Brian Windhorst: Avery Johnson 'Intriguing' Option for Cavaliers Head Coach

Point guard Collin Sexton is a building block for the Cleveland Cavaliers after they selected him with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2018 draft, and they are reportedly interested in reconnecting him to his college coach.

According to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com, Alabama head coach Avery Johnson is "being discussed" as a potential candidate to replace the fired Tyronn Lue in Cleveland. Johnson coached Sexton during the latter's one season in the collegiate ranks, which Windhorst noted makes him "all the more intriguing" to Cavaliers executives.

Windhorst also pointed out Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert has previously looked toward the collegiate game for head coaching vacancies and offered Tom Izzo, Bill Self and John Calipari.

Johnson has coached the Crimson Tide the last three years and improved his win total each season. He is 57-46 overall and led the program to the NCAA tournament in 2018 for the first time since 2012.

He is also quite familiar with the NBA game. The former point guard played 16 seasons for the Seattle SuperSonics, Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, Golden State Warriors and Dallas Mavericks, and he was also the head coach of the Mavericks for four seasons from 2005 through 2008 and led them to the 2006 NBA Finals. Johnson coached the New Jersey and Brooklyn Nets for three seasons as well and has a 254-186 overall record in his professional coaching career.

The Cavaliers would surely welcome a winning percentage like that after a 1-6 start following LeBron James' departure to the Los Angeles Lakers.

The negative headlines extend beyond their record, as Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic reported there was a "clear disconnect between Tyronn Lue, owner Dan Gilbert and GM Koby Altman" regarding splitting up the playing time between younger players and veterans who helped lead the team to the last four NBA Finals.

What's more, Larry Drew said he wants to just be seen as the "voice" of the team and not the interim coach, per Joe Vardon of The Athletic, even though Cleveland named him as the interim coach after firing Lue.

The Cavaliers are staring at a rebuilding project, and Johnson would give them someone with a successful track record as an NBA coach who has a connection to their top-10 pick.