J.B. Bickerstaff is OUT as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers

J.B. Bickerstaff is OUT as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers

on today’s show JB bicker staff is out as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers Chris Manning and I are going to sit down and discuss if it was the right call or not and who could be his successor on today’s lockon kevs you are locked on Cavs your daily Cleveland Cavaliers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day welcome back to locked on how you doing I’m Evan damarell joining me on my right technical left on presentation of the show is my soon to be retired co-host Chris Manning and um you know maybe we’ll be a friend of the show down the line too but right now Chris uh friend of the program JB bicker staff is out as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers how do you feel about it had to be done it’s unfortunate but it it had to be done um there’s no way around this I think the moment you got to the end of the season and the season ends and you get the now the now they tell the stories about Kobe Alman having to go to him about minutes and um talking and Donovan Mitchell not trusting him and the players questioning him all that stuff it’s over right I I think at that point to me it was done I don’t think he always did the best job in figuring out Solutions on the offens ENT in particular now is all the blame his fault I don’t think so but I do think that this had this was the move I think yes they they made linear progress all that stuff is true I do not think that this anything else other than this could have been done this was the move that had to be made if the Cleveland Cavaliers were going to try to evolve this team evolve this roster it’s unfortunate but I I think this had to get agree I think from a locker room standpoint like you said it’s the now they tell us stories like Kobe Alman confronting bigger staff about playing Mitchell too much and keeping his rotations too tight and I think just playing Mitchell too much in general I think that’s something that you and I have just kind of pointed out and may have played a part in Mitchell missing time and at least according to the athletic is why Mitchell didn’t uh voluntarily sign up Team USA and probably played a part in him not being selected for Team USA in Paris this upcoming Summer Olympic but yeah it’s a it’s a muddy situation I do think it’s interesting just because it’s been we’re about a week removed as of recording this one the Cav season ended and um Brian Windor and a couple others were making a little bit of like a a push at least to say like the Cavs weren’t they they were deciding they were carefully deciding biger staff’s fate because like let’s be frank the the coach Market may not be like you know the most robust in comparative years just in terms of maybe what Cleveland needs because it’s fair to question I I just disagree with that though I do I the first name you heard from wo for instance is Kenny ainson Kenny Atkinson as a guy with with a track record of development in Brooklyn with a more with a more robust skill set of running good NBA a modern NBA offense INB Baker staff is available I agree yeah David Adelman is out there um like like even if you wanted to go the same exact kind of head coach Frank vogle has a better offensive track record than JB bicker staff there are James bgo has a better offensive track record than I think JB bicker I know we’ll talk about him as well I think the idea that the coaching Market is not like overloaded with candidates is is a fallacy I think there are a lot of good candidates out the coaching candidates I would much rather have than JB bicker staff okay I think I’m willing to test the waters on it just because like the Cavs have to be mindful like yeah bicker step more or less has lost the locker room Donovan Mitchell was frustrated with him some players were frustrated like the lack of consistent playing time in minutes I know it personally just from conversations I’ve had too like that’s true and I think like you know the fact that the offense just was not there to postseason a row against it it was 100% okay let’s give the ball to Donovan Mitchell and hope Donovan Mitchell can just do everything for us which against Orlando despite the KNE issues and then we saw what happened in the second round eventually his body just gave out because couldn’t physically do it anymore and I think if you had a coach who isn’t you know rigid about his offensive system he’s he will be flexible and adaptable and I think that’s like where James bgo becomes a little bit more attractive to me I think you know obviously the Hornet situation not withstanding that was a toxic situation but he did maximize his roster despite how bad it was but like they were one of the top offensive teams when he was coaching Charlotte in his last season and then the Pelicans went from like 22nd to a top 10 offense overall under bgo to which is just PR predicated more on just like heavier three-point shooting and kind of trying unconventional things which the Cavs are certainly comfortable doing to begin with so maybe it’s a little bit of an extension to that but overall yeah I think this is the right call just because if you are gearing yourself up if your Cleveland to make sure that all your ducks are in a row so when you offer Donovan Mitchell that fouryear maximum contract extension when the it’s been we know the conversation’s been going on forever but the legal tampering period begins before likey officially starts and all those deals are officially done like you want to make sure all your ducks in a row and you did everything you everything in your power to keep Donovan Mitchell in the fold for you and that’s just kind of all you really have to approach this with and not even if it’s Mitchell let’s say Mitchell declines and the Cavs end up trading him this is also just a move to kind of maybe shock the team a little bit and also just maybe reset the tone in the locker room because it wasn’t just Mitchell that was reported to be frustrated it was multiple players and really can’t sustain that if the guys are starting to tune the coach out and then it turns into a situation where the players are just winning in spite to the coach and that’s never a recipe for Success no matter what you do can I ask you a very simple question Evan because I don’t feel like I have a good gauge on your opinion on this I think mine’s pretty clear I don’t think JB bicker staff was a good enough coach do you think JB bicker staff was a good enough coach to continue to continue no he was a good enough coach to get them to this position I think he was a good enough coach to bring stability and normaly to the position after having to deal with Larry Drew and John Bine back to back like that and just kind of really sucking the soul out of things you can say culture or whatever and maybe it’s not Rock Solid one there there’s a bunch of now they tell us stories coming out in the wake of losing to Boston but he at least brought normal City the position he brought stability I think he maximized and showed some actual Bona fites this season especially when the Cavs were not great but like you know he squeezed blood out of a stone that may not have been there to begin with but there’s a lot of limitations with him and I think those limitations just really can cost you in the playoffs and they cost him during the regular season like I think about the game against Chicago where it went to over I think double overtime and he shortened his rotation to like six or seven players throughout the second half in the overtime period and like just ran down of a Mitchell into the ground um yeah I I think he is good enough to get them the where they are at now I think you can be satisfied with the fact that he was able to get out of the first round and take a win off Boston who could very well win the championship like yeah it’s a good thing to put your feather and your cap in but they are the limitations outweigh what he’s able to give you at this point and it’s at this weird Crossroad where the cabs aren’t you know young and developing they are ready to take off the training wheels be adults and actually not be playoff hopefuls but like legitimate playoff contenders and a team that could play for the Conference Finals or find a way or a path to the NBA finals depend on the coaching structure and then just obviously how the rest of this offseason goes yeah and look he I don’t think as an offensive coach is always in step with the modern NBA I don’t think the C’s coaching staff in general is that way but you’re the head coach you bear responsibility for that you just do when you’re JB bicker staff and you assembl the staff you bring in Luke Walton you have whomever that’s that the buck stops with you and like I I think the ideas do emanate from him and yes the roster he doesn’t assemble the roster but like the ideas are him and he could never figure out the puzzle with all the pieces on there and I think you hear people around the league talk about this pundits people in the league whatever there is excitement about this roster that I think there is an idea that someone who’s a just a a different coach a better Coach could do more with this roster and more out of it in these I think there’s an opportunity here like I do think that this is the job that a better Coach could get more out of and and I think that’s why you have to do this I I don’t I think if they I think it frankly there was a case to do this last year I think there would have been a real it would have been a Mal practice to not do it now I think it would have been an ABS I don’t I don’t know how on top of just it not making any sense from like a basketball standpoint I don’t know how they would have sold it to the fans I don’t know how they would have sold it to the to the players I don’t know how you could have done anything with it what I I thought you were talking about last year at first like I don’t know how they did like what they did me think running it back twice would be yeah you can’t incredibly you barely could do it once St you barely do it once he was almost fired in November reportedly so like it wouldn’t even lasted that long um and maybe it was the coaching situation then maybe they maybe a player stuck his neck out to kind of you know save JB from getting but he’s no longer the head coach I think we can talk a little bit more just maybe about his flaws and limitations and just obviously kind of like view that through the lens of some of the possible candidates we can talk about the first- timers or uh I guess you can call them guys who have former experience I don’t really like the word term retread because it’s so negative um yeah we’ll talk about that more in a second but first got to take a quick break to get you locked on LinkedIn as I had mentioned before today’s episode of Locked on is brought to you by LinkedIn jobs when you’re hiring for your small business you want to find quality professionals who are right for their role that’s why you have to check out LinkedIn jobs LinkedIn jobs is the tool to help you find the right Professionals for your team faster and free LinkedIn isn’t just another job board LinkedIn has a vast network of over a billion professionals making it the best place to hire it gives you access to professionals you can’t find anywhere else and Linkedin does all that while making the process easy and intuitive hiring is easy when you have that many quality candidates to pick from and it’s so easy in fact that 86% % of small businesses have a qualified candidate within 24 hours on LinkedIn jobs LinkedIn is constantly finding ways to make the process easier they have even launch the feature that helps you write descriptions making the process easier and quicker so just post your job for free at linkedin.com lockon NBA that’s linkedin.com lockon NBA to post your job for free terms and conditions apply all right we are back with more locked on Cavs talking about the wake of JB bigger staff no longer being the head coach weirdly enough of fourth fifth most longest 10e in the franchises history but he’s like the 23rd or 24th coach in the franchises history so gives you some perspective on how up and down things have been um but he I guess was just about as long as tyou off the top of my head but I got to ask you guys are you watching Fox Sports or ESPN on your TV all day you have to turn down the volume with all that shouting make the switch to locked on sports today a free 24/7 Sports streaming channel that is program every day to bring the biggest stories without all the screaming I mean just listen to this show Lon sports today brings you all the can’t misanalysis opinions and news streaming 247 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app it’s part of the locked on podcast Network which of course is your team every day so we talked a little bit of his limitations but do defensively do you think this like defensively this Cav team is pretty solid under B staff and you have to wonder was a lot of that adding Evan Mobley into the mixs and you know Jared Allen just finding himself a little bit within this flow because there’s a lot of players that questions for me but we’ll shift the offense first and for me Chris it’s just when looking at this team and how it’s presently constructed the lack of a cohesive offensive Identity or a set list of plays like I understand the Cavs more or less freelanced on offense sure they ran a lot of heavy pick and roll but like they didn’t mix it up or stagger things up a lot and sometimes they ran some pretty interesting plays or atos and things like that but like it wasn’t consistent like it didn’t have that pulse and E whether they kept bigger staff and brought it an offensive assistant to run the offense or they go with another mind but like when looking at this coaching market like I understand the appeal for Kenny ainson or even a guy like bgo like is it just clear like going into this search the Cav should be focused on offense more than defense just because they have the Personnel to to kind of take care of the defense already yeah I mean I I think even if I mean number one this roster is I I think it’s not even that though I think it’s not even that like you already have the defense figured out it’s that it’s that like this roster is set to evolve like this roster is going to change this is going to be a you read anyone who knows anything or says they know anything about this team and I think everyone is forecasting change if this was a weather report there is change right Evan m is probably going to be the starting center next year one of Darius Garland and of Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell is probably not going to be in the team next year okay the team’s going to look different it’s going to evolve you need a coach who I think is in step with what modern teams do what modern offense do who’s Innovative who’s going to be creative who is more adaptable with their offensive sets in particular but I think it’s a coach who shows more adaptability I I don’t think JB is always the most adapted coach I think one of his big weaknesses is that guy does not particularly adapt well it takes him time like yes he will figure stuff out yes I think in these playoffs he at times showed a little more adaptability than he did the year before but it was still way too little it was still not nearly enough as as what you would need like I I’m Evan I understand like you’re you’re trying to be fair to him but like he just wasn’t good enough like he just wasn’t I made a face when he said offensive adaptability in the playoffs like I I read it somewhere but like bigger staff did it felt like approach the postseason like it was a regular season match up or the Cavs more or less had their pieces in place maybe they make some small adjustments based on the opponent but like they were not playing with Pace they’re not playing with space you saw minutes just going to guys that probably you should be reducing giving minutes to more guys and just plugging in playing options to see what does or doesn’t work or have a game plan in place where you’re not kind of scrambling to figure out these adjustments or you know fixes but I think that’s it played a huge part in this that series against orl being a seven game slugfest or the series against Boston being okay Donovan has to just go absolutely nuclear in game two to get us a win and the rest of the team front runs behind it because Boston you know intelligently adjusts for what Donovan Mitchell is doing despite Mitchell just firing away on the perimeter and that’s just not a lot of creativity there and I think like you said like the Cavs have the pieces to be creative like there’s a lot of things you could do with that Mo because he has such a unique I guess unique in the sense where like it is the prototypical archetype of a modern big man but the Cavs aren’t accentuating those modern big man traits with the passing or you just kind of getting creative with it too like sometimes you see those big to big plays they ran but like it’s just like small bursts of it were like they’re kind of Dipping their they were dipping their toes in the water instead of just diving in fully to just leaning on the stuff that works and just maximizing those things and forcing the defense to adjust to you instead of the Cavs adjusting to how the opposing teams attacking them offensively I also don’t think it’s that I also don’t think it’s like that simple I think they also the development of other skills in these guys is not there like Evan like what Evan Moy it took like us seeing him at a different position to feel like we understood how we developed I don’t think Darius Garland has meaningfully developed as an offensive player since Donovan Mitchell got to Cleveland but that that that is like on the whole organization that that also falls on JB bicker staff and if you’re Darius scarland that falls on you too but like you have to evolve your guys and get them to do other stuff within your offense and you creatively use these different guys like these guys should not be one note players that you can only use in one specific way and they look bad if they’re only playing if they’re not playing one specific way that is not how modern basketball is modern basketball is interchangeable it is flexible it is creative it comes up with different solutions it is about finding advantages on the backside of picking rolls it is about running sets to move to get guys in motion and come off screens and like create mismatches and find Opportunities like it is so much more than what the Cavs did and there’s not like except for when Donovan Mitchell was cooking just straight up cooking there is very little in the Cav playoff offense in two seasons with JB bicker sta that I would call good and I don’t I don’t think he deserves credit for that I think Donovan Mitchell deserves credit for that you know what I mean it’s so it’s just like what are we doing like what are we doing here the only time I’d really give credit for the offense and it was just because of the lack of personnels when moyy and Garland went down this season they’re playing faster they’re playing with pace and they’re playing with just like a presence and stra need a know end that they abandoned that identity entirely once Moy and Garland came back sure you want them to adjust and kind of get into the flow of things but you shouldn’t completely tear down what was working for you that season of course Donovan Mitchell being the head of the snake but that was the frustrating thing but I think the Player Development thing is a big part of it too they had three top five picks on this roster in obly Garland and aoro like aoro I don’t know what he is still I know he’s very good defensively but like offensively like there’s moments he kind of had it he was shooting shooting it with like you know zero hesitation against the Celtics but like it’s still not consistent Evan Mobley the injury played a part in it and I think this you know the the series against Boston and the last three games against Orlando in the playoffs do give you reason to be optimistic about him playing the five longterm for Cleveland but I do Wonder like what what was the plan with his development from like his rookie season to now like sure you encouraged him to play more to his defensive strengths and he was very comfortable with not having to be ball dominant I think that’s also you know also part of being a product of the situation because you have so many players that also need shots as well we’re a team who has a top three or four pick like the Cavs did when they got Moy they would probably be picking from the ground up and like Moy would be the center of it but regardless like I don’t know what the focus was for Player Development I you saw the reports of how players were frustrated that like during shoot around in practices there’s a lot of questions of what if we just do for the last hour to two hours like it feels like there’s not a lot of maximizing opportunities and sure I’m trying to be a bit fair to biger steep I guess just because like I think like he’s a good coach for what he is but he has clear limitations and those flaws and limitations come back to bite you and also can only take you so far before like they kind of outweigh whatever good that he’s bringing to the table but we also just never really saw that growth and development or change from him throughout his time as a head coach because I remember I think of him as the same head coach as he was basically the day took over from John Bine and that yeah or I remember the media day when you and I were sitting next to each other and I asked bigger staff like hey are you guys going to like you have two bigs on this roster that kind of dictates the fact that like you need to shoot more threes to give them space and he’s like well the NBA or fans and PE in media have fetishized the three-pointer that’s always made me raise an eyebrow and it took them two three years from that to say like okay we got to start shooting more threes when they should have been doing that to begin with and yeah I think yeah he is more or less the same Co when he took over for Bine yeah he maybe have grown and adapted a little bit just because that’s what you do when you have a job on job on job experience you do learn and grow from it but again I just think the limitations are clearly there and it it kind of is going to it was going to hold the Cavs back if they brought him back next season and it would probably see very similar results um in the postseason um depending on like the overall result and just what the Cavs had on the court like I think saw you 45 to 50 wins most but like you’re going to be limp either limping into the playoffs or you’re going to be on a backslide exiting the All-Star break and you’re not going to be at a good place when you hit the postseason and again if your players are questioning what you’re doing it’s over it’s over yeah oh yeah it’s over it’s absolutely over um and I think that’s just the tricky part is like as soon as you lose the locker room it’s just you know it’s an endless cycle there I mean at least like John Balin had the well I guess I don’t worse but retired he he resigned cuz he lost the locker room much quicker than bigger staff did but either way we are going to talk more about coaching candidates maybe on a more positive a look at some of the good options out of the market because I do agree with Chris’s take that people may not think it’s that robust but I do think there are some solid choices think teaming me up on that in the first segment but we got to take a quick break for ads today’s episode of Locked on Cals is brought to you by better help we all carry around different stressors big and small when we keep them bottled up it can start to affect us negatively therapy is a safe space to get things off your chest and to figure out how to work through whatever’s weighing you down you’re thinking of starting therapy give better help a try it’s entirely online designed to be convenient flexible and suited to your schedule just complete a brief questionnaire to get match to the licensed therapist and switch th IST at any time for no additional charge get what’s bothering you off your chest with betterhelp visit betterhelp.com locked on NBA today to get 10% off your first month that’s better help hp.com lockon and all right we’re back for these last 10 minutes let’s do nice little 10-minute jolt Chris out of the CR coaching candidates available if you were running this entire coaching search for the Cavs and wanted to get them off the carousel who would be the guy that you picked to be the next head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers Sam Cassell and it’s not even it’s like not even a question to me like this is like the easiest one of all time to me like I the only caveat is is you could you risk Lo the Lakers could take him between now and when the Cavs were able to get you’re saying you’re saying you’re but your question was not do I have to worry about the Lakers taking it’s do I get the fair enough enough fair enough yeah pick he what I agree it’s s Cassel but dive into it a little bit I want to hear your reasons and see if we have the same ones he to me is like the tyo cut from the tyo cloth he will have your players respect he will he spile accounts like has he’s been working behind the scenes for a long time I I you know you do does he have the reputation I think among the leag is like the the David adaman offensive guy or whatever I don’t know it doesn’t seem that way but I I trust him to come in and just be really good like every account of him seems like he’s just going to be awesome and especially if you let here’s the key to this whole thing though Evan was what I I will add to this the Cavs have to just like let whoever their new coaches pick if not a whole new staff like 90% of a whole new staff they have good at some guys who I think are smart good at their job on their staff like I I don’t think Luke Walt needs to be back next year I don’t think like that Greg bucker necessarily needs to be back next year just go get new ideas refresh the whole thing bring all kinds of new ideas and don’t do a half measure here you’ve gotten here via half measures go do like a real robust turnover here and actually turn this over that that that could involve a bunch of different things so and and I think some of that would involve all new assistant coaches on top of your coach that will matter as well but as far as I coach Sam Cassell would be you know maybe number one on my list I don’t know if I I haven’t like thought okay exactly 1 2 3 4 5 whatever but he would be he’s the first name that has come to mind for me yeah he’s a name that I just keep circling back to because he is a former player he has 15 years I didn’t realize this he’s been coaching he’s been 15 years but he’s been coaching for nearly just as long um bought worked under doc so there’s those parallels like you said um with tyu when doc was with the Clippers and then when uh and then he followed doc to the Sixers and then joined um Boston’s coaching staff last or this last season um and I think he just has a lot of credibility because he has a lot of experience um I think there is an interesting parallel if you’re able to keep Darius if you’re you elect not to trade Darius Garland he is represented by clutch so maybe there is a little bit of inner workings there that could you know s satisfy Darius Garland’s desire to be traded right away but I think more than anything it’s just the connection with the players and I think if you’re looking to like really sell Donovan Mitchell on it a guy Sam Cassell is super close with on the Celtics Arc Donovan Mitchell’s like two best friends in the NBA and Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum and I’m sure like Mitchell’s keeping tabs in the situation but okay I I I like okay let’s not like getting into hpth getting one of the j i that’s that’s like eight steps you’re not no you’re not getting one of the JS but you know friends talk and I’m sure Donovan’s asked like yo what’s it like being coached by Sam because I’m sure he’s going to be a guy that the Cavs bring up in conversations of course and they’re going to run it by Donovan even though Donovan hasn’t assigned an extension or anything and he’ll just turn to his friends on the Celtics and then they’ll say what he could be a good part of and it is tricky just because um but he’s been on every single like position on the bench according to Joe Missoula at least and he has been the role player he’s been the guy who’s been a leader he’s a guy who is able to connect with players 1 through 15 I think that’s very helpful um and I think that’s just he can be a catalyst but it is just you know fair to question like does he bring more of a Doc Rivers approach does he have his own identity like tyou did um but I think it is a smart hire um and I I wonder if the Cavs go after him like is that like the right call yeah I think it would be but also like he could also just think like oh I could also just go back to Boston be uh missou lead assistant for a year and then reevaluate the market if he feels like this isn’t for him either but so if it’s not Missoula I’m thinking about it like Kenny Atkinson makes a ton of sense he made a very strong case about it already Atkinson has a ton of experience in Brooklyn he’s been coaching the Warriors forever you do have to wonder because he probably smartly turned down the Hornets job in 2022 he is very particular about what coaching opportunities he has or has to deal with and I think in Cleveland it’s a lot more attractive than having to coach the Hornets years ago but on ainson I I keep going back to James brego I think you know despite how bad or his record is he doesn’t have a winning record he improved the Hornets by 10 wins every season he was there um I think what he did at the Pelicans this year is no worthy hypothetically speaking if the Cavs were tra say specifically what did he do for people that I don’t know what did he do with the Pelicans with the Pelicans they well I kind of mentioned it the first segment they the so last season the Pelicans were lower third teams in terms of offense they’re like 21st or 22nd in offensive rating which for those who don’t know that is just how many points you hypothetically can score per 100 possessions and so the Pelicans were you know a little sub average and I think you know injuries did play a part in that and they were healthier this year but brgo came in clearly just like the offensive tactician um with Willie Green just handling a lot of the defensive stuff and a lot of just you know the rotations and final decision of course but like bgo improved Pelicans from 2122 to a top 10 offense this season again I think Health did help with that a lot but there’s a lot more of a three-point attack there’s a lot of ball movement and um that’s something he really approached with Charlotte and I think the fact that the Hornets had in his last season there had one of the top offenses in the league but with ish Smith and Isaiah Thomas running point because the Melo ball was hurt all year says a lot um and I think it would also got the only great lamelo ball season out of lamelo ball for what it’s worth yeah but like the issue was is just like the The Hornet started to tune him out as well and you could maybe fall into that Pitfall again where if things don’t click right away do the Cavs start to tune this guy out too because players talk and I’m sure like people maybe know already but he’d be an interesting for the cabs and if they wanted to go full Donovan Mitchell like hey Donovan we’re here to make you happy uh well one Antonio Lang could be interesting if they wanted to just stay within that former Cavs coach and if they want want to Branch out too far from I guess the bigger staff hierarchy but more than that I think you know if he if the if the Cavs hire Johnny Bryant is their next head coach like that’s just a clear hey Don we’re going to go hire your guy from Utah that was your personal Player Development coach and we’re going to hand him the keys to this entire team um and pry away Tom diido top assistant on top of that yeah I think like the some order of a five he would be ainson Cel oh you put ainson over I’m no I’m saying at some order I’m not saying exact order I’m I’m not doing I an exact top five is not something I am I’m ready to do I would go in some order Cassell Atkinson bgo Mike Nori and Chris Quinn from Miami I would go ainson Cassel um bgo Adelman from Denver just because I think there is yeah ad Adelman should be in there instead of Nory let’s swap that out nory’s a good pick too I think yeah but like Adelman is like the offensive guy is like I If they hire a defensive first coach and like that’s that’s a mistake Adelman is a really good adman is the offensive mind behind what the nuggets have been doing and he’s very much in like that Jordy Fernandez School thought well as much as one guy can be when they have Nicole like that’s the caveat that is the caveat but like he does have some unique offensive Concepts and ideas clearly because they’re playing an offense entirely through a big man and he has schemed that up around that plan and I think you know helpful if you’re trying to develop Evan Moy on a certain path but I think adelin is in no certain order and then probably just to round it out it would either be either Chris Quinn um just because like he’s been coaching for so long and I think he just is a guy who makes a lot of sense as the next head coach or I’m going to go left field on this one I think Alex Jen um could be a guy too just because like did help develop go in Utah he has experienced coaching with Mitchell with the Jazz he has been coaching around Luca um and Kyrie a little bit and dallice the last few years and also the Cavs have familiarity because he coached the charge many moons ago back when they’re in Canton so like there’s a little bit of just a nice little PR push there and also just familiarity between Alman and Jensen too and also was a guy who was a candidate uh post uh Larry Drew as well so well it’ll be interesting to see um yeah but people who poop with the market um it’s not that big of a stink as people are saying but there are some interesting guys the Cavs could look and hopefully they don’t go completely out of left field and do like Tom or something like that or Rick patino but I mean I would I would ask people this too if you were if you’re like one of the people that’s like I don’t like this coaching Market ask yourself this before you say that were you that excited about GB bicker staff ask yourself that no absolutely that are um people may not have a full understanding of what a head coach actually does it is the staff around them too and I agree with your take from the be very beginning this wh no matter who the Cavs bring in they have to empower that coach to have full control of his staff and make sure like they’re able to put their pieces in place to make sure that they’re able to maximize success and maybe there’s some holdovers from biger staff coaching staff but like I don’t see like you know Greg Butner Buckner Luke Walton um and so on um rowing the sidelines or you know sitting on the bench next to whomever is the next head coach there’s going to be some newer fresher faces no matter what but until then uh I’m Evan that’s Chris this has been locked on Cavs we have talked about the end of the John B John Blair Bier staff era friend of the program and we’ll be back with more for Chris’s actual last episode as co-host Al lockon Cavs but until then I’m Evan that’s Chris see you guys soon

On a new episode of Locked on Cavs (Monday, May 20, 2024), hosts Evan Dammarrell (@AmNotEvan, Right Down Euclid) and Chris Manning (@cwmwrites, The Just Basketball Show, SB Nation’s Fear the Sword, Forbes Sports) look back at J.B. Bickerstaff’s time as a head coach and what’s next for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Jake Stephens produced this episode. Check out his latest album, “i hope i’m with my cats when the flood comes”!
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