CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cleveland Cavaliers have received permission to interview Denver Nuggets assistant Wes Unseld Jr. for their head coaching vacancy, league sources confirmed to cleveland.com.

Unseld is the lead assistant for Mike Malone’s Nuggets, who are tied 1-1 with the Portland Trail Blazers in the Western Conference semifinals. Unseld, an assistant coach on Denver’s staff since the 2015-16 season, is considered the architect of the Nuggets’ top-10 defense and has been instrumental in the development of the Nuggets’ promising young core.

The Denver assistant, son of Hall of Fame center Wes Unseld, has been an NBA coach since 2005, when he got his start with the Washington Wizards. Unseld coached the Rising Stars Challenge during NBA All-Star Weekend in February.

Cleveland has interviewed three candidates for the open coaching gig already. Dallas assistant coach Jamahl Mosely and Miami assistant Juwan Howard met with Cavaliers brass early in the process. J.B. Bickerstaff, fired by the Memphis Grizzlies following the 2018-19 season, interviewed Tuesday. Bickerstaff told Sirius XM NBA Radio that he likes Cleveland’s future.

“I know the quality of people that they have there,” Bickerstaff said. “I’ll let my agent handle all the conversations between the teams and that type of stuff, but I think they have a group of people in the front office that are trying to do things the right way.”

The Cavs have scheduled an interview with Utah assistant Alex Jensen for Friday. Jensen, who spoke with Memphis on Tuesday, would become the fourth confirmed interview. The Cavs have also received permission from Portland to meet with assistants David Vanterpool and Nate Tibbetts. In the case of that tandem and Unseld, the Cavs will be patient and allow them to focus on their playoff responsibilities.

The Cavs parted ways with interim head coach Larry Drew after he led them to 19 wins, tied with the Phoenix Suns for the league’s second-worst record.

Get Cavs Insider texts in your phone from Chris Fedor: Cut through the clutter of social media and communicate directly with one of the NBA’s best beat reporters -- just like you would with your friends. It’s free for the month of May. Learn more and sign up here.