What’s next for the Cleveland Cavaliers after firing JB Bickerstaff?

What’s next for the Cleveland Cavaliers after firing JB Bickerstaff?

[Music] and welcome back to the ucss studi Mikey McNuggets Jason Lloyd here we’re doing ultimate Cavs in studio because when we have breaking news well we got to hop on and talk about it we spent an hour on the show today Jason but it would not be appropriate for us to have a head coach get fired over the team that we have a dedicated podcast to and let’s not hop on said dedicated podcast and talk about it JB bicker staff there were Rumblings it took a week in one day the decision is now final the Cavs have parted ways with JB bicker staff the end of the day Jason it feels like there was the only move the team had to make unless they decided to go Rogue and say screw everyone else we’re doing it our way yeah no outside influences and we’re going to run it back but they decided to make a change I actually really would have respected that if they said everybody knock it off we where this we’re a good team we’re not making any changes the media block all that crap out we’re not addressing that stuff and and I’m talking about the story that we wrote obviously if they said we’re running this back guys shut up and go get back to work I actually I would would have really respected that it’s not how it typically goes in today’s NBA I wrote about it we talked about it on the show I don’t believe Kobe Alman wanted to fire JB I feel like he felt like he had no choice whether he did or not is another debate I don’t believe he felt like he had any other choice yeah it obviously took eight days from the end of the Cav Celtic series to the result we got today which tells you he didn’t really want to do it or it would happened the next day and and I tried saying that last week or you know earlier this week at the end of last week if they had a decision beforehand you know we all picked the Celtics to beat the Cavs the Cavs losing was not an upset that no one saw coming if they had thought prior to the series that JB bicker staff was over and done with he probably would have been fired the next day we saw Frank vulcal get fired as soon as the Suns lost the Timberwolves immediately gone we’ve seen other coaches get fired immediately this took eight days to figure out and it could be some travel it could have been uh decisions it could be Dan gilber being involved we don’t know why exactly it took eight days but the fact it did took eight days Jason to me at least that signals there was some sincere highlevel discussions over whether or not JB was the right guy to lead the Cavs to the promised land or not and eventually they came to the conclusion JB wasn’t that guy you I’m I’m this is not hyperbole I mean this you cannot ask for a better human being to represent your franchise than what JB bicker staff is and it’s hard to just dismiss that this isn’t a guy who is trying to go on some power play he’s not a guy who’s trying to go behind his front office’s back uh he’s not a guy who’s interested in all of that other stuff that a lot of head coaches are for and you know we talked about on the show today if you want to keep JB bicker staff you can make a case to keep him if you want to fire JB bicker staff you can make that case to fire him and ultimately it came down I believe to the players and I felt all year long all the Intel we were getting particularly as the playoffs progressed was he’s the the players are done with him and he’s therefore not going to be able to survive and you know you don’t necessarily have to like your player you can’t say that he didn’t get everything he could out of this roster in terms of how far they made it nobody in their right mind would pick the Cavs to beat the Celtics in that series particularly with Donovan Mitchell at far less than 100% and then eventually out of the series with Jared Allen missing the series and by the end Carris Levert also missing and for them to compete and play as hard as they did and push the Celtics as much as they did is a credit to him and his coaching and his tenacity when you talk about how many times the Cav say this year they don’t ever quit they keep coming and they keep coming and they keep coming that’s a test estimate to the coaching yes his offense could have been better should have been better no they were not good enough offensively in the playoffs when you can’t even score 100 points in the playoffs that’s a major problem I tend to think it’s probably a fixable problem if you make a couple staff changes I don’t know you necessarily have to throw the baby out with the bath water but because of the locker room situation and and the we talked about on the show I don’t care what you hear over the next 48 hours the players were done with JB that’s ultimately what this comes down to and that falls on Donovan whether he wants to accept it or not whether he wants to embrace it or not that falls on him because the team is going to follow their leader no matter which line he gets in everybody else in that locker room follows and we heard too many things from players too low on that roster to have an opinion on the coach the way that they did it got too far down the line to where I was like this is crazy you don’t have enough juice in this league to be saying some of the things that we’re hearing that’s being said and that’s ultimately what it came down to not just things you were hearing but go back to the 264th quarter lead they blew against the Clippers and players who aren’t Superstars by any means were outwardly criticizing and questioning their defensive strategies in that game once that stuff gets out it’s really hard to put it back in the bag and to your point on Donovan since the ucss show has ended we’ve seen two prominent members of the media one Mega star in the media and one former player come out and kind of echo what you have said Chandler Parson’s on the run it back show with Shams it’s a FanDuel program Parsons did play for JB bicker staff in Memphis he came out and this is his exact quote and I want to read this word for word and I quote from Chandler Parsons Donovan Mitchell you got what you wanted so now all the pressure is on you this is a firing end quote that’s direct that is former pointed former player and alludes to some stuff that we talked about earlier on players falling out of favor with JB and JB falling out of favor with them and then Stephen A Smith who is arguably the biggest personality in the sports world right now came out and said JB bicker staff did not deserve to be fired by the Cavs what he had done for this organization since taking over in 2020 their constant progression was enough in his opinion to keep his job now you could agree you could disagree but there are certainly people making the case that this was not the right move for the Cavs future and they have some validity but I think people who have been up close and personal with the Cavs organization and at least my two sents there are coaches that can get you to the club and there’s coaches that can get you into the club yeah and I think JB’s a great escort to get you to the club I’m not sure he’s taking you into the club you want to get to which is the Eastern or Western Conference finals and eventually an NBA championship it doesn’t mean they’re going to get better they got to get this right this is such a critical hire obviously for a variety of reasons you can go the route I mean the Bucks basically said Giannis who do you want and he picked Adrian Griffin and it was a disaster correct total disaster it was I was talking to people in Milwaukee LeBron with Frank uh Frank vogle in La D ham not much better yeah so when you leave it up to the players it can end in disaster uh but you know the the critical summer for the Cavs you have a decision to make on Evan Mobley on a contract extension you have a decision to make on Isaac aoro and obviously the biggest one is Donovan Mitchell up for an extension and this is a very fragile time to be having a coaching search when you have a star that frankly you’re trying to appease and we’ll see how this goes we mentioned on today’s ucss show a full list of potential candidates so Jason we’ll spend two minutes on this before we move on to the next part because if you want to see our full list there’s a couple names there’s a few more we mentioned Mike anori uh David adman from the nuggets as other guys that may be getting some consideration maybe it’s a Frank vogle or Mark Jackson who knows if you want to see that full conversation go to our YouTube page we spent 20 minutes on the candidates some of their pros and cons but Jason in your mind is there a clearcut number one candidate and if not a clearcut who are your top three people that you would like to see personally get a shot at this job the name that keeps coming up the most is Kenny Atkinson the name of the top of the list that was his picture there attached to that list that’s that seems to be for whatever stock you want to put into it that’s everything that we’ve been hearing for a couple of weeks now frankly is he would be the number one top option James bgo is another name that keeps coming up over and over again joerger is one I just find interesting because he was here just not that long ago he was just here a couple of months ago this season and that was not I don’t believe that that was JB’s decision to bring Dave into the organization the way it was explained to me was it was over his head that they brought Dave in as sort of an extra set of eyes uh and then I thought he was sort of the coach in Waiting he would have gotten the job had JB been fired during the season when it became evident that wasn’t the case he left and went back with Doc to and took the job in Milwaukee uh heard a lot of good things about joerger though so that’s just sort of a name that’s not really been mentioned a lot but just one i’ sort of to keep on the periphery yeah I think ainson is the name I’ve heard the most as well he had success in Brooklyn he has ties to some of the guys currently on the cap staff I’m not sure he’s an elite head coach I’m not sure he’s a bad head coach he took over a terrible Brooklyn Nets team made him competitive took him to the playoffs and then as soon as the stars came in Kyrie and KD they said we don’t like Kenny and shipped him out so that I’m a little hesitant knowing what we just experienced here in Cleveland how that match would work but he’s a name I’ve heard many times bgo also I think a raw end of the deal and Charlotte those teams weren’t good but he’s a highly regarded offensive mind in this league comes from the Spurs system Chris Quinn’s a guy I really like you mentioned joerger I also don’t know a ton about him but this Mike and Nori guy from Minnesota the way they play defense the way they’ve um accelerated this rebuild process hey Donna Mitchell and Rudy goar got traded off the same team in the same offseason and look where one team is and look where the other team is now one team’s way on the way up the other team’s about to go through catastrophic not cat that’s the wrong word colossal change this off season and Mike and know has been the right-hand assistant the number two guy behind Chris Finch on that bench so he interests me as well but he’s more known as a defensive guy to my understanding than an offensive guy and I think whoever they bring in probably has to be an offensive guy because in my opinion priority number one is developing Evan M and finding out if he can be that quote unquote unicorn you thought you were getting with a third overall pick in the 2021 draft Yeah and we talked about that on the show today if you know what are you looking for the pendulum always swings on these things JB was very much a defensive guy I would expect to be more of an offensive mind coming in and you have to figure out what you have in EV Moy once and for all this is we are at that point like it’s time for him to become whatever it is he’s going to be on the offensive end I think you saw it in that Boston series what it could look like with him at center now Boston didn’t have a lot of size on the other side it’s important to point that out but Evan really never got the chance this year to play without Jarrett next to him because Jarrett played in 77 straight games so what does this look like with Evan and four Shooters around him you kind of got a glimpse of that if the new coach can build on that and figure that out that’s probably your guy two more things we’re going to touch on here on the ultimate Cavaliers show Jason we saw the first domino fall now in the Cavs offseason that was the dismissal of JB bicker staff what’s the second Domino to fall what’s next in this offseason of change for Cleveland I mean obviously hiring a coach that’s next and picking the guy whether or not you want to consult with Donovan on that I’m sure that they will especially if he wants to stay here and that to me is the next big Domino so I’m gonna I’m gonna lump all the coaching stuff into one Domino and then the next step after that is secure a commitment from Donovan and all the information that we’ve gotten over the last couple of weeks is that he probably will resign now we’ll see what the Fallout of this is because Donovan’s taking a lot of heat on this probably more than he thought he would when you mentioned Stephen A and Chandler Parson’s calling him out by name and you know I think I saw Brian Winer said something very similar to what I’ve said that’s going to fall on him and we’ll see if that influences his decision at all but up until now the information has been that he’s going to resign if you get that commitment from him now you can go about looking at the rest of this roster what works what doesn’t do we need to break off one or two of these pieces and reshape this do we run this back as is but none of that matters until you know where you’re going with Donovan Mitchell I think is a silly exercise to expect the Cavs to make a head coaching higher and I’ll get to whether or not Kobe’s part of that decision or not without consulting and making sure it’s a guy Donovan Mitchell likes yeah it is malpractice from an organizational standpoint if they do not consult with their Superstar player who’s up for a massive contract extension four years $28 million if he signs this summer to not consult him on who he wants to at least be his head coach moving forward we are hearing that JB and Donovan may not have seen eye to eye in a lot of things and if you’re going to resign for four years potentially which gives you five more years in Cleveland at least on paper you better be comfortable with the head coach you’re playing for so that is the next Domino is what is Donovan’s future and I guess that’s really the third Domino because hiring head coach is the second Domino and Jason before we get to the last thing my question to you is and you may not know at 100% certainty and by all means tell us is Kobe the one making that higher that’s a complicated question and I want to back up real quick before we get to it because it is important to note that there’s a draft in between and they have this is their last number one pick that they control for the next five years because they’re just getting into they’re just now entering starting next year the payment for that Donovan trade and so there is a draft in between but I would suspect by the time of the draft they will know Donovan’s intentions one way or the other I would they better I would you have to because you at least have to have if you don’t have a definitive yes or no you at least have a pretty strong impression way this thing’s going and my gut tells me there’s a good chance he does resign now I know that’s swaye that the pendulum is going back and forth and back and forth in that decision by the draft you’ll have a head coach yeah for sure you I I would hope I mean there’s no way this can drag out that long and part of the thing with Mike and Nory which is why I didn’t put them on the initial list they’re still playing these interviews are going to start happening now now now and if they don’t hire a coach in a week 10 days Mike and Nory might be the guy they’re waiting for because he’s still coaching and won’t obviously accept the job until the timberl the playoffs but by the draft we’ll know who the head coach is we’ll know who the general manager is if they decide to make a change in that position I don’t expect them to but if they do and they’ll know Donovan’s future because I don’t feel like you can go into that draft without knowing Donovan’s future yeah now to the question of who’s making this call you know we talked about a little bit on the show but before he had the health issues Dan always had one guy in mind that he vigorously pursued and went after and if he got him that was the guy and if he didn’t you know I talked about in 2010 when they fired Mike Brown uh Dan aggressively pursued Tom ISO obviously he’s a Michigan State uh guy loved ISO wanted him for the job threw everything he could at him Tom ultimately chose to stay so Dan went to his front office at the time and said go get the best guy available and they wound up with Byron Scott and then Dan did get his guy in David blat he did get his guy in John beine and those were absolute disasters and the front office had to sort of backfill that and when David blat was hired to be the coach tyou was brought in as the insurance policy when John beine was hired as the coach JB bicker staff was brought into that insurance policy I believe things have changed now to where Kobe’s probably going to lead and direct this thing start to finish it’s how it should be uh and if he I I think you’ll you’ll be able to tell by the higher who really yeah fired the shot on that um hopefully you know Dan has seemed to put a lot of faith and Trust into Kobe to this point with all facets of the organization and now this is this is Kobe’s hire to make I would suspect I don’t know that for certain but I would Suspect with the way that the Cavs have operated since Dan and Dan is back like Dan is returned now to a much more active role in the organization he’s recovered from the stroke uh as much as he will to this like this is it this is his life going forward so he’s recovered as much as he’s going to he is back in sort of a chair of power but this is not the same Dan can’t stress that enough this is not the same Dan as it was prior to the health issues I also agree that Kobe Alman feels like he’s safe in this scenario yeah he he he will be the one making there was a time I wasn’t entirely sure of that but he is he is safe I get the same sense from talking to people well and with this Jason there are three now head coach openings in the NBA Washington who for the sake of this we’re going to throw out because they’re in completely different Barrel yeah JB also makes a lot of sense in Washington if we’re being totally honest but that’s the discussion for another day the Lakers and the Cavs if you were a head coach in Canada if Jason Lloyd was being courted to be the head coach of either LeBron James and the Lakers or Donovan Mitchell and the Cavs which of those two jobs to you do you think is more appealing to potential head coaching candidates Cavs I think the Cavs job is more we talking about on the show today this is a good job this is a young roster it’s trending in the right direction they’ve made progress every year there especially I mean if you’re a head coaching candidate obviously you want to know the future of Donovan you want to know if you’re going to have Donovan or not but there’s a lot to work with here there’s a lot to build on even if they break one or two of these pieces off in trades you’re going to get value back for them so this is a really appealing job the Lakers job I don’t think is that appealing you have an aging superstar in Lebron and I’ve heard from so many coaches one of the most difficult things to do is to coach an aging Superstar who can’t do what he once did and let’s be honest LeBron for as phenomenal as he still is it’s unbelievable what he’s doing this is not prime LeBron any longer he’s top 10 not top one yeah and so it’s it’s hard to coach those guys as the decline sets in there’s there’s not a really a lot of stability with the Lakers they’ve been kind of a disaster they did have the bubble Championship but by and large LeBron’s years in La have been a disappointment and I don’t see that changing now suddenly so you don’t know how long of a leas you’re going to have there it’s not very long the Cavs gave JB 4 and half years which is an an eternity in terms of I think the Lakers have gone through three coaches in four and a half years I mean for JB ranked I think I think he was the sixth longest no only five had been their long six longest 10 Co yeah there was pop there was Kerr SPO SPO and a couple others JB was sixth on that list so you’re going to get more than likely you’re going to get some stability here it’s a young roster you have an owner that’s willing to spend uh they’re probably going to be a tax team here sooner than later so this I believe is is a far more appealing job than a Lakers job which when did you ever hear that before there’s still a lot of cache that comes with being the coach of the Lakers particularly for people who maybe grew up on the West Coast or from that area and there’s a lot of them in the NBA from that area but if you’re just like comparing the two jobs side by side I think the Cavs job’s far better plus it’s in the East and the West Was down for like a year or so but now the West is roaring back and the East there’s a much clearer path to success than there is in the West see this is why I hate doing a show with Jason because you let him go first on some things and you know you know he’s going to make a couple good points but you don’t think he’s going to be a ball hog and take them all and I had the East like right to rock like hey the big thing you’re missing is during the Eastern Conference and next thing you know J like oh yeah by the way one more thing I’m going to take it all Jason nailed it uh frankly if you want to make I don’t think it’s a giant Gap you may think it’s a little bigger than me to coach LeBron in the west with Anthony Davis two top 15 guys in the NBA and let’s be honest right now if you were going to rank Donovan LeBron and AD it’s probably the two guys in LA and then Donovan third so you get the two best players in that equation but when you take those two out of it there’s not a whole lot to work with in Los Angeles you’re also dealing with LeBron James who as good as he is him and head coaches don’t necessarily see eye to eye like that’s not a relationship that over the course of his career has been very fruitful for said head coach back here in Cleveland if the Donovan commitment is there you have Donovan you have Darius Jarett and Evan if they’re not all here you’re going to get pieces of value back for one or two or I don’t think three is possible three of those guys you also have uh role players who you expect to play better in big moments they can’t play worse right I mean George Yang literally can’t play worse like literally can’t play worse Max troops I don’t think can shoot worse but if you look at the big picture they’re in the Eastern Conference and look at the East right now the Indiana frecking Pacers are in the Eastern Conference Finals because of a couple injuries and next thing you know they have one star player and Ty halber and a bunch of roll guys I think the Cavs roster is better than Indiana there’s no reason the Cavs with a little bit of luck can’t be in that exact position next year that’s going to wrap it up for the ultimate Cav show we appreciate you guys tuning in make sure you check out Earl’s 216 show that starts at 5:00 it’s about I don’t know 40 minutes from now make sure y’all tune in for that for Jason lyd I’m Mikey McNuggets we’ll see youall tomorrow peace [Music] want

The Cleveland Cavaliers are making a change in leadership.

GM Koby Altman announced Thursday the team has decided to fire JB Bickerstaff and look elsewhere for a new head coach. Bickerstaff had been the Cavs coach since 2020 and compiled a 170-155 overall record.

Bickerstaff took over a rebuilding Cavaliers team and led them to the play-in game in 2022, the first round of the playoffs in 2023, and to the team’s first playoff series win without LeBron James since the early 1990s in 2024.

Reports came out after the season ended that Donovan Mitchell and Bickerstaff didn’t see eye to eye. The development of Evan Mobley & Darius Garland hadn’t happened as quickly as many fans would have liked under his tutelage. And Jarrett Allen and Mobley never seemed to fully figure out the offensive side of things together as a big man duo.

Next up for the Cavs: identifying a candidate to replace Bickerstaff who can lead the Cavs to the promise land. Some names could include Kenny Atkinson, Chris Quinn, Sam Cassell, Dave Joerger & James Borrego.

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