The news was surprising, but Cleveland chose to part ways with JB Bickerstaff after more than four years of good and loyal service. Arriving as a firefighter to replace John Beilein during a chaotic 2019-2020 season on many points, the technician took the Ohio franchise from last place in the conference to two Top 4 finishes over the last two seasons, with an elimination in the first round then in the conference semi-final against Boston last week.
When taking stock, and therefore discussing the end of the adventure with JB Bickerstaff, the president of basketball operations for the Cavs, Koby Altman, did not have much to reproach his former collaborator. The front office simply felt it was time for a “new voice” carries the project and accompanies it to take this famous last step supposed to lead the franchise to the heights.
“Someone with a new approach, someone with a different voice, a fresh perspective to help us move forward. We've accomplished a lot in recent years, reaching a conference semifinal, and we don't want to rest on our laurels. We don't think we're far away from that anymore.”, said Koby Altman.
The first project of the offseason
Within this project, Koby Altman already has the foundations with a hard core made up of the Garland-Mitchell-Mobley-Allen quartet that he hopes to see continue to progress, taking as an example the careers of Giannis Antetokounmpo's Bucks or the duo's Nuggets Murray-Jokic, who also took some time to mature. In addition to the extension of Donovan Mitchell, who can sign a contract worth $200 million over four years this summer, the recruitment of the new coach will therefore be the main project of the offseason.
“I don’t see any major changes. There is more data that shows this system works rather than the other way around. You can't win 99 games in two regular seasons, get to the conference semi-finals and say it's not working. We are only in the second year of this hard core. I have a lot of enthusiasm for the future of this group and I believe in it”added Koby Altman.
The first names are already starting to appear in the rumors section, given the potential candidates available, such as Frank Vogel, dismissed by Phoenix, Johnnie Bryant, Tom Thibodeau's right-hand man, or even Kenny Atkinson or James Borrego, former coaches. main assistants again, respectively in Golden State and New Orleans. The management of the Cavs has given itself until June 26, the date of the next draft, to find the successor to JB Bickerstaff.
“It is absolutely necessary to find the right leader. There is pressure in everything we do, so I understand the importance of this topic. JB didn't do anything categorically wrong. That being said, we now need to sort this out.”concluded Koby Altman.
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Donovan Mitchell | 55 | 35.3 | 46.2 | 36.8 | 86.5 | 0.8 | 4.3 | 5.1 | 6.1 | 2.8 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 2.1 | 26.6 |
| Darius Garland | 57 | 33.3 | 44.6 | 37.1 | 83.4 | 0.5 | 2.1 | 2.7 | 6.5 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 18.0 |
| Jarrett Allen | 77 | 31.7 | 63.4 | 0.0 | 74.2 | 3.2 | 7.4 | 10.5 | 2.7 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 16.5 |
| Evan Mobley | 50 | 30.6 | 58.0 | 37.3 | 71.9 | 2.2 | 7.1 | 9.4 | 3.2 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 2.7 | 15.7 |
| Caris Levert | 68 | 28.8 | 42.1 | 32.5 | 76.6 | 0.6 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 5.1 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 14.0 |
| Max Strus | 70 | 32.0 | 41.8 | 35.1 | 79.4 | 0.9 | 3.9 | 4.8 | 4.0 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 12.2 |
| Isaac Okoro | 69 | 27.3 | 49.0 | 39.1 | 67.9 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 9.4 |
| Georges Niang | 82 | 22.3 | 44.9 | 37.6 | 85.0 | 0.3 | 3.1 | 3.4 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 2.3 | 9.4 |
| Sam Merrill | 61 | 17.5 | 40.2 | 40.4 | 92.9 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 8.0 |
| Marcus Morris | 12 | 15.0 | 44.1 | 41.4 | 62.5 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 5.8 |
| Craig Porter, Jr. | 51 | 12.7 | 50.9 | 35.3 | 73.2 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 5.6 |
| Dean Wade | 54 | 20.5 | 41.4 | 39.1 | 76.9 | 0.7 | 3.4 | 4.0 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 1.7 | 5.4 |
| Tristan Thompson | 49 | 11.2 | 60.8 | 0.0 | 28.8 | 1.5 | 2.1 | 3.6 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 3.3 |
| Damian Jones | 39 | 6.9 | 59.7 | 21.4 | 85.7 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 2.7 |
| Emoni Bates | 15 | 8.9 | 30.6 | 30.3 | 25.0 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 2.7 |
| Isaiah Mobley | 10 | 7.2 | 41.7 | 30.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 2.3 |
| Ty Jerome | 2 | 7.4 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 |
| Pete Nance | 8 | 3.4 | 16.7 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
