat McAfee Show.

"So last week, really, around Wednesday of last week, the Lakers turned their attention to Dan Hurley and he has he was not mentioned from the start of this search as far as going after."

The Hurley extension talks were reportedly a factor in the timing of the Lakers' pursuit.

"He was in the midst of contract extension negotiations after Memorial Day," said Charania. "They've been going back and forth, and the Lakers, you know for some reason, somehow felt like there was an opening with Dan Hurley. And around the league what is now being termed to me is like really 'a Hail Mary offer' to Dan Hurley. They come in six years, $70 million, so he was around $5 million or $6 million at UConn, they're bumping that up two times to around $12 million per year.

"But Dan Hurley clearly, clearly did not want to really leave UConn and he chose to stay at the end of the day. And he's taking $20 million less to stay at UConn to continue to build what he's building."

Charania added he believes Hurley benefits with this story as a public demonstration of his commitment to UConn in the near-term and he will have future opportunities for the NBA.

"What better way to tell recruits than to say I turned down the Lakers job for $70 million, so Dan Hurley obviously a major, major winner through all this, and deservingly so. I think you guys had me on around the final four around the tournament and we talked about Dan Hurley and how special he is as a coach.

"And I think, listen, at the end there's questions around the league as to whether that was a genuine interest for Dan Hurley was this a genuine part of the process, or was this simply a leverage move for Dan Hurley, but clearly he gets his money. He gets his bag."

The Milwaukee Bucks are expected to hire Greg Buckner as an assistant coach.

Buckner was most recently with the Cleveland Cavaliers under J.B. Bickerstaff.

Doc Rivers also added Darvin Ham to his coaching staff this week.

Dan Hurley ultimately decided to remain at UConn, turning down an opportunity to coach the Los Angeles Lakers. Hurley's reasoning for the decision was explained by Adrian Wojnarowski.

"Start with the opportunity Dan Hurley has at UConn," said Wojnarowski on Get Up on Tuesday morning. "As you said, to do something that hasn't been done since John Wooden's UCLA teams, that's win a third straight NCA Championship. Probably never have that chance again as a coach. This is a unique time in his life and his career. That's number one.

"Number two, Dan Hurley really studied everything that was re required to be an NBA coach and the adjustments he was going to have to make. As much as the Lakers wanted what Dan Hurley brought, his program building his player development, the way he can forge relationships with players. You know the great X's and O' acumen. He's running a lot of stuff in college that's been intriguing to NBA coaches who they want to steal from a little bit. or all of that, Dan Hurley was going to have to adjust and knew that he had to be ready to make the adjustments in temperament, in practice time, all the things that come with being an NBA coach from college basketball. And, ultimately, Dan Hurley wasn't there yet on doing that.

"So they negotiated out a number almost $12 million a year it would have put him just behind [Gregg] Popovich, Steve Kerr, Ty Lou, coaches who have a combined 12 NBA championships and more than double what he was making at Connecticut. He had negotiated a new deal for himself with his agent weeks ago that's going to be, I'm told, kind of in the $8 million plus range. It'll put him among the highest paid coaches in college basketball, but they never negotiated off that, or leveraged off that with the Lakers. The Lakers was a singular moment for Dan Hurley and it wasn't about getting his UConn number up. It already was up and that was before UConn even knew about the Laker conversations.

"I think in the end for Dan Hurley, he wasn't ready to do the job. I think he loved what he heard in L.A. from Rob Pelinka, Jeanie Buss. He loved the idea of having Anthony Davis, LeBron James, and the group they have in the short-term. And then working with Pelinka over time with a six-year deal to draft players to find what Rob Pelinka told him would be Hurley-type players for the Lakers. He was going to have a hand in all of that

"But ultimately, for Dan Hurley, at 51 years old, wasn't ready to make that move. And I think there was never really an instance in the last days of this where Dan Hurley told the Lakers, 'Hey, if you hit this number I am coming.' He wasn't ready to come and it wasn't about what the number was.

"Listen, the Lakers were taking some risk too that Hurley could make this adjustment that as great as he is that he was going to be a fully formed NBA coach and that offer you know certainly put him in the upper echelon of NBA coaches, so maybe this isn't as much about the money as a lot of people were making when they saw it the initial numbers they came out yesterday."

Yuta Watanabe is close to a deal with the Chiba Jets of Japan's B.League. Watanabe has spent the last six seasons in the NBA, but announced earlier this offseason that he was planning to play in Japan for next season.

Watanabe has played for the Memphis Grizzlies, Toronto Raptors, Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns in his NBA career. Last season, he signed with the Suns on a two-year deal, before being traded to the Grizzlies mid-season. Watanabe has a $2.6 million player option for next season, which he'll have to decline to sign with the Jets.

Watanabe will play with Japan at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. He'll then have a homecoming next season as the biggest Japanese star to play in the country's top league.

Former University of Washington head coach Mike Hopkins is joining Mike Budenholzer's staff as an assistant coach with the Phoenix Suns. Hopkins and Washington parted ways following last season.

Hopkins was the Huskies head coach for the past seven years. Overall, he's coached in college basketball for over 30 years.

Budenholzer is putting together his staff, as he takes over the Suns. Former NBA head coach David Fizdale and longtime NBA assistant coach Chad Forcier will both be part of Budenholzer's staff in Phoenix.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are in the market for a center in free agency. That search has them focused on unrestricted free agent Isaiah Hartenstein of the New York Knicks.

The Knicks have Early Bird rights for Hartenstein, which limits them to offering him a starting salary around $17 million for next season. The Thunder project to have $35 million in cap space to offer a free agent.

One source said Oklahoma City's interest in Hartenstein is "real." A suggested path could be to offer Hartenstein a larger initial salary than New York can, but on a short-term deal of two years. That would leave the Thunder with flexibility moving forward, in case the signing didn't work out.

James Borrego will meet with the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Borrego also remains a "significant name" in the Lakers' coaching search. 

Brian Windhorst reported that Borrego was gaining momentum with the Cavs. 

The Lakers plan to have a coach in place before the upcoming draft. 

J.J. Redick and the Los Angeles Lakers have had minimal contact, sources tell Brian Windhorst of ESPN. 

Rumors connecting Redick to the Lakers have been abundant in recent weeks, but he has avoided discussing it publicly while the franchise also pursued Danny Hurley with a lucrative offer.

The Lakers' strong pursuit of Hurley signals they are not necessarily love with the idea of hiring Redick or the other known candidate James Borrego. 

Redick is currently broadcasting the NBA Finals for ESPN.